Latino Anime Fans Pay Tribute to Dragon Ball 'Abuelo' Akira Toriyama

As a Mexican American kid growing up in the early aughts, Dani Fernandez jumped between watching Dragon Ball episodes in Spanish on Telemundo and the English-dubbed version of the anime on the Cartoon Network.

She couldn't get enough of Dragon Ball's world-building and sprawling cast of characters, including the powerful and pure-hearted protagonist Goku. She said as an alien from another planet, Goku was an outsider to whom immigrants could relate.

She also thought the superhero, along with her favorite Dragon Ball character, the warrior Vegeta, bore more than a passing resemblance to Latinos.

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"Like they have spiky black hair," Fernandez said. "They have notoriously bottomless stomachs. And I was like, 'These are Latinos.'"

Fernandez went on to host two podcasts about Dragon Ball that helped to launch her career in Hollywood. So when she learned that its Japanese creator Akira Toriyama had died, it felt momentous. Emotional, she went online to read tributes:

She also posted her own tributes, describing Toriyama as an "abuelo."

"I was kind of making a joke that (Toriyama) was 100% Mexican, too," Fernandez said. "But everyone was like, yep, that's our Akira Toriyama."

Toriyama died at age 68 on March 1, but his death was not announced until Friday. Fans around the world credited Toriyama's manga and anime work for inspiring them to pursue careers in storytelling and art.

Dragon Ball's cross-cultural appeal was in particularly clear view in Los Angeles as the home to the world's largest Mexican diaspora.

At the LAFC MLS cup in 2022, fans did a mash-up of two of their favorite things: soccer and Dragon Ball.

Part of Dragon Ball's popularity in L.A. is carried over from Mexico and other Latin American countries, as described by bicultural Angelenos.

L.A.-based film journalist Carlos Aguilar said Dragon Ball is event viewing in Mexico, where he lived until he was a teenager. Dragon Ball episodes were shown on broadcast television, giving it huge audiences that included those who couldn't afford cable.

"Once you were done with school, your chores or your homework, that was the thing that you would watch and everyone watched," Aguilar said.

Its fan base went beyond children. Public screenings of Dragon Ball episodes pulled in thousands of people, who watched brutal fight scenes as if they were pay-per-view boxing matches.

Aguilar said Mexican audiences were much more primed to enjoy anime than American viewers. Part of it was accessibility: Sailor Moon and Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac were also broadcast on television. Another part of anime's appeal, Aguilar said, is its similarity to another popular form of entertainment: telenovelas.

"A lot of anime has a kind of earnestness and the heroes, they're sacrificing their lives for the people they love," Aguilar said. "It feels very high stakes, very melodramatic and over the top."

Not only did people love watching Dragon Ball, they also enjoyed the merch. Aguilar said that masses of people would buy Dragon Ball sticker albums for every new season.

Fernandez recalls coming back from trips to Mexico with knock-off Dragon Ball figures.

"It would always be like, a Superman body with a Goku head or a ninja turtle but then it will have part of Goku," Fernandez said. "That's like a very common experience and I think we find it endearing."

Dani Fernandez got "Dragon Ball" characters Goku and Vegeta inked on her arm.

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Dani Fernandez

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Nine years ago, Fernandez decided to always have a part of Dragon Ball permanently with her. She got a tattoo of Goku and Vegeta on her right forearm.

"What is something that I've always loved?" Fernandez reasoned. "I loved this show for decades, and I just don't see that going away."