Fact Check: Did Mexican cartels announce ceasefire to honor Akira Toriyama's death?

Modified Jun 02, 2024 14:07 GMT

Fact Check: Did Mexican cartels announce ceasefire to honor Akira Toriyama — Did Mexican cartels announce ceasefire to honor Akira Toriyama's death? (Image via Mexican Government, Toei Animation)

On March 8, 2024, Bird Studio and Capsule Corporation Tokyo informed the world about legendary manga creator Akira Toriyama's death through an announcement on Dragon Ball's official website. The manga creator seemingly died a week ago on March 1, 2024, at age 68 due to acute subdural hematoma.

Hours after the news was announced, a few posts started circulating on X (formerly Twitter), which claimed that Mexican cartels had announced a temporary ceasefire to honor Akira Toriyama's death. Did Mexican cartels actually make such an announcement, or is it a hoax?

Mexican cartels ceasing fire to honor Akira Toriyama's death is a hoax

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Although the Dragon Ball franchise is extremely popular in Mexico, the claims making the rounds of X stating that Mexican cartels have temporarily ceased fire to honor Akira Toriyama's death is a hoax.

This is because the account that made the initial post was a troll account. Furthermore, the post mentions no source for the information. Even when people asked the original post creator to provide a source for the same, there was no response.

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The same post inspired several other accounts to create similar posts. One such post gained a lot of traction, especially due to the AI image of Super Saiyan Goku holding the flag of Mexico.

Also read: Will Dragon Ball Super continue after Toriyama's death? Series' fate, explored

In response to that, several fans asked the account to take down the post or use an alternate image because using an AI image on a post related to Akira Toriyama's death seemed like disrespect to the manga creator.

Son Goku as seen in the Dragon Ball anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Even on that post, there seemed to be no source for the information. Some fans were certain that it was a troll and asked the account to take down the post because it was in poor taste. Akira Toriyama's death was a sad matter to many fans worldwide and not something people should use to gain traction in their posts.

Therefore, given the lack of information sources, it is highly likely that the accountholders were aware of Dragon Ball's popularity in Mexico. Thus, they wished to make use of people's feelings to garner likes on their posts. Such behavior has become exponentially high after X introduced creator ad revenue sharing.

Also read: Dragon Ball creator's death has Oda, Kishimoto, and other mangakas mourning

Son Goku and Cell as seen in the Dragon Ball Z anime (Image via Toei Animation)

One of the requirements to apply for the same is to have purchased the platform's premium version. Given that both the above accounts have purchased X Premium, there is a high likelihood that they posted these tweets to garner some revenue.

Moreover, it has to be common sense that cartels in Mexico would not make such a decision. Even if they were to make such a decision to honor Akira Toriyama's death, there should be no reason for them to reveal the same to the general public.

Also read: Chinese Foreign Ministry mourns Dragon Ball creator's death

Final thoughts

The popularity of the Dragon Ball series in Mexico and the whole of Latin America as a household show is undeniable. These countries started airing anime much earlier than anywhere else in the world and a large fanbase was built around famed franchises like Dragon Ball. Goku was always seen as a warrior of justice who took on evil forces and rescued others. In crime-riddled countries, he became a symbol of strength and was naturally adopted into their culture.

Despite the rumors going around, the Cartels did not stop their activities to honor Toriyama's passing. It was simply a meme that played upon Goku's popularity among the people. However, many Latin American countries like El Salvador and Brazil released official statements mourning Toriyama's death.

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