Leiji Matsumoto is the first name that comes to mind while discussing the Manga series. At the age of 85, the creator of the popular Japanese anime series “Space Battleship Yamato,” “Captain Harlock,” and “Galaxy Express 999” departed away, leaving behind a legacy that will be remembered. Continue reading to discover the details of his demise.
Manga Master, Leiji Matsumoto Cause Of Death
On February 13, 2023, the renowned manga and animation creator Leiji Matsumoto passed away. The production company Toei broke the news about the Japanese mangaka. Leiji Matsumoto reportedly passed away at the age of 85 from “heart failure.”
Just so you know, he had significant respiratory issues in 2019 and passed out at a tour stop in Turin, Italy, for the anime adaption of Captain Harlock’s 40th anniversary. He was brought to the hospital in a serious state but subsequently was deemed “out of danger.”
He was renowned for some of the most grandiose space sagas, which were subsequently adapted into animated TV shows and motion pictures for a worldwide audience. For instance, animated TV programmes and movies based on Masumoto’s cult works like “Space Battleship Yamato,” “Captain Harlock,” and “Galaxy Express 999” became immensely popular around the world in the 1970s and 1980s.
Matsumoto Leaves Behind A Legacy…
As World War 2 came to a conclusion, Leiji Matsumoto was only 7 years old. Leiji’s father gave him a 35mm film projector when he was a young boy, and when the Pacific War was going on, he enjoyed viewing American cartoons on it. He started reading science fiction books by well-known authors like Unno Juza and H.G. Wells about this period. Leiji relocated to Tokyo to pursue a career as a manga artist when he reached 18.
More than 150 chapters from his manga’s “battlefield comics” subgenre illustrate the horror of war. His father, an elite army pilot, frequently said what every soldier would say: “War should never be waged.” This is where the anti-war idea originated.
Matsumoto has said in earlier interviews that his painting was “inspired by his hope for people to not experience war and to live for the land.” In 2015, he said, “Human people should work to protect all living things and the earth’s natural environment.
An international audience was drawn to his imaginative representations of technology and space travel, such as intergalactic steam trains engaged in combat with aliens brandishing radioactive meteorites. He produced “Gun Frontier,” a Western-themed dark comedy for Play Comic magazine in 1972. (ran from 1972-1975). In addition to this, he also began the “Senjo Manga Series,” a collection of standalone short stories set during World War 2. Later, this was known as “The Cockpit.”
Matsumoto is well recognised for his contributions to such works as Galaxy Express 999, Space Battleship Yamato, and Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1977). For Senjo Manga Series and Galaxy Express 999, he was given the Shogakukan Manga Award.
Set in the same universe as Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999, those shows later gave rise to a number of spin-offs and affiliated series, including Queen Emeraldas and Queen Millennia. Also, he oversaw the production of various music videos for the well-known band “Daft Punk.” He received the esteemed Order of Arts and Letters from the French government in 2012.
Matsumoto spoke candidly about experiencing the atomic attack in a 2013 interview, saying, “The jet that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima went right over my head. The second was intended for a town not far from where I was living in Fukuoka. “Nagasaki was doomed by bad weather,” he stated.
“It traumatised me, but it was a source of inspiration, as were all the traumas of my boyhood,” he said in his conclusion. A creative spirit needs personal experience to flourish. Despite Matsumoto’s passing, his works continue to be revered by manga aficionados. His wife, Miyako Maki, who is also a manga artist, is left behind.
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