Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/TOKYO: Famous Japanese legendary manga and anime creator Leiji Matsumoto (Akira Matsumoto) died at 85, according to his studio.
In a statement, his studio Leijisha said Matsumoto died of acute heart failure. Matsumoto’s epic science fiction sagas included Galaxy Express 999, Queen Emeraldas, and Space Battleship Yamato. His work frequently featured anti-war themes as well as emotional storylines.
Makiko Matsumoto, the head of Studio Leijisha, said in a statement that Matsumoto set out on a journey to the sea of stars. She believes he lived a happy life, planning to continue drawing stories as a manga artist.
Early years of Legendary actor Matsumoto
Matsumoto, born in the southwestern city of Kurume in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1938, was only 15 years old when his debut work, Mitsubachi no Boken, was published in a manga magazine. He moved to Tokyo after finishing high school to pursue his dream of becoming a professional artist.
In 1961, he married Miyako Maki, a well-known manga artist and one of Japan’s first female manga artists. They worked on several projects together, and he changed his name to Leiji Matsumoto.
His big break came a decade later when he published Otoko Oidon, a series about the life of a poor young man studying for university entrance exams. It was a huge success, and it was awarded the Kodansha Publishing Award for Children’s Manga. Matsumoto was seven years old when World War II ended, and more than 150 of his manga stories depicted the tragedy of war.
Many years later, he said he had been inspired by his father, an elite army pilot who had taught him that war should never be fought because it “destroys your future”.
A Californian writer, Zack Davisson who has translated much of Matsumoto’s work, said on Twitter that the world has lost an “absolute giant”.
Davisson claimed that his works contained an enormous sadness and a grandeur not seen elsewhere. All of this was wrapped in powerful, mythological and futuristic visuals.
Matsumoto’s work was appreciated by the French music duo Daft Punk, who commissioned him to create several animated music videos for them, most notably for the song One More Time, released in 2000.
Matsumoto was described as one of their childhood heroes by both members, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo.
They also collaborated on the film Interstella 5555, which tells the story of an anime band of aliens. It was described as a “cult hit before it even came out” by the Japanese publication Pen Online. In 1999, a number of bronze statues depicting characters or scenes from Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999 were erected in Japan’s port city of Tsuruga.
Matsumoto has received several prestigious cultural and art medals from Japan, including the Order of the Rising Sun and the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters from the French government. Because of their popularity, his works have long been adapted and spun off because of their popularity, influencing generations of manga and anime fans.
