Leiji Matsumoto was a Japanese manga and anime creator best known for “Space Battleship Yamato” (a.k.a. “Star Blazers”) and “Galaxy Express 999.”
- Died: February 13, 2023 (Who else died on February 13?)
- Details of death: Died at 85 of heart failure in Tokyo.
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Early Career
Born Akira Matsumoto January 25, 1938, Leiji Matsumoto began drawing at the age of 5. At fifteen, he published his debut work, “Mitsubachi no Boken” (Honey Bee’s Adventures). After moving to Tokyo to pursue a manga career, he married Miyako Maki in 1961, one of Japan’s earliest female manga artists. He first rose to prominence in the early 1970s with “Otoko Oidon,” a Tokyo-based manga series about a poor young man preparing for university entrance exams.
Anti-War Influencer
Matsumoto focused much of his career on anti-war themes, and his work had wide-ranging influence throughout the manga and anime communities. In the 1970s, his “Space Battleship Yamato” anime series, chronicling humanity’s war against alien invaders, became a juggernaut of Japanese pop culture, and was translated for American TV audiences under the name “Star Blazers.” The show is frequently cited as influencing the later, massively popular “Gundam” and “Neon Genesis Evangelion” anime series. Matsumoto’s other noted works include “Space Pirate Captain Harlock,” “Galaxy Express 999,” and “Queen Emeraldas.”
Matsumoto’s influence extended beyond the anime and manga worlds. In the early 2000s, he collaborated with the electronic duo Daft Punk on several music videos, including the hit “One More Time.”
Tributes to Leiji Matsumoto
Full obituary: BBC
