| Yanase Takashi, creator of the "Anpanman" series, passed away due to heart failure at 03:08 on October 13th. He was 94. Yanase was born on February 6, 1919 and after graduating from an industrial design course, he worked on many jobs including industrial copywriting, publishing columns for newspapers, writing movie reviews for magazines, writing for and hosting radio programs, working on marketing for a department store chain, writing screenplays for television, writing songs and lyrics, as well as writing children's literature. In 1973, he created the character Anpanman, a superhero with a head that looked like "anpan", a bun filled with red bean paste which is very popular in Japan. The illustrated stories of "Anpanman" were serialized in the monthly picture book "Kinderbook". In 1988, "Anpanman" was adapted into a TV anime series named "Sore Ike! Anpanman". The show proved to be extremely popular with children and their parents and is still ongoing with more than 1,200 episodes aired (it holds the Guinness record for "the animation series with the most characters" with almost 1,800 characters). Moreover, every year a movie on "Anpanman" has been released, with 25 films to date. "Anpanman" is also a huge merchandise franchise, with sales in 2010 estimated to be 1.1 trillion Yen (sponsorship deals excluded). It has also been adapted into games on many platforms. Yanase was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government in 1991. At the time of his death, he was the chairman of Nihon Mangaka Kyoukai (Japan Comic Artists' Association) and editor for the literature quarterly "Shi to Fantasy" (Poem and Fantasy). Wikipedia page for Anpanman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anpanman Official Anpanman website: http://anpanman.jp/ Source: NHK, Yomiuri, Nikkei |
NaruleachOct 15, 2013 10:51 AM
| So MAL finally starts locking news threads that are only a few weeks old? I wonder where was the announcement of this change? Or we are seeing yet another case of changes made that impacted users but not communicated to them? I wonder how long people would put up with this. As much as I have a bunch of information to share about anime announced recently I cannot share it in news board, and the anime series is too disorganized and chaotic to share information except with people already interested in the particular series. |
| RIP |
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| The guy was pretty chill in interviews i saw if childish (tho that might be cause of his advanced age) all i gotta say is he probably had fun Where am i going to find another hero where people can eat his head and like it srs japan |
| ~"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands." (Pirsig) |
| R.I.P Almost a hundred years old, he aged well. |
| Ah~ One of nostalgic children anime that i used to watch a lot during my childhood (In a terrible Indonesian dub). The scene that still holds special place in my heart is when Anpanman gave up his head (resulting in him being weakened severely) to feed starving abandoned dogs on slum area. That was very heartwarming. And now i'm really surprised that the man behind such scene has passed away. R.I.P. ~ |
| Sad news. I really like anpanman :/ RIP |
| Trying to watch all available anime series so you won't have to anymore, the list of anime I can recommend is still in progress, tho |
| Had a long life, left behind a legacy, I hope he was content. May he rest in peace now. |
| RIP :( |
 |
| Nooo : ( Anpanman was one of my childhood favorites. |
| R.I.P |
 |
| Let's offer him a requiem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDVsi7_m0dA R.I.P |
| Gutalala ~~ sudalala "It would be great to live as a human" -Meruem, King of the Ants |
| Ahhh Anpanman was one of my childhood favourites even with the awful dub i got here, loved it so much as a kid D: , didn't know it was still airing..dam.. R.I.P Thanks for a brighter childhood ^_^ |
AozureOct 15, 2013 10:50 AM
| He lived a long life. RIP :3 |
| RIP =( |
 |
| RIP i must say that for a human he lived a long life. |
| Anpanman was my first anime Rest in peace |
MaceTheDon said: RIP |
| When I was little I used to have an Anpanman squeaky toy but I never knew what it was... I had used to play with it for as long as I could remember, and I had it for so long that I didn't even remember when I got it. I'm happy that I finally managed to figure it out after a potential 18 years where I didn't. RIP, I didn't really know who you were or any of your works, but living until 94 is truly quite a feat, no doubt a fulfilling life was had. |
MinagatachiOct 15, 2013 2:56 PM
| Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
| Never heard of him until now, but RIP |
| Rest in Peace sir... |
 |
| R.I.P. |
| That sucks. RIP. Watched Anpanman when I was a kid. I loved it. I love the Currypanman and Dokin-chan xD |
SidelinerOct 16, 2013 12:15 AM
| Lived a long life. RIP. Wish I had more to say. |
kokoroanime said: From the comments of the producer they have not yet made a decision of what to do with the show after the creator's death. Chances are it will continue given its high popularity but it is not guaranteed.Anpanman will be the 4th series that will be continued after creator's death, right? |
| So MAL finally starts locking news threads that are only a few weeks old? I wonder where was the announcement of this change? Or we are seeing yet another case of changes made that impacted users but not communicated to them? I wonder how long people would put up with this. As much as I have a bunch of information to share about anime announced recently I cannot share it in news board, and the anime series is too disorganized and chaotic to share information except with people already interested in the particular series. |
symbv said: kokoroanime said: From the comments of the producer they have not yet made a decision of what to do with the show after the creator's death. Chances are it will continue given its high popularity but it is not guaranteed.Anpanman will be the 4th series that will be continued after creator's death, right? Or maybe it would be like Doraemon? 40 years passed since the author died but the show is still popular. |
| Gutalala ~~ sudalala "It would be great to live as a human" -Meruem, King of the Ants |
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