| Journalist Paul Gravett announced in an article that the "sensei of gekiga," Yoshihiro Tatsumi, died due to malignant lymphoma on Saturday, March 7. He was 79 years old. Gravett was notified of the influential mangaka's death via an email from Erik Khoo, Tatsumi's close friend and student. Yoshihiro Tatsumi, who first started drawing manga in 1957, is famous for pioneering the gekiga alternative manga style. "Gekiga" translates to "dramatic pictures" and was allegedly coined by Tatsumi to differentiate darker titles aimed at older audiences from standard manga of the time (predominantly targeted at pre-teens). With time, the underground manga style gained momentum and even Osamu Tezuka was influenced by Tatsumi's work, as is apparent in his manga Hi no Tori (Phoenix) and Adolf. This sparked an important change in the manga industry and led to the acceptance of more experimental manga works. Gekiga Hyouryuu (A Drifting Life), Tatsumi's two-volume autobiography published in 2008, is regarded as one of his best works. The manga series won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2009 and went on to win two Eisner Awards in 2010. This work, along with many other gekiga manga by Tatsumi, have been licensed and translated into multiple languages worldwide. Gravett writes of Yoshihiro Tatsumi: "His innovations were vitally important for Japanese comics and his lifetime's work stands as some of the most psychologically powerful and humane narratives, not only in manga but in global comics culture." Source: Paul Garvett's official site |
myanimelistllcFeb 12, 2016 5:26 AM
| I havent read any of his works but I can definitely see this man was quite the revolutionary writer and was a integral part of pushing the industry many steps foreword in what it could do. this dude has my respect. |
Immahnoob said: Jizzy, I know you have no idea how to argue for shit, tokiyashiro said: Jizzy as you would call yourself because youre a dick The most butthurt award goes to you And clearly you havent watched that many shows thats why you cant determine if a show is unique or not Or maybe you're just a child who likes common stuffs where hero saves the day and guys gets all the girls. Sad taste you have there kid you came up to me in the first place making you look more like a kid who got slapped without me even knowing it and start crying about it to me |
| Always sad to hear important individuals in the anime/manga industry passing away. Despite not having read any of his works, I can tell he was indeed a prominent figure. R.I.P. Tatsumi-sensei. |
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| Sad to hear someone so influential to underground manga passed away. |
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Tomino said: Sad to hear someone so influential to underground manga passed away. Same as me. R.I.P. |
| R.I.P. |
| While I haven't read his worth any national treasure of the industry passing is a sad one, RIP. |
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| RIP. A huge influence on the Golden Age of Manga and the seinen genre -- thank you for your contribution! |
| R.I.P :( |
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| Huge fan of his work and I've always admired him greatly for what he did for this industry. This is an immeasurable loss, RIP. |
| Oh damn, just a couple weeks ago I was thinking of checking some of his stuff out. |
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| I unfortunately haven't read his works but he seems to have held a very important place in the industry and have been a very influential person. RIP. |
| Sad to hear :( |
| RIP :( |
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| I haven't read any of his work, but now that I've seen this post I'll definitely give him a shot. Anyone with this big of an impact on the industry definitely deserves universal respect from fans of the medium. I wish had found out about him sooner. RIP :( |
Danish_Mar 9, 2015 5:25 PM
| R.I.P |
| Sorry hear about it............. also never heard this author too................. wonder what Manga he created? |
| Have Great Day =) Animekid3  |
on 
| Haven't heard about him before, but i'll definitely check this out. Rest in peace, artist~ |
| Knowing that he was an influential person in the seinen genre definitely earns my respect. RIP |
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| Rest in Peace. |
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| RIP :( |
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| Sad to hear :c RIP. |
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| R.I.P. |
| rest in pepperonis |
| R.I.P |
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Rance-sama said: rest in pepperonis *tips fedora |
| Rest in peace, Tatsumi-sensei. |
| RIP T.T |
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| RIP |
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| This is a HUGE loss, I was always a huge fan of his manga and struggle to find fitting words right now. Your gekiga will be missed :( |
| Steel Ball Run anime when? |
| R.I.P |
| This are some sad heart-breaking news. RIP Tatsumi |
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| That's sad. Amazing artist TT |
| I can't bear this feel Yet there are so many plebs that "haven't read anything by him". |
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| RIP |
| Sad news. R.I.P. |
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UnoPuntoCinco said: I can't bear this feel Yet there are so many plebs that "haven't read anything by him". I remember when Dezaki died, sometimes the lack of interest in older anime/manga disturbs me . Anyway, I will probably reread A Drifting Life this week. An amazing work that rightfully won so many awards. Maybe we will actually get an anime adaption one day? |
| Steel Ball Run anime when? |
Nidhoeggr said: A Drifting Life has an animated movie (made in singapore) which also has some of his short stories in.UnoPuntoCinco said: I can't bear this feel Yet there are so many plebs that "haven't read anything by him". I remember when Dezaki died, sometimes the lack of interest in older anime/manga disturbs me . Anyway, I will probably reread A Drifting Life this week. An amazing work that rightfully won so many awards. Maybe we will actually get an anime adaption one day? |
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| Pioneer and ahead of his times, more people should took notice of his works. RIP |
UnoPuntoCinco said: Nidhoeggr said: A Drifting Life has an animated movie (made in singapore) which also has some of his short stories in.I remember when Dezaki died, sometimes the lack of interest in older anime/manga disturbs me . Anyway, I will probably reread A Drifting Life this week. An amazing work that rightfully won so many awards. Maybe we will actually get an anime adaption one day? I knew about that, but I still would like a noitaminA special or so for him. Still, it is a good movie. |
| Steel Ball Run anime when? |
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