 It was announced on Wednesday that the mangaka behind the Lupin III series, Monkey Punch, died from pneumonia last Thursday. He was 81 years old.Born in Hokkaido on May 26, 1937, as Katou Kazuhiko, his first serialization was Playboy Nyuumon in Futabasha's Manga Story magazine, published under the pen name Eiji Gamuta. Two years later, he released his hit series Lupin III and adopted his pen name Monkey Punch. The manga was serialized in the first issue of Futabasha's Weekly Manga Action magazine and ran until 1972 with 14 compiled volumes. It spawned numerous animation and live-action film and television adaptations, as well as video game and other various adaptations based on the series. He received multiple awards for his work, including the San Diego Comic-Con INKPOT award, Rome Comics Festival ROMICS Award, AMD Achievement Award, and Tokyo Anime Award. In addition to researching 3D art, he was also a visiting lecturer for various universities. Source: Mantan Web |
| A great loss. May he rest in peace. |
 staff.applications ▼ guidelines.faq ▼ report.abuse ▼ thx.skittles ▼ thx.kina ▼ [H+] ³ ▼ |
| Just as I considering starting to watch the Lupin the III series... |
| RIP. A legend now gone in this world :( |
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| Another legend has left us. |
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron |
| RIP Feels bad he was a legendary man |
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| Yeah thinking about him the first word striking my mind is legend too. May he rest in peace. |
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| A legend is gone, this is so sad.. Thank you for everything.. May he rest in peace. |
| Rest in peace Sensei. Thank you for bringing us so many great adventures of Lupin III and company. |
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| Goodbye mr Monkey and although i never read/watched Lupin but i do know just how much influential you and your series were for the future generations |
| Another legend of the industry gone, still leaving behind a legacy as grand as lupin is astonishing given that its one of the most recognizable anime ever |
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 |
| RIP Monkey Punch His legacy lives on with Lupin III, a series that will live on for a very long time. |
| “I just spent the last two years thinking that you guys knew more than me about life and I just found out that you guys are just as dumb as me.” “Duh-doy.” “Yeah, duh-doy.” |
| aw rip :( i never finished lupin so maybe i should... |
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| Rest in peace. An absolute legend |
| Rest in peace and thanks for creating one of the most endearing and seminal character casts in any medium. |
Take care of yourself |
| I am saddened as a big fan of the Lupin III franchise. He created one of the most well developed cast that remains memorable to boot. Even today this legendary franchise is still one of the most recognizable in the manga/anime industry and inspired many. I do hope that the legacy will continue somehow and that people won't stop from creating sequels to this franchise, Monkey Punch's soul will always remain in it even if he is no longer with us on earth. |
OterinoFeb 6, 2020 4:17 PM
Haneken2086 said: RIP to Monkey Punch, aka Kazuhiko Kato, the creator of Lupin III, a master thief and one of anime's iconic heroes. And not just Lupin, he created a memorable cast in Fujiko Mine (still one of anime's hottest women), Daisuke Jigen and Goemon Ishikawa (master shooter and swordsman) and Inspector Zenigata (a great foil/rival to Lupin). Thank you sir for creating an action adventure saga that was fun and had a lot of twists and enabled a lot of great animation (Miyazaki, Imaishi, Dezaki and many other Japanese animators worked on Lupin in their early years). Thank you very much sir. Anime iconic heroes? What? He was a mangaka. His importance for anime was nothing significant as other people based and made adaptations of his work. The only important thing he did was to just have his work adapted. This isn't a contribution to the industry. Mangaka are important for manga and that's where their contribution is, not anime where their works are just adapted. The importance of Monkey Punch is for the manga industry, not anime. |
| Rest In Peace thanks for giving the world one of the sexiest fictional character that is Fujiko |
| Rest in peace the legendary, Monkey Punch! |
| Thanks for Lupin, old legend. |
| Steel Ball Run anime when? |
| i thought new lupin series or movies will keep coming but guess this is the end T_T . -i visited universal studio japan last month and there was a lupin game and alot of lupin merchandise ,i was very happy to see alot people love this series ,hope it wont be forgotten . very glad that i get to watch a great anime like lupin ,thank you so much .RIP |
| im sad af rest in peace |
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| Oh, man. This really hurts me. I was just going to rewatch Lupin at the end of the week, too. Rest in peace, Monkey Punch. |
| Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
| R.I.P it's sad to say goodbye will always remember you for all the great adventures with Lupin III & the gang, Thanks for Lupin III and more Monkey Punch. |
  What do I like? Well, myself, of course! I'm the flower of Olympia, after all! |
| wish they dont cancel last movie of lupin fujiko movie |
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| May he rest in peace. Generations are passing, the classic "do you feel old yet?" moment of the year. Just like those moments in P5 or Danganronpa where none of the kids got the references. |
| RIP Lupin salutes |
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| Rest in peace. Lupin is a classic anime he will always be remembered. |
| Rest in Piece. The Lupin franchise is fucking legendary and incredibly underrated and underappreciated. He really managed to make something special and hopefully more people will learn to appreciate this series. |
| :3 |
| Wow this is a huge loss in industry. Lupin has always been such a good series. I guess its time to get back to it again. |
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| A real fucking shame. |
| The guy's mark on anime is undeniable. |
Bum Bum Dum Dum |
| Rip legend! Thank you for all that you’ve done! |
#Anime4Life be my Life Motto! #PrayForKyoAni  |
| Damn. Though he lived to 81, I think that's almost a feat in modern mangaka standards. Thank you Monkey Punch! |
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| I just recently finished all Lupin Especially Lupin III part 1-3, it's just so nice RIP Thank you for Lupin I'll never forget :( |
"Signature removed"   |
| Very sad. very influential figure in the industry |
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