Influential Mangaka Yoshihiro Tatsumi Dies at 79

by Sakana-san
Mar 9, 2015 2:33 PM | 51 Comments

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

Mangaka Life Event

20 of 51 Comments Recent Comments

rip!! D:

Mar 14, 2015 5:20 PM by Stardew

Rest in peace

Mar 14, 2015 9:05 AM by Eijikita_Rukaede

Man, what a lost :/
Rest in peace~

Mar 13, 2015 7:33 AM by Tengai

UnoPuntoCinco said:

Nidhoeggr said:

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?

A Drifting Life has an animated movie (made in singapore) which also has some of his short stories in.

I knew about that, but I still would like a noitaminA special or so for him.
Still, it is a good movie.

Mar 11, 2015 9:02 AM by Nidhoeggr

Pioneer and ahead of his times, more people should took notice of his works.

RIP

Mar 11, 2015 7:25 AM by live2win

Nidhoeggr said:

UnoPuntoCinco said:
I can't bear this feel

Yet there are so many plebs that "haven't read anything by him".

A Drifting Life has an animated movie (made in singapore) which also has some of his short stories in.

Mar 10, 2015 10:50 PM by UnoPuntoCinco

UnoPuntoCinco said:
I can't bear this feel

Yet there are so many plebs that "haven't read anything by him".

Mar 10, 2015 1:04 PM by Nidhoeggr

Sad news. R.I.P.