Leiji Matsumoto (Japanese: 松本零士, Hepburn: Matsumoto Reiji, born Akira Matsumoto (松本晟); January 25, 1938 – February 13, 2023) was a Japanese manga artist, and creator of several anime and manga series. His widow Miyako Maki is also a manga artist.[3]
Matsumoto was famous for his space operas such as Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999.[4] His style was characterized by mythological and often tragic storylines with strong moral themes, noble heroes, feminine heroines, and a love of strange worlds and melancholic atmosphere.[5]
Leiji Matsumoto was born on January 25, 1938, in Kurume, Fukuoka.[6] He was the middle child of a family of seven brothers, and, in his early childhood, Matsumoto was given a 35mm film projector by his father, and watched American cartoons during the Pacific War. During this time, he gained an interest in science fiction novels by authors Unno Juza and H. G. Wells.[7] Matsumoto started drawing at the age of six, and began drawing manga three years later after seeing the works of Osamu Tezuka.[6] At 18, he moved to Tokyo to become a manga artist.[7]
Leiji Matsumoto as the honorary stationmaster of Ōizumi-gakuen Station in 2008
In 1954, Matsumoto made his debut under his real name, Akira Matsumoto, with Mitsubachi no bōken in the magazine Manga Shōnen.[8]
Matsumoto's big break came with Otoko Oidon, a series that chronicled the life of a rōnin (a young man preparing for university entrance exams), in 1971. In 1972 he created the mature-themed dark comedy Western seinen series Gun Frontier for the Play Comic magazine, which ran from 1972 to 1975. Around the same time he started a series of unconnected short stories set during World War II, Senjo Manga Series, which would eventually become popular under the title The Cockpit.[5]
Approximately two dozen bronze statues – each four feet tall – of characters and scenes from Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999 were erected in the downtown area of Tsuruga in 1999. Each statue includes a plaque at its base explaining the character and features Matsumoto's signature.[10]
Matsumoto worked with Yoshinobu NishizakionSpace Battleship Yamato (known outside Japan under various names, but most commonly as Star Blazers).[11][12] Matsumoto created a manga loosely based on the series, and the Yamato makes cameo appearances (sans crew) in several of his works including the Galaxy Express 999 manga.[5]
A later work by Matsumoto called Great Yamato featuring an updated Yamato was renamed Great Galaxy due to legal issues with Nishizaki.[13][14][15][16] As of 2009, Matsumoto and Nishizaki were working on independent anime projects featuring the acclaimed Space Battleship Yamato, with the conditions that Matsumoto cannot use the name Yamato or the plot or characters from the original, and Nishizaki cannot use the conceptual art, character or ship designs of the original.[17]
On November 15, 2019, Matsumoto suffered severe respiratory problems and collapsed during an event in Turin, Italy, for the 40th-anniversary tour celebrating the Captain Harlock anime adaptation. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition and had a breathing tube inserted after he was admitted to the emergency unit.[21] However, he was considered to be out of danger two days later.[22]
Matsumoto died of acute heart failure at a hospital in Tokyo on February 13, 2023, at the age of 85.[20] Various manga artists offered condolences, including Yasuhiro Nightow, Nozomu Tamaki, and his wife Maki. Galaxy Express 999 voice actress Masako Nozawa and translator Zack Davisson also gave their condolences.[23]
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