Leiji Matsumoto

Leiji Matsumoto (松本 零士) was a well-known Japanese creator of several anime and manga series. His widow Miyako Maki (牧 美也子) is also known as a manga artist.

Space opera
Matsumoto was famous for his space operas such as Space Battleship Yamato. His style was characterized by tragic heroes; tall, slender, fragile-looking heroines with strong wills and in some cases, god-like powers; and a love of analog gauges and dials in his spacecraft.

Career
Matsumoto made his debut under his real name, Akira Matsumoto, in 1953. His wife is shōjo manga artist Miyako Maki (better known as the creator of the doll, Licca-chan, the Japanese equivalent of Barbie).

Matsumoto had his big break with Otoko Oidon, a series that chronicled the life of a rōnin (a young man who was preparing himself for entrance examinations to universities and colleges), in 1971. 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.

He was involved in Space Battleship Yamato (1974) and the debut of the highly popular series Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999 (both 1977). In 1978, he was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen for Galaxy Express 999 and Senjo Manga Series. Animated versions of Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999 are set in the same universe, which spanned several spin offs and related series, most notably Queen Emeraldas and Queen Millennia.

Matsumoto supervised the creation of several music videos for the French house group Daft Punk, set to tracks from their album Discovery. These videos were issued end-to-end (making a full-length animated movie) on a DVD release titled Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem.

About two dozen bronze statues &mdash; each perhaps four feet tall &mdash; 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 featuring Matsumoto's signature.

Matsumoto worked with Yoshinobu Nishizaki on Space Battleship Yamato (known outside Japan under various names but most commonly as Star Blazers). 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.

A later work by Matsumoto called Great Yamato featuring an updated Yamato had to be renamed Great Galaxy due to legal issues with Nishizaki. As of this 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.

Death
Matsumoto died of acute heart failure at a hospital in Tokyo on February 13, 2023, at 85. 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.

List of works

 * Arei no Kagami (1985)
 * Fairy Hotaruna
 * Space Battleship Yamato (1974)
 * Planet Robot Danguard Ace (part of the U.S. Force Five anthology series, as Dangard Ace; 1977–1978)
 * Galaxy Express 999 (1977–1981)
 * Captain Harlock (1977–1979)
 * Starzinger (part of the Force Five anthology series, as Spaceketeers)
 * Queen Millennia (aka Queen of 1000 Years)
 * Arcadia of My Youth
 * Arcadia of My Youth: Endless Orbit SSX
 * Battlefield
 * The Cockpit
 * Maeterlinck's Blue Bird: Tyltyl and Mytyl's Adventurous Journey
 * Queen Emeraldas
 * Tiger-Striped Mii
 * The Ultimate Time Sweeper Mahoroba (manga)
 * Fire Force DNAsights 999.9
 * Harlock Saga Der Ring des Nibelungen
 * Maetel Legend
 * Cosmo Warrior Zero
 * Gun Frontier (1972–1975)
 * Great Galaxy (formerly Great Yamato)
 * Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The Endless Odyssey
 * Pu Pu (1974)
 * Submarine Super 99
 * Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003) (In cooperation with Daft Punk)
 * The Galaxy Railways
 * Great Yamato #0
 * Space Symphony Maetel
 * Submarine Super 99 (1964)
 * Kousoku Esper (1968–1970)
 * Sexaroid (1968–1970)
 * Machinner series (1969–1970)
 * Mystery Eve (1970–1971)
 * Dai-yojo-han series (1970–1974)
 * Otoko Oidon (1971–73)
 * Senjo Manga series (1973–1978)
 * Insect (1975)
 * Saint Elmo - Hikari no Raihousha