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was a Japanese
manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...
who became an influential figure in
manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...
,
anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
, and , creating several immensely popular long-running series such as '' Cyborg 009,'' the ''
Super Sentai is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi (" Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron"). The ...
'' series (later adapted into the ''
Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise '' Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS ...
'' series), and the ''
Kamen Rider The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until Decade), is a Japanese superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. ''Kamen Rider'' media gener ...
'' series. He was twice awarded by the
Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier J ...
s, in 1968 for '' Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae'' and in 1988 for ''Hotel'' and ''Manga Nihon Keizai Nyumon''. He was born as in Tome, Miyagi, and was also known as prior to 1986, when he changed his family name to Ishinomori by adding the character in
katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived f ...
.


Career

In December 1954, Ishinomori published his first work, ''Nikyuu Tenshi'', in '' Manga Shōnen''. In 1956, he moved to Tokyo and became an assistant to
Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him suc ...
. During his time working under Tezuka, Ishinomori worked on '' Astro Boy'' and ''
Alakazam the Great ''Alakazam the Great'', known in Japan as , is a 1960 Japanese anime musical film, based on the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. It was one of the earliest anime films to be released in the United States. Osamu Tezuka was named ...
''. In 1960, Ishinomori published '' Flying Phantom Ship'', which was later turned into an animated feature film in 1969. '' Cyborg 009'', created in 1963, became the first superpowered hero team created in Japan, featuring nine
cybernetic Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...
warriors. That same year, Kazumasa Hirai and Jiro Kuwata created Japan's first
android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
superhero series, '' 8 Man'' (which predated Ishinomori's ''
Kikaider is a manga series written and illustrated by Shotaro Ishinomori. A two-season tokusatsu series titled '' Android Kikaider'' ('' Kikaider 01'' in season 2) was produced by Toei Company and Ishimori Productions in early 1970s. A 18-episo ...
'' by nine years). The success of the superhero TV series ''
Kamen Rider The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until Decade), is a Japanese superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. ''Kamen Rider'' media gener ...
'', produced by
Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by ...
in 1971, led to the birth of the "transforming" (''henshin'') superhero (human-sized superheroes who transform by doing a pose, and use martial arts to fight henchmen and the weekly monster), and resulted in many sequel shows to this day. Ishinomori then created many similar superhero dramas, which were once again all produced by Toei or in Sarutobi Ecchan's case
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Sl ...
, including '' Android Kikaider'', '' Kikaider 01'', ''
Henshin Ninja Arashi — originally subtitled ''Emergence'' — is a hentai manga written by American-Japanese mangaka Shindo L. Originally published between 2013 and 2016 through ''Comic X-Eros'', it gained a following online for its grim and depressing story ...
'', '' Inazuman'', ''
Robotto Keiji is a tokusatsu superhero TV series. Created by Shotaro Ishinomori, the series was produced by Toei Company Ltd., and broadcast on Fuji TV from April 5 to September 27, 1973, with a total of 26 episodes. It stars Jirō Chiba. The hero of this ...
'', '' Himitsu Sentai Gorenger'' (the first
Super Sentai is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi (" Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron"). The ...
series), '' Kaiketsu Zubat'', '' Akumaizer 3'', '' Sarutobi Ecchan'', the '' Toei Fushigi Comedy Series'', and countless others. He even created popular children's shows, such as '' Hoshi no Ko Chobin'' (''Chobin, Child of the Stars'', 1974, a co-production with Studio Zero which was a major success on Italian television) and '' Ganbare!! Robokon''. In 1963, he also founded the anime company Studio Zero. From 1967 to 1970, the manga '' 009-1'' was serialized in the Futabasha publication ''Weekly Manga Action''. It was written and illustrated by Ishinomori. There was a television drama of it in 1969 and eventually an anime in 2006. Ishinomori's art is reminiscent of that of his mentor, Osamu Tezuka. The true story of his first meeting with Tezuka was illustrated in a short four-page tale drawn up as supplementary material for the 1970s '' Astro Boy'' manga reprints. In 1954, Ishinomori submitted his first official work, ''Nikyu Tenshi'', to a contest seeking new talent in the magazine, ''Manga Shōnen''. Tezuka was impressed by his drawings and sent a telegraph to Ishinomori, asking him to work as his assistant with ''Astro Boy''. In the American release, this story can be seen in Volume 15, along with Ishinomori's earliest work on the "Electro" story arc. After graduating from high school in 1956 Ishinomori moved to Tokiwa-so with Tezuka, and lived there until the end of 1961. Ishinomori also illustrated a comic adaptation of the Super NES video game '' The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past'', which was produced for the American publication ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Nint ...
''. The comic consisted of 12 chapters, which were serialized from January 1992 (Volume 32) to December 1992 (Volume 43). The comic was republished as a graphic novel collection in 1993, and, as of 2015, is back in print through
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
. At the end of 1997, Kazuhiko Shimamoto, a young and up-and-coming manga artist was contacted by an increasingly ill Ishinomori and asked if he would do a continuation (though more along the lines of a remake) of his 100-page, one-shot manga from 1970, '' Skull Man'' (the manga that became the basis for ''Kamen Rider''). Ishinomori, who had been one of Shimamoto's boyhood heroes, faxed him copies of the proposed story and plot notes. Shimamoto was astounded that he had been chosen to work on his idol's final, great work. Shimamoto had already been involved in the revival of one of Ishinomori's other earlier works (including ''Kamen Rider'') but little did he dream that, as only one of many whom Ishinomori had inspired, he would be chosen for the final collaboration and resurrection of ''Skull Man''. It was also adapted into an anime in 2007.


Death and legacy

Ishinomori died of heart failure on 28 January 1998, just three days after his 60th birthday. His final work was the superhero TV series, '' Voicelugger'', televised a year later. Two years later, the Kamen Rider series would be revived with '' Kamen Rider Kuuga''. All of the series made in the
Heisei period The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohi ...
credit Ishinomori as the creator. The Ishinomori Manga Museum named in his honor opened in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, in 2001. Special trains in the Senseki Line were commissioned featuring his artwork generally leading to the museum. His work posthumously awarded him the Guinness World Record for most comics published by one author, totaling over 128,000 pages across 770 titles across 500 volumes. Manga artists that have cited Ishinomori as an influence include
Katsuhiro Otomo is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter, animator and film director. He is best known as the creator of '' Akira'', in terms of both the original 1982 manga series and the 1988 animated film adaptation. He was decorated a ''Chevalier'' of th ...
, Naoki Urasawa and
Tetsuo Hara is a Japanese manga artist. He is best-known for creating the post-apocalyptic martial arts series '' Fist of the North Star'' (1983–1988) with writer Buronson, which is one of the best-selling manga in history with over 100 million copies ...
. Fuku Suzuki portrays a young Ishinomori in '' Saber + Zenkaiger: Superhero Senki''.


Selected works


References


External links


Ishimori Production Inc.
– Official website
Ishimori Production Inc.
– Official website
Ishimori Production Inc.
– Official website
Mangattan Museum website



Shotaro Ishinomori Memorial Museum
– Official website
Entry
in
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, contin ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishinomori, Shotaro 1938 births 1998 deaths Anime character designers Manga artists from Miyagi Prefecture Winner of Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Special Award)