Recent losses in the anime industry

animenostalgia:

Some sad news to share: several notable anime industry veterans in Japan have passed away recently.

Yushi Matsuyama, (the pen name of Shigeru Matsuyama) composer of the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam theme songs, passed away in a house fire. He was 79 years old & also did theme work for Heidi of the Alps, Majokko Megu-chan, and the Candy Candy movie.

Prolific Bandai anime producer Minoru Takanashi also passed away. He served on most Macross projects (including Macross II, Macross Plus, and Macross 7), and was project planner/producer for such classic titles as Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, 0083: Stardust Memory, Gunbuster, Giant Robo, The Vision of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, and more. Character Designer Nobuteru Yuki has been quoted to saying that without Takanashi’s “project-planning powers”, Escaflowne would never have been made.

And sadly a fire was also to blame for the death of Norio Shioyama & his wife. Shioyama was the character designer and chief animation director for Armored Trooper Votoms back in 1983. He was also the character designer for Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (aka Ronin Warriors). He was 77 years old.