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Manga Creator George Akiyama Passes Away at 77
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Manga creator George Akiyama (real name Yūji Akiyama) passed away on May 12. He was 77. His relatives held a private funeral.
According to Shogakukan, Akiyama was planning his next work.
Akiyama was born in 1943, and made his manga debut with Gaikotsu-kun (Skeleton-kun) in 1966. Akiyama was perhaps best known for his Haguregumo manga, which launched in Shogakukan's Big Comic Original in 1973, and ended in 2017. The manga inspired an anime film in 1982. His Ashura manga also inspired the 2012 anime Asura, and his Sutegataki Hitobito manga inspired a live-action film that premiered in Japan in October 2013. His Koiko no Mainichi manga inspired an OVA in 1989.
Akiyama's Gyara manga ran in Shonengahosha's Shonen King magazine from 1979 to 1981 and had eight volumes. Katsumi Kobayashi has been drawing an ongoing remake of the manga in Shonengahosha's Young King BULL magazine since January 2019. The manga's first part ended on March 23.
Source: The Sankei News via Hachima Kikō
