The mangaka Leiji Matsumoto, father of Harlock, died at the age of 85
“Albator is my most faithful and oldest friend.
He is my alter ego in his determination, ”assured Leiji Matsumoto, here in Turin in 2019. Getty Images – Stefano Guidi
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The world of manga and Japanese animation has lost one of its legendary representatives.
Leiji Matsumoto, famous for the epics Harlock and Galaxy Express 999, died on February 13.
He had also collaborated with Daft Punk for the clip of "
One More Time
".
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Leiji Matsumoto.
His name may not mean anything to you, but if you were born in the 1970s, you undoubtedly know him as the universe he designed had gone beyond the borders of Japan.
Son of an army pilot, fourth child in a family of seven children, Leiji Matsumoto, born in 1938, was passionate about animated images from the age of 4.5.
He is marked by the dropping of the atomic bomb by the United States in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, when he was 7 years old.
In 1974, he rose to prominence with
Yamato, the space battleship
, then in 1977,
Galaxy Express 999
, science fiction stories.
Harlock, his alter ego
His most famous creation remains the “Capitaine Albator” series which will make many young children dream all over the world.
Released in Japan between 1977 and 1979, then adapted into a cartoon and shown around the world, this work was a worldwide success, notably broadcast on French television from 1980. This solitary character of a space pirate, scarred face and long black cape with a skull and crossbones, is also the one he will feel closest to throughout his career.
In 2011, at the Annecy animated film festival where he came to present the trailer for the film
Harlock, space corsair,
he confided that he was his
"most faithful and oldest friend", his alter ego in his determination”.
A return with Daft Punk
In 2003, he also created a medium-length animated film
Interstella 5555
which depicted
Daft Punk's album
Discovery and particularly the track
One More Time
.
In 2012, he was decorated with the medal of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.
The Embassy learned with sadness of the death of Leiji Matsumoto.
Albator's father, he was one of the first mangakas to make a name for himself in France.
His immense work, celebrated in 2013 at the Angoulême Festival, earned him the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2012. pic.twitter.com/lbogzHIuog
— France in Japan🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@ambafrancejp) February 20, 2023
In 2013, he celebrated his 60-year career at the Angoulême Comics Festival, of which he was the guest of honor.
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