A sad day in the anime world and for those who grew up watching and reading “Doraemon” as manga artist and co-creator of the beloved series Fujiko Fujio A passed away yesterday on Thursday (7th April). He was 88 years old.
Fujiko Fujio A, whose real name is Motoo Abiko, passed away at his residence in Kawasaki, Tokyo. Police received a call from the residence after it was reported that someone had collapsed at around 8:40am but sadly, Fujiko had passed away by the time they arrived.
At the moment, the authorities are currently investigating Fujiko’s cause of death but so far it’s revealed that Fujiko did not have any suspicious injury or wounds that would indicate foul play. There is currently no information on whether or not they will release an official statement for cause of death once investigations are complete.
Fans all over the world are saddened by the news especially those who read the “Doraemon” manga and watched the anime series on TV since the 1970s. The iconic series of the robot cat from the future was one of the most successful children’s media franchises in the world. The series has spawned many films and 3 separate anime runs, the most recent of which is still running and is one of the highest-rated anime on Japanese television.
Other than “Doraemon”, Fujiko was also responsible for other famous work such as “Ninja Hattori-kun”, “Kaibutsu-kun”, “Pro Golfer Saru” and “Little Ghost Q-Taro”.
For those who don’t know, Fujiko Fujio A didn’t work on “Doraemon” alone as he had a collaborator that goes by the name Fujiko F. Fujio under the collective pseudonym Fujiko Fujio. His real name was Hiroshi Fujimoto and had passed away in 1996 at age 62. The duo decided to take on their respective pseudonyms before parting ways in 1987 with Abiko going by Fujiko Fujio A and Fujimoto by Fujiko F. Fujio.
As a final goodbye to the icon of these beloved manga and TV series, let’s listen to the original “Doraemon” anime theme song, “ドラえもんのうた ” (Doraemon no Uta) that was released in 1979. Rest in peace Fujiko-san and thank you.
Sources: South China Morning Post, IGN SEA
