Tatsuo Yoshida (吉田 竜夫 Yoshida Tatsuo, March 6, 1932 - September 5, 1977) was a legendary manga artist who would be the founder of Tatsunoko Production and responsible for the genesis of many of its series.
The best-known works at Tatsunoko that would happen under his tenure included Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (aka Battle of the Planets, or G-Force: Guardians of Space), Mach Go Go Go (better known as Speed Racer in international markets), the Time Bokan series, and many others varying from melancholy childrens' series to high-octane gag comedy.
Inspired by American comics, Yoshida drew his characters in such a bold way and this was influential for Tatsunoko's early works stemming from his manga career.
Bio[]
Tatsuo Yoshida was born in Kyoto City. Shortly after World War II, he experienced the deaths of both parents, leaving him to make a living in being a self-taught artist, sketching for kamishibai and well as illustrating for newspapers and magazines.
After working at a newspaper company in Kyoto, he moved to Tokyo and began working mainly as a kamishibai artist. After making his professional debut in 1954, he teamed up with Ikki Kajiwara to illustrate the author's works. In the 1960s, his career shifted to that of being a more independent manga artist, though he also continued to work with Kajiwara as well as his own brothers.
Founding Tatsunoko[]
In October 1962, together with his younger brothers Kenji and Toyoharu (better known by his pen name of Ippei Kuri), he founded Tatsunoko Production and became its first president. Initially, the company was established as a manga production company to manage Yoshida's copyrights and those of his assistants, but as Yoshida began to show a strong desire to create animation, Tatsunoko began to produce anime as well.
Tatsunoko was committed to producing original series that were not merely based on manga or other sources, and took on challenges that other animation companies had not attempted, such as producing American-style animation with comic book-like illustrations. At the time, simplified drawings such as those in Tatsunoko's first anime, Space Ace, were the norm, but Yoshida insisted on animating American comic-like manga, creating Mach Go Go Go as a result. Other animators would find it difficult to imitate Yoshida's style, and in order to keep the schedule on track, they began rotating comedy animations with simple lineart and design, which ultimately expanded the range of Tatsunoko's work.
Yoshida would have three daughters during his reign at the company (Suzuka, Chihiro, and Michiru), and would involve them in the voice acting and singing for Tatsunoko's early LP drama works. He was extremely fond of his daughters, and even when they wandered around the workplace, he never treated them as nuisances. On the contrary, he would try to get ideas from his children's doodles, and would show his staff their sketches and ask if they could be used in the anime production. This would eventually lead to his eldest daughter Suzuka becoming a manga artist and following in her father and uncles' footsteps as a designer.
"I want to give dreams to children around the world" wound up being his famous catchphrase as well as his company motto.
Death[]
Sadly, Tatsuo Yoshida's life was tragically cut short at the age of 45, when he succumbed to liver cancer on September 5 , 1977 at the Nippon Medical School First Hospital in Chiyoda, Tokyo.
The last works Yoshida would have involvement with at the company prior to his passing were Yatterman, Ippatsu Kanta-kun, and Temple the Balloonist. In the wake of his death, Kenji Yoshida would take over as president at the company and would be credited as the main producer on shows until stepping down in 1987 (leaving Toyoharu/Ippei Kuri to succeed in the position).
During her father's last days, Suzuka made her decision to follow her father as a manga artist, and it was said he was very happy to learn her career path.
Body of Work[]
For the works produced by the Yoshida brothers, Kenji could often be seen credited under the penname of Kenji Maruyama.
Light Novels/Picture Stories[]
- Jungle King: November 1954 to April 1955, Shonen Gaho. Debut work.
- The Boy in the Wilderness: January 1955, Shonen Gaho. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara and marking their first collaboration.
- The Young Pro-Wrestling King: Iron Arm Rikiya: March 1955 to December 1957, Shonen and Shojo Adventure King. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
- Boys' Pro Wrestling King: November to December 1955, Omoshiro Book. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
- The Lou Thesz Story: November 1955, Omoshiro Book. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
- Pro Wrestling Goro: January 1956 to July 1957, Omoshiro Book. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
- World Boys' Team (世界少年隊): August 1957 to ?? 1958, Omoshiro Book. Work written by Takehiko Takada.
- Tornado Sanshiro: January to June 1957, Shonen. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
- March of the Sky: January 1957, Shonen New Year's Special Detective Book. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
- Byakko Daisuke: January to December 1958, Bokura. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
Manga[]
- Super Giants: August 1959 to June 1961, Bokura. Work written by Ichiro Miyagawa. Adaptation of the movie of the same name.
- Superman: May to October 1960, Shonen Gaho. A Japanese manga adaptation of the famous DC Comics property.
- Mach Sanshiro (マッハ三四郎): 1960 No.8- 1961 No.52, Weekly Shonen Magazine. Work written by Minoru Kume, Tatsuo Yoshida, art by Ippei Kuri.
- Champion Futoshi (チャンピオン太): 1962 No. 1 - 1963 No. 52, Weekly Shonen Magazine. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara, marking his debut as a manga-ka.
- Pilot Ace (パイロットA(エース)): November 1960 to April 1964, Shonen Gaho. Starting with the 1961 chapters, Kenji Maruyama began being credited as the author in place of Tatsuo Yoshida.
- Judo Boy (ジュードー・ボーイ): January 1961 to March 1962, Shonen Book. Work written by Yutaka Arai and Tatsuo Yoshida, with art by Ippei Kuri.
- Falcon Q (はやぶさQ): 1961 to 1963, Bokura.
- Fighter Ken (ファイター健): May 1962 to April 1963, Shonen Book. Written by Tatsuo Yoshida, with art by Ippei Kuri.
- Run, Falcon (走れはやぶさ): July 1962 to March 1963, Fun 3rd Grader. Work written by Kenji Maruyama.
- 0 Battle Champion (0戦チャンピオン): August 1962 to September 1963, Bokura. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
- Boy Ninja Squad Moonlight (少年忍者部隊月光): 1963 No. 1 - 1965 No. 10, Weekly Shonen King. Original concept planned by Tatsumi Katsumaru (under the alias of Masato Tenma).
- Big Sky Sanshiro (大空三四郎): October 1963 to August 1964, Bokura. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
- Harris Mudan (ハリス無段): 1963 No. 51- 1965 No.15, Weekly Shonen Magazine. Work written by Ikki Kajiwara.
- Space Ace (宇宙エース): July 1964 to May 1966, Shonen Book.
- Mach Go Go Go (マッハGoGoGo): June 1966 to April 1968, Shonen Book. Work written by Kenji Maruyama.
- Boy Sharp (少年シャープ): 1966, Elementary School 2nd Grade and Elementary School 3rd Grade.
While there were later manga works credited to Tatsuo Yoshida and Tatsunoko Production, these were often actually the work of his assistants at the company.
Anime[]
- Space Ace- Original author
- Mach Go Go Go- Original author, Producer
- I'm Gazula- Producer
- Dokachin- Original author, Planning, and Producer
- Sanshiro Kurenai - Original author, Producer
- Hakushon Daimao - Original author, Producer
- The Insect Story of Orphan Hutch - Original author, Producer
- Sky Fighter Z (shelved) - Original author, Character design, Animation supervision, Producer
- Inakappe Taisho - Producer
- Kabatotto - Producer
- Decision - Character design (with Takashi Yorimitsu and Akira Ugaki), Animation direction (with Sadao Miyamoto and Ippei Kuri), Producer
- Mokku of the Oak Tree - Planning, Character design (with Yoshitaka Amano and Ippei Kuri), Producer
- Science Ninja Team Gatchaman - Original author, Character design (with Ippei Kuri), Producer. While he passed away long before the sequels were made, he is still credited for their "Original author" position due to the original.
- Tamagon the Counselor - Producer
- Kerokko Demetan - Planning, Character design (with Yoshitaka Amano), Producer
- Neo-Human Casshan - Original author, Character design (with Yoshitaka Amano), Producer
- The New Insect Story of Orphan Hutch - Original author
- Hurricane Polymar - Original author and Character design (with Yoshitaka Amano)
- The Song of Ladybug - Producer (Uncredited)
- Tekkaman the Space Knight - Producer, Character designs for the Space Knights
- Time Bokan - Producer. Adapted from the unaired pilot Quick and Simple Tanmar.
- Paul's Miraculous Adventure - Producer
- Time Bokan Series: Yatterman - Producer (episodes 1-36)
- Ippatsu Kanta-kun - Producer (passed away before broadcast, credited posthumously)
- Temple the Balloonist - Producer (passed away before broadcast, credited posthumously)
Besides the Gatchaman sequels, Yoshida's name is also credited as "Original author" for the 1989 remake of Hutch, as well as the 1994 Gatchaman OVA by Tatsunoko and Artmic.
Related People[]
Family Members[]
- Kenji Yoshida - Second son of the Yoshida family. Anime producer, second president and first chairman of Tatsunoko Production.
- Ippei Kuri (real name: Toyoharu Yoshida) - Third, youngest son of the Yoshida family. Manga artist, anime producer, and the third president of Tatsunoko Production.
- Ayako Yoshida- The widow of Tatsuo, who was also prevalent in the company after his death and supported it behind the scenes beforehand.
- Suzuka Yoshida - His eldest daughter. A designer and illustrator affiliated with Tatsunoko Production.
- Chihiro Nakano - Second daughter. Editing engineer at Tatsunoko Production.
- Michiru Yoshida - Third daughter. Executive of the animation production company Production IG , singer "MIRChee".
- Mitsuhisa Ishikawa - Former employee of Tatsunoko Production, founder of Production IG . Ex-husband of Michiru Yoshida.
Assistants[]
- Mamoru Uchiyama
- Haruo Koyama
- Naoki Tsuji
- Mikiya Mochizuki
- Yoshihiro Morito
- Masato Tenma