Hisayuki Toriumi Has Passed Away

Hi all!

Some sad news -- the Gatchaman family has lost another member with the passing of Hisayuki Toriumi at the age of 67 from cardiac failure.

Mr. Toriumi was the Chief Director for the first Gatchaman TV series. As such, he acted more or less as the supervisor for the entire production, making sure that the show was a good as it could possibly be. He also took a personal hand in directing episodes of the series, 32 in total. These stories included most of the key episodes of the series, including the first episode (The Turtle King story), #'s 39~40 (Both parts of the Jigokiller story), #53 (The death of Red Impulse), #78 (Marine Satan), #81 (BC Island), #102 (The unmasking of Berg Katse), and #105 (The series finale).

Not confining himself to working just as a Director, Mr. Toriumi also contributed as a writer for the series; four episodes with writer Satoshi Suyama (# 22 (King Dragon), #53 (The death of Red Impulse), #71 (The yeti story), and #92 (The destruction of Crescent Coral Reef)) and five episodes on his own (#52 (The second part of the V2 Plan story), 68 (Micro Saturn), #88 (Snake 828), #102 (The unmasking of Berg Katse), and #105 (The series finale).

Mr. Toriumi began his career at Tatsunoko as a member of the writing department in February of 1966. During the run of Mach GoGoGo (Speed Racer), he made the switch to Directing, making his directorial debut with Mach GoGoGo #34. He would go on to direct nine episodes of that series, and followed by directing episodes of subsequent Tatsunoko series, including Guzura, Dokachin, Kurenai Sanshiro, Honeybee Hutch, Decision, and Mokku of the Oak Tree. It was with Gatchaman that he made the leap from episodic Director to Chief Director, and his success with that series led to him holding the same role in further Tatsunoko action series, such as Hurricane Polymer, Tekkaman, and Gowapper 5 Godam.

Though he left Tatsunoko to work freelance, Mr. Toriumi returned to Gatchaman in 1978 to act as the Chief Director for the Gatchaman feature film. At that time. Mr. Toriumi also wrote a Gatchaman novelization that captured many of the major events from the series in prose form. Sadly, this would be the last time Gatchaman was graced with Mr. Toriumis deft touch.

During the 1980s, Mr. Toriumi used the experience he had gained from his Gatchaman novelization to launch a successful career as a novelist, eventually writing nearly two dozen books.

His contributions to the anime world continued, as he helped to establish Studio Pierrot in 1979, acting as Chief Director on Wonderful Adventures of Nils and Esteban. He was also the Creator and Writer for Dallos, the first Original Animation Video to be released in Japan. It was during this time at Studio Pierrot that Mr. Toriumi became a mentor to noted Director Mamoru Oshii. He remained active in the animation world through at least 1998, when he Directed episodes of Pinka and the Friends of the Sea.

Mr. Toriumi passed away on January 23rd. His funeral will be held on Monday, January 26th in Hachioji. He leaves behind his wife, Hiroko. While the man may be gone, the legacy in his body of work will remain as a testament to his talent.

James

Thanks you for giving us some insight into his work, James.

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RIP, Hisayuki Toriumi, you will be missed.

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"They say the Titanic sank because it hit an iceberg, but that must have been Galactor's fault too."

This is very sad. I see that he played a big part in creating many of my most favourite Gatchaman episodes. I will think of him whenever I watch them.

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

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