- Born
- Died
- Birth nameAkira Matsumoto
- Leiji Matsumoto was born on January 25, 1938 in Fukuoka, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years (1985), Space Battleship Yamato (1974) and Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love (1978). He was married to Miyako Maki. He died on February 13, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan.
- SpouseMiyako Maki(1962 - February 13, 2023) (his death)
- He has a deep fascination with the number 9 and uses it in his works, believing it represents the last stop before a major shift in mathematics/time/space/the ages of man.
- He draws his spacecraft as possessing a wide array of dials and gauges. This trademark has been dubbed as the "Matsumoto Meter" or the "Gauges of Matsumoto".
- He often features a cat (based on his own pet cat Mi-kun) in his stories
- His heroines are portrayed as tall slender females, with long (usually blonde) hair and almond-shaped eyes. In contrast to their fragilely elegant form, they are seen as mysterious, strong and possessing great wisdom/powers.
- His male protagonists often have brown shaggy hair.
- The music group Daft Punk are huge fans of Matsumoto's work and commissioned him to work on the music videos of their album "Discovery". This inspired Toei Animation to hire both the group and Matsumoto to make Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003).
- His series Space Battleship Yamato (1974) was dubbed and released into the United States as Star Blazers (1979) to wide popularity and acclaim. The series is considered a groundbreaker for introducing a current term/genre to the world - anime.
- He has a deep fascination with German culture, and expresses it through his work, especially on Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978).
- The basic look for all Matsumoto's heroines was inspired by an old photograph he discovered during World War II. The photo was of Takako Mise, the granddaughter of Dr. Philipp Franz Von Siebold, a Dutchman and the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan during the 1800s. Matsumoto was also inspired by actresses Marianne Hold, Eleanor Parker, Danielle Darrieux and Kaoru Yachigusa.
- He holds a collection of antiques, especially ancient weaponry (mostly swords and guns). He is such an aficionado on historical weaponry that he is able to verify their authenticity and approve ownership applications for such artifacts.
- If Space Battleship Yamato (1974) was my elementary or junior high, then Galaxy Express 999 (1978) was my high school and Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978) and Queen Millennia (1981) were my university studies.
- On Galaxy Express 999 (1978) (aka Galaxy Express 999): It's a train ride through one's mind, or the train that travels along with one. And each person has a different journey....
- On Maetel (his most famous heroine): Maetel is the woman who travels with an adolescent boy's dreams. She's traveled with millions, tens of millions of boys, so far. In fact, there are as many Maetels as there are boys. That's also how she can show up in any story. All boys have met Maetel in different forms of encounter. The characters of Shadow and Emeraldas, who were girls in their adolescence, have met someone called Maetel, in the heart, from their childhood, or during the time when they were full of dreams.
- I have a great attachment to Yamato, but if another new story is created, I do not want to participate unless my heart is in it. Otherwise, I am afraid Yamato will no longer be my work.
- Yamato is a very important work for me, so I think I should firmly decide when to quit so it won't head to a miserable end. I don't want my child to be set adrift. The feeling I have for it is, to my mind, like parental love.
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