Hi all, Some sad news to report this time. Noted scriptwriter Jinzo Toriumi has passed away at age 78. You can read a nice overview of his life and career at Wendy's Gatchablog at: http://gatchablog.blogspot.com/ I know that many of you are wondering why I'm even mentioning this here. Simply put, Jinzo Toriumi was one of the main staff members for Gatchaman, and without his efforts, the series would not have been the same. Toriumi, along with Satoshi Suyama, created the series Planning Establishment (Essentially the bible for the series), and went on to function as the Chief Writer. He also penned 16 episodes of the series, including the first episode. Though working freelance by the late 1970s, he returned to help with the Planning Establishment for both Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter, and contributed scripts for the Gatchaman radio drama (2 episodes, though he oversaw the scripts for the rest through his company, Tori Productions), Gatchaman II (9 episodes, including the first and last episodes), and Gatchaman Fighter (7 episodes, includng the first episode and the 2-part death of Nambu stories). Mr. Toriumi even wrote an original Gatchaman novel, "The Condor Flies!," which was published in 1989. His funeral is being held on the 20th. It might be nice if all Gatchaman fans took a moment to remember Mr. Toriumi for all that his work has given us. James

A shame, just before the movie.

I have moved this to our news section as I think this is quite an important thing for the Gatch community to know.

Very sad...RIP Mr. Toriumi...

It is very sad that he's gone, but it is good that he lived such a long life...Thank Mr.Toriumi for the wonderful work you did on Gatchaman...RIP.

Thank you Sooooooooo much for your life's work. What you did, Mr. Toriumi, was shape a young 8th grade mind. What you have done makes all the difference to me. I hope to see you on the other side, so I can thank you personally.. ThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYou!!!!!!!!!

How sad. I hope he knew the impact he made on so many people's lives. His memory will always live on in the characters and show he helped create - and the fans who keep the series alive. Rest in peace, Mr. Toriumi. You will be missed.

Certainly he made an impact on all of our lives.

I hope he looks down and has cause to smile about the new Gathc film that should capture a new generation of fans

Originally posted by Firebird I hope he looks down and has cause to smile about the new Gathc film that should capture a new generation of fans

I'll second that FB! I hope they do justice to it.

Its a shame

Many anime fans really owe a debt to all those who worked on early anime shows like Gatchaman, Speed Racer, Astro Boy. Their pioneering work--to make characters more real and action tougher--is what makes anime so popular today. They broke ground and made animation not just a venue for slapstick humor as it was in the early days of animation in the U.S. A great loss indeed. RIP Mr. Toriumi.

Hi all, It's interesting that you should mention "Astro Boy" and "Speed Racer," since Jinzo Toriumi worked on both of those series. He started his work in the animation industry by joining Mushi Productions in 1964 to write scripts for "Astro Boy." He left Mushi for Tatsunoko in 1965 to write for "Space Ace." In 1966, he wrote the Planning Establishment for "Speed Racer," and subsequently worked on the scripts for 42 of the 52 episodes of that series. There's no way around it, Jinzo Toriumi's body of work was far-reaching and impressive. James

Here's to one of the last Gatchaman figureheads and forerunners.A Kagaku Nimpo Hinotori salute to you.

RIP and thankyou for entertaining us.