Kinji Yoshimoto Plastic Little co-creator, Passed Away
Director, Animator Kinji Yoshimoto Passes Away
Yoshimoto wrote the original Plastic Little manga with Satoshi Urushihara, and directed and storyboarded the OVA adaptation.
Katsuyuki Tamura revealed on Twitter on Monday that director and animator Kinji Yoshimoto passed away on November 5. Yoshimoto was 55.
The statement wrote: “I’m sure some of you know, but please excuse me. I regret to report that Mr. Kinji Yoshimoto has been in the hospital for a while. He passed away on November 5 at the age of 55. In accordance with the wishes of the deceased, the funeral service was held only with the immediate family. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation for his kindness and support throughout his life.
“We also used to talk a lot on the phone, bragging about our poor health and talking nonsense. We take great care of ourselves because our bodies are quite fragile… until I was hospitalized last month. The last time I heard from him was when he was in the hospital. He is frustrating in many ways. I feel sorry for not being able to do anything even in this situation. Now I can only pray for his soul and thank him eternally for having been my friend.
«It is a pity that the joke stops being it, when he said that he would be the first to leave this life. It’s hard not to hear that laugh again. Honestly this time I was worried about posting it on social media. But I asked permission to publish it because I did not have the means to do it myself, and also because I wanted the people I know who cannot communicate with me to know. I hope I was able to convey it correctly to everyone who knew Yoshimoto-san. ”
“He always contacted me in June of each year, saying that he was checking that he was still alive, bragging about his misfortunes, his bad health and talking nonsense and forcing me to do things… He will not be able to do that now. He was a good older brother. Until the day before you were admitted to the hospital, you would go around in the middle of the night doing production and picking things up (you often contacted me when you were away). Now you can rest from all this.
