Gosaku Ota, Mazinger Z Artist, Dies at Age 74
Mazinger Z creator Gosaku Ota, a seasoned manga artist, passed away on December 12 at the age of 74.
After receiving a sympathy letter, Studio Nue co-founder Haruka Takachiho announced the sad news on January 1 through Twitter. Ota contracted COVID-19, according to Anime News Network, near the end of November. He was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, where he got care and his condition stabilised. But because of the illness, he lost strength and developed pneumonia, which led to his ultimate death from the infection.
Ota, who was born in 1948 and reared in Kaminoyama, Yamagata, Japan, assisted Shotaro Ishinomori, the man behind 009 Re: Cyborg and Kamen Rider, before Ishinomori’s death from heart failure in 1998. He began his career as a shjo manga artist after working as an assistant. Some of his most well-known works are the manga adaptations of Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, UFO Robo Grandizer, Getter Robo, Getter Robo Z, and Kotetsu Zieg by Go Nakai. Additionally, Ota designed the second half of Nakai’s Machine Saurer; the first half was drawn by Ken Ishikawa, a student of Nakai who passed away in 2006 at the age of 58.
Tsuri Baka Taish, a manga about fishing that was published in 1981 and collected into 10 tank-bon volumes, was also drawn by Ota. He also developed the Groizer X anime and the Mach SOS manga.
The Groizer X manga was written by his colleague Go Nakai, and the anime Ota worked on had a total of 36 episodes that aired from 1976 to 1977. The anime was conceived by Ota and Nakai jointly as a side project when they were occupied with several Mazinger series. The Gaira aliens, who are buried in the Arctic and have an earth-conquering plot, are the subject of Groizer X. Dr. Yan develops the Groizer X weapon, a 100-meter-tall, 1200-ton, transformable aerial robot, after being imprisoned and made to work for the aliens. When Dr. Yan’s daughter flees aboard the Groizer X to Japan, she finds Joe Kaisaka, with whom she fights alongside the Gaira invasion.
Gosaku Ota, Mazinger Z Artist, Dies at Age 74
Reference Sites:
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