Featured Person of the Week: Shotaro Ishinomori
Contributions/Innovations:
Created Japan’s first multicultural and multiracial team with Cyborg 009, which was also the first heroic team in Japan
Helped create the first transforming hero live action series
Helped create many of the tokustatsu series of the 1970s and 1980s
Created thousands of pages of manga within his lifetime.
His work with Kamen Rider initiated the Transformation Boom in the 1970s. With the popularity of the first series, he was able to create and bring to life various other heroic figures.
Because of Kamen Rider’s popularity, there is an asteroid named after the superhero.
Various works of his are continued to be referenced through the modern age. There is even an asteroid named after one of his most famous franchises,12796 Kamenrider.
Transforming Ninja Arashi
Message from Space: Galaxy Wars
Toei Strange Comedy Series
Born Januaray 25, 1938, Ishinomori was born the eldest son of his father. It wouldn’t be until he read “New Takara” by Osamu Tezuka that he started to truly be a big fan of the man’s work. Since that point, Ishinomori worked on his drawing abilities and even contributed comics to his Junior High school’s newspaper.
After getting admitted into high school, the comic “Shounen Manga” offered a contest in order to find new talent across Japan. Ishinomori, operating under the pen name Ishimori at the time, submitted an entry and gained the interest of Osamu Tezuka, himself. He was later contacted by Tezuka and offered an apprenticeship under him.
Ishinomori debuted his story in Shounen Manga in 1954 with the story 『二級天使』(”Secondary Angel”). It was after his debut that others who also lived with Tezuka to study from him that they noticed the speed at which Ishinomori worked. Often, it would be said that he produced 650 pages per month, occasionally accompanied by the sound of heavy breathing.
His family, however, was mixed on his pursuit of being a comic artist. His parents were vocal in their disapproval. His only ally, it seemed, had been one of his sisters who encouraged him and told him she was working on convincing their parents to accept his work.
However, four years after his debut, his sister, and only source of encouragement, passed away in 1958, greatly affecting Ishinomori and his work.
Even before Cyborg 009, Ishinomori was considered a star writer in Japanese comics. The debut of the series only pushed him further up in the eyes of his readers and would often receive many fan letters regarding the series.
It was in the 1970s that most people remember his work best. He worked closely with Toei in producing many original tokustatsu series within that decade, often designing many of concepts and designs that would be used in the series. He would also draw and write comics that were related to the series as they aired. However, events, tones, and even characterizations could be radically different between the two pieces of media.
Ishinomori also made many guest appearances on the shows he created, such as in an episode of Kamen Rider (1991) and an episode of The Magnificent Zubat.
As he grew older, Ishinomori grew increasingly ill with each passing year. He was contacted by Kazuhiko Shimamoto about possibly working to continue a one-shot story on the Skull Man. Ishinomori surprised him by allowing him to work on the project.
Ishinomori died of heart failure on January 28, 1998.
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