2021 was not a happy year for Mangaka. In May we heard of Kentaro Miura saying goodbye, the legendary Takao Saito passed away a few weeks ago. And now too Sanpei Shirato and Tetsuji Okamoto have left us.

Shogakukan Publishing announced in the last few hours that Sanpei Shirato, whose real name was Noboru Okamoto, and the Designer Tetsuji Okamoto they died on October 8 and October 12, 2021, respectively. The announcement came with the image shown below with a photo of the legendary Sanpei Shirato on the left, who died at the age of 89, and his younger brother Tetsuji on the right. Both died of pneumonia, and the family only announced the death a few hours in order to maintain secrecy and hold private funerals.

The production of Sanpei Shirato was extensive: The author started in the 1950s and published Kagemaru Den, Sasuke the little Ninja, Kamui Den among the most famous and well-known and became a real reference point for all subsequent mangaka generations. Instead, Tetsuji Okamoto designed the second part of Kamui Den and Kamui Gaiden: Saikai, which was created in collaboration with his older brother.

The world of manga This means saying goodbye to an exceptional author like Sanpei Shirato, one of the greatest producers of gekiga manga that rocked Japan in the 1960s.

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One of the best parts of watching anime is how many times a show can surprise you. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. But if the Otaku know one thing, it's that anything is possible.

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