By Naoko Fujimura
Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A famous Japanese animation artist, best known for the cartoon series “Crayon Shin-chan,” was found dead after going missing while walking in the mountains, the Yomiuri newspaper said today, citing local police.
Yoshito Usui, 51, went missing on Sept. 11 after telling his family he was planning to climb a mountain in Gunnma prefecture, north of Tokyo, the Yomiuri said in its report. Usui may have fallen from a cliff after being found with wounds to his chest, the Yomiuri report said.
The cartoonist became popular in the 1990s with Crayon Shin-chan, a comedy that features a five-year-old boy’s life with his family and friends at a kindergarten.
The series has sold about 50 million comic books since 1990 and was made into an animation film in 1992, the newspaper said.
Credit: bloomberg.com/apps/news...
Please note that the following writeup below is almost a year old...excerpt...
"Ballad" inspired by "Crayon Shin-chan"
Tue, October 7, 2008 (1:52am EDT)
SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi is starring in a period film titled "Ballad: Namonaki Koi no Uta." The movie revolves around a love story between a Sengoku-era general (Kusanagi) and a princess (Yui Aragaki), directed by Takashi Yamazaki of "Always: Sanchome no Yuhi" fame.
The story is actually based on the plot of the 2002 animated movie "Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi wo Yobu Appare! Sengoku Daikassen." That film won many awards, including the grand prize in the animation division of the Japan Media Arts Festival.
In "Ballad," Kusanagi plays a general of a small state. The princess, played by Aragaki, is offered a political marriage with a daimyo of a neighboring state, and war ensues when she turns down the offer. A key character in the plot is a young boy named Shinichi (originally Shin-chan), who comes from the future. 11-year-old Akashi Takei plays the role of Shinichi.
The film, which will heavily use CG for its battle scenes, is apparently budgeted at 2 billion yen. The supporting cast includes Michitaka Tsutsui, Yui Natsukawa, Atsuo Nakamura, and Takao Osawa. Filming started late last month and is expected to finish in January. The movie's tentative release date is in September 2009.
Credit: tokyograph.com/news...
Finally, per Aragaki Yui's imdb.com page, she was active in several "Crayon Shin-chan" projects in the past...
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