Yoshito Usui Found Dead

The body of 51 year old Crayon Shin-chan creator Yoshito Usui, who was reported missing on September 12, was discovered on the 19th. Usui was discovered 120 meters below the Arafune mountain’s Tomoiwa cliff in the mountains of Gunma prefecture where he’d gone for a personal hiking trip. Usui appears to have accidentally fallen to his death, although police reports state that the established trail is too far from the cliffside for someone to fall. The last photo found on Usui’s digital camera is a shot from the top of the cliff looking down, leading investigators to believe that Usui accidentally fell while taking pictures. Police have confirmed that Usui passed away in the afternoon of September 11th.

Futabasha’s Manga Town magazine will publish the final two completed chapters of Usui’s Crayon Shin-chan manga in its November and December issues. The Crayon Shin-chan anime TV series is presently on a scheduled hiatus until October 16th. Television network TV Asahi has announced that it will not make any decisions about the future of the anime franchise until first holding discussions with relevant individuals, presumably including Usui’s family and the Shinei Douga animation studio that animates Crayon Shin-chan. The anime may continue, as similar popular family shows including Sazae-san and Doraemon have continued after their creator’s deaths.

Futabasha said it was “going through great shock, now that the worst outcome has come to past. There are no words to express the anguish of the surviving family, but we just pray for his happiness in the next world.”

Source: Anime News Network & Tokyograph