My Hero Academia and One Punch Man's art director passes away

Modified Nov 04, 2024 17:00 GMT

My Hero Academia and One Punch Man's art director passes away (Image via BONES)

Monday, November 4, 2024 saw Studio GONZO confirm art director My Hero Academia and One Punch Man art director Shigemi Ikeda’s passing on Sunday, October 13, 2024. The news was first confirmed via a post from the late Ikeda’s X (formerly Twitter) account which was made by surviving members of his family on Friday, October 25.

Ikeda passed at the age of 69, and leaves behind an incredible legacy in the anime industry which spans several decades. While his most notable contributions are arguably to all seven My Hero Academia seasons and One Punch Man’s first two, Ikeda also contributed to beloved series like Afro Samurai, Gantz, Inuyasha, several Mobile Suit Gundam projects, and more.

One Punch Man, My Hero Academia art director’s prolific career comes to an end with passing at 69 years old

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Per the post from Ikeda’s X account, the late My Hero Academia and One Punch Man art director had a private funeral attended by close friends and family members. The post also requested that the public refrain from sending condolence money or flowers. As of this article’s writing, this is the last post made to the X account, and likely will maintain that status indefinitely.

While Ikeda’s anime contributions in and of themselves are incredibly impressive, he also won an “Outstanding Individual Achievement In Animation” Primetime Emmy Award in 2009. Ikeda won the award for his work as an art director on Spike TV and GONZO’s Afro Samurai: Resurrection television anime film. Ikeda also founded background art studio Atelier Musa in August 1986, for which he served as the representative.

In totality, Ikeda’s career contributions span several decades and several dozen different series. However, his most notable credits as an art director beyond the series mentioned above include the following:

Bastard!!
Bokurano
Gasaraki
Library War
Phantom - The Animation
Planetes
Starship Troopers
Macross Delta
Fanasista Doll
Boogiepop and Others
Overlord (all four seasons and all films)
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU
The Promised Neverland (both seasons)
Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
Infinite Ryvius
Bubblegum Crisis
Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040

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Fans of the above series and many more are mourning Ikeda’s passing. As an art director, his impact was visible on every series he worked on, with series like Afro Samurai specifically highlighting the unique vision and talent Ikeda possessed for the role. Truly, the anime industry has lost one of its living legends given Ikeda’s widespread contributions to and impact on the industry.

The My Hero Academia anime serves as the television anime adaptation of author and illustrator Kohei Horikoshi’s original manga series of the same name. The manga began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in July 2014, concluding just over 10 years later in August 2024. The anime most recently concluded its seventh anime season in October 2024.