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Illustrator Mel Kishida Responds to Hoax of His 'Recent Passing'

Imagine waking up one day to find out someone's been circulating rumors about your death. That's what character designer Mel Kishida went through one interesting day.

A recent email sent by someone claiming to be Kishida's younger sister claimed that the artist had passed away at the hands of terrorists while in Syria for an autograph session. The full email states: "Good evening. I am Mel Kishida's younger sister. I've always taken care of my brother, but today, I received terrible news. My brother has died due to terrorist attacks in Syria at a signing event. I am deeply saddened by this news and haven't stopped crying since. There are lots of photos we'd like to use at his grave, but I'd like to grant a request that he made in this event. I'd like a picture of him to use for his funeral. I'm sure it would make my brother very happy in heaven."

Kishida himself responded to the Tweet, stating: "This mail seems to have been written by another artist, but this has absolutely nothing to do with me, LOL."

The artist, while initially amused at the hoax, brought a serious tone to his later responses. He tweeted that drawing upon Syria was in poor taste considering the current situation of warfare and terrorism occurring around the world.

As an artist, Kishida is known for his work in Hana-Saku Iroha and the Atelier video game series. Outside of his professional work, he's garnered a reputation for weird stunts. He appeared as a masked swordsman (based on an actual image of him) in Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life: Phantasmagoric Arc, has taken on a sumo wrestler, and held a reverse autograph session where visitors signed a bodysuit he wore.

[Via Kai-You]