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Patlabor, Yamato 2202 Animator Hiroki Takagi Passes Away

Patlabor co-creator Masami Yuuki revealed on Thursday that animator Hiroki Takagi passed away last week on February 2. Yuuki stated that Takagi lost consciousness when he took a bath after being diagnosed with influenza.

Artist and character designer Nobuteru Yuki attended Takagi's funeral. In his post, Yuki said that although Yamato 2202 is only halfway done, the hole that Takagi left was huge, but that everyone in the production will carry on. Yamato 2202 assistant director Makoto Kobayashi also posted earlier this week that the anime will now be a posthumous work for Takagi. Takagi worked with both as animation director of the recent Uchū Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi films.

Takagi worked as animator on numerous Ajia-do and Studio Pierrot productions, including Pierrot's magical girl anime Creamy Mami: Long Good-Bye and Magical Star Magical Emi. He also worked as key animator on Project A-ko, Maison Ikkoku: Kanketsuhen, Akira, Here Is Greenwood, Neon Genesis Evangelion, My Dear Marie, and numerous other anime. He worked as animation director and key animator on Patlabor, and provided the character designs for the Patlabor WXIII film. He also drew character designs for Dominion Tank Police, Majokko Club Yoningumi - A Kuukan Kara no Alien X, and was an animation director for numerous productions, including Kimagure Orange Road, Yu Yu Hakusho The Movie: Poltergeist Report, Saiyuki: Requiem, Bleach, and Big Order, among numerous other anime. He recently worked as a character animation director for Space Battleship Yamato 2199, and is credited as one of the animation director for the Uchū Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi sequel films, though only five films out of the planned seven-part film series were released before his death.

[Via Hachima Kikō]