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Mobile Suit Gundam Writer Yū Yamamoto Passes Away at 71

The Twitter account for the Ginga Jinpū Jinraiger (Galaxy Divine Wind Jinraiger) original anime project announced on Thursday that prolific anime scriptwriter Yū Yamamoto (birth name Masaru Yamamoto) passed away on November 25. He was 71.

Yamamoto's close family held a private funeral on Thursday, and his chief mourner was his eldest daughter, Mio Ueno.

Yamamoto was from Niigata prefecture, and he made his debut as a scriptwriter in 1973. He wrote the script for 11 episodes of the original 1979-1980 Mobile Suit Gundam television anime series, as well as the script for the Mobile Suit Gundam - The Movie Trilogy.

He is also perhaps best known as the head screenwriter for the J9 Series — a trilogy of Japanese mecha television anime series that includes Galaxy Cyclone Braiger (1981-1982), Galactic Gale Baxinger (1982-1983), and Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger (1983-1984). Enoki Films licensed the series in English as Cosmo Ranger, Cosmo Runner, and Wonder Six, respectively.

Yamamoto started work on Galaxy Divine Wind Jinraiger in 2014, and he stated the anime was related to the J9 Series. The project was originally slated for release in 2016, but has not yet been released. The official website for the project posted on October 9 that Yamamoto's "Jinrai Talk" show about the anime was going on hiatus due to Yamamoto's busy schedule. The official Twitter account for the project stated on Thursday the future of the project is currently undecided.

Yamamoto has written scripts for more than 70 anime works, including Time Bokan, Yatterman, Urusei Yatsura, Gatchaman II, Hurricane Polymar, Ultra B, Robotan, Ninja Hattori-kun, Musashi no Ken, Grimm Masterpiece Theater, Cyborg Kuro-chan, Gyouten Ningen Batsealer, Angie Girl, Ochamegami Monogatari Korokoro Poron, Ashita e Free Kick, and Zendarman, among many others.

He has also written novels under his name and under the alias Amamiya Kyōichirō. Additionally, he has penned theme park musicals, stage plays, historical television shows, and live-action videos. He also wrote scripts for tokusatsu series such as Ultraman Cosmos and Ultraman Tiga Gaiden.

Sources: Galaxy Divine Wind Jinraiger anime's Twitter account, Sponichi, Jiji Press Ltd. via Hachima Kikō