The official Twitter account for the works of manga artist Buichi Terasawa announced today that he passed away due to a heart attack on September 8, 2023. He was 68 years old. A private family funeral will be held for him at a later date.
Terasawa previously revealed in 2003 that he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in 1998, undergoing surgery to address the issue. He stated that despite radiation and chemotherapy treatment, the cancer relapsed. His second surgery afterwards left him paralyzed on the left side of his body.
寺沢武一ファンのみなさまへ(訃報）
— ブイチギルド 【寺沢武一作品公式】 (@BuichiGuild) September 11, 2023
漫画家・寺沢武一は2023年9月8日に永眠しました。
3度の脳腫瘍の手術を経ても、コブラその人のような生命力で生き抜いてきた寺沢武一でしたが、今回は本人も不意打ちを食らってしまったのでしょう。心筋梗塞でした。…
Terasawa was first born on March 30, 1955, in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. He moved to Tokyo in 1976 to study under Osamu Tezuka and began working in the Manga Department of Tezuka Productions.
He soon published the Space Adventure Cobra manga (known simply as Cobra earlier on) in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from November 6, 1978 to November 12, 1984. The manga was later adapted into a 31-episode television anime and film in 1982. Another anime film, directed by Osamu Dezaki, titled Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie was released in 1982, just three months before the premiere of the TV anime series.
Terasawa launched a sequel manga titled Cobra: Over the Rainbow on Kadokawa’s Comic Walker and Nico Nico Manga websites on November 18, 2019.
Besides Space Adventure Cobra, Terasawa worked on other manga series such as Kabuto, Black Knight Bat, and Goku Midnight Eye. The latter was released in 1987 and inspired two 1989 OVAs from studio Madhouse and director Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
Terasawa was also one of the first manga artists to use the computer as a tool for his art, utilizing it to create the 1992 manga Takeru — the first comic book series considered to be made using computer graphics.
Source: Buichi Guild Official Twitter
