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Mazinger Z/Toward the Terra Animator Koichi Tsunoda Passes Away
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The organizers of the Animazement convention in North Carolina announced on Friday that animator Kōichi Tsunoda passed away on January 14 after a long battle with cancer. He was 75. Producer, planner, and frequent Animazement guest Yasuo Yamaguchi (Maple Town Stories) informed Animazement of the news.
Tsunoda worked as an animator on the Galaxy Express 999 film, a key animator on such films as Toward the Terra, Animal Treasure Island, and Alibaba to Yonjubiki no Tozuku, and was the chief animator for Transformers: The Movie. He also worked as an animation director for the Final Yamato, Odin - Starlight Mutiny, and Mazinger Z tai Ankoku Daishōgun films as well as the Mazinger Z television anime series. Tsunoda also handled the mechanical character styling for the Arcadia of My Youth film.
Animazement's staff noted that Tsunoda was "a great friend to the Animazement convention being instrumental in helping us organize during [the con's] early years and returning almost every year as a guest teaching art classes to attendees." Animazement will dedicate its 2014 con to Tsunoda's memory, and the event will donate one dollar for every attendee to help fight against cancer.
