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Manga Creator Mio Murao Passes Away at 69
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Manga creator Mio Murao (real name Mikio Murai) passed away last Saturday, April 16. He was 69. His family held a private funeral.
According to the Asahi Shimbun's source, Murao had been fighting an unspecified illness for the past three years.
Murao was born in Tokushima prefecture in 1952. He made his manga creator debut with the "Kappa Love Love Daisakusen" manga in Shueisha's Bessatsu Shonen Jump magazine in 1972.
Murao's Futago Banzai manga earned an honorable mention in Shueisha's Tezuka Award in 1974. His other notable manga include Mune Sawagi no Hōkago, Binetsu My Love, Circle Game, Virgin Mama, Women, and S to M. Murao was also a character designer for the "Bedroom Suburb" and "Theater of Life" shorts for the 1986 anime anthology Seishun Anime Zenshu.
Murao launched the Dorei Sensei (seen right) manga with artist Hiro Tomono in Nihon Bungeisha's Manga Goraku Special magazine last year. The manga's first volume only recently shipped on March 19.
Sources: Comic Natalie, Asahi Shimbun
