TOKYO, Jan 5 — The Japanese creator of Captain Tsubasa stated right this moment that he was blowing the final whistle on the beloved cartoon sequence after a run of 43 years.
Yoichi Takahashi started writing the comic strip about 11-year-old football prodigy Tsubasa Ozora in 1981 and it grew into a world smash hit that impressed future superstars akin to Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta.
Known as Holly e Benji in Italy and Super Campeones in Spanish-speaking Latin America, it spawned animated movies, video video games and even statues in Takahashi’s hometown in japanese Tokyo.
But the 63-year-old introduced within the newest version of Captain Tsubasa Magazine that the sequence will finish in April, citing his worsening well being and altering situations within the manga trade.
“It was not a simple determination and it would make those that take pleasure in studying Captain Tsubasa disenchanted and unhappy, however I hope you perceive my determination,” he wrote in a letter to readers.
Takahashi hopes the character will reside on in some kind and intends to draft concepts that can be utilized for future variations.
A prepare passenger performs piano subsequent to stained glass paintings depicting the “Captain Tsubasa” anime cartoon at Urawa-Misono prepare station in Saitama on July 4, 2020. — eNM pic
More than 100 nations are believed to have tuned into the sequence and the tales have offered greater than 70 million copies in e-book kind in Japan, and greater than 10 million abroad.
Takahashi additionally serves as managing director of a real-life football membership who play in Japan’s fifth tier.
The membership had been renamed Nankatsu SC — after Captain Tsubasa’s fictional faculty group — when Takahashi got here on board.
Takahashi turned hooked on football after watching the 1978 World Cup on tv.
He created Captain Tsubasa with the intention of serving to to popularise the game in Japan, which didn’t have knowledgeable league on the time.
“I had no thought that folks world wide would see it,” Takahashi instructed eNM in an interview final yr. — eNM
