Tatsuo Yoshida (吉田 竜夫, Yoshida Tatsuo, March 6, 1932 – September 5, 1977) was a Japanese cartoonist, writer, manga artist and anime pioneer who founded the anime studio Tatsunoko Productions.^[1]

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Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Tatsuo Yoshida
Born	吉田 竜夫 (1932-03-06)March 6, 1932 Kyoto, Japan
Died	September 5, 1977(1977-09-05) (aged 45) Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Known for	Character design, illustration
Notable work	Speed Racer, Casshern and Gatchaman series
Relatives	Ippei Kuri (brother) Kenji Yoshida (brother)

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Born in 1932, Yoshida grew up in the hardship of war-torn Japan. A self-taught artist, his first job was as working for local newspapers in Kyoto. After finding success as a manga artist in Tokyo, including winning the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1972 for The Adventures of Hutch the Honeybee,^[2] in 1962 he founded Tatsunoko with his two younger brothers, Kenji (who took over Tatsuo's position as producer after he died) and Toyoharu (a.k.a. Ippei Kuri).^[3] The studio's name has a double Japanese meaning of "Tatsu's child" and "sea dragon", which was the inspiration for its seahorse logo.

Yoshida made the jump from print to the screen and found modest success with the anime racing series Mach GoGoGo.^[3] Once adapted to the American market, it achieved resounding success as Speed Racer. Yoshida also created the action series Gatchaman (also known as Battle of the Planets and G-Force: Guardians of Space), Casshan (also known as Neo-Human Casshern, now remade as the live-action film Casshern and the continuity reboot Casshern Sins), Hurricane Polymar and Tekkaman: The Space Knight.

Though Tatsuo Yoshida's career was cut short by his death from liver cancer in 1977,^[4] Tatsunoko Productions has continued to partner with top creators to create additional hit series such as Macross, Mospeada, Robotech, Generator Gawl, Time Bokan, and Karas.

• Ninja Squad Moonlight (1964, also known as Phantom Agents)
• Space Ace (1965)
• Mach GoGoGo (1967, also known as Speed Racer)
• Oraa Guzura Dado (1967)
• Dokachin the Primitive Boy (1968)
• Judo Boy (1969)
• Hakushon Daimaō (1969, also known as Bob in the Bottle or The Genie Family)
• Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman (1972, dubbed and re-edited as Battle of the Planets and G-Force: Guardians of Space in North America)^[3]
• Casshan (1973)
• Hurricane Polymar (1974)
• Tekkaman: The Space Knight (1975)
• Time Bokan (1975)
• Gowapper 5 Gordam (1976)
• Paul's Miraculous Adventure (1976)
• Yatterman (1977)
• Ippatsu Kanta-kun (1977)
• Temple the Balloonist (1977)

• Speed Racer: The Original Manga by Tatsuo Yoshida (ISBN 1-56389-686-9)