Happy Birthday, Shotaro Ishinomori!

With all the hype we have for the 40th Anniversary of Kamen Rider and the 35th Anniversary of Super Sentai, we almost forgot the birthday of one important man who changed manga, anime and superhero shows forever, that man is Shotaro Ishinomori!

Born as Shotaro Onodera in January 25, 1938, he was 8 or 9 when modern manga first appeared, he started submitting his amateur works at the age of 12, it was until his 16 when his first story (the first manga he did was a picture story), Second Class Angel was published in Manga Shonen around 1955. Osamu Tezuka was impressed with his drawings thus, he ended up moving in Tezuka's new studio and became his assistant. That is why most of Ishinomori's early works kinda look liked Tezuka's.

It was at the year 1959 he set on his own and began using the pen name, Ishimori to inaugurate his "new life" as an artist. But it was in the year 1964 when he will become well known for his masterpiece, Cyborg 009 and like what they say, the rest is history.

Now you are wondering, how did he end up in making Kamen Rider?! Well it was because of a producer named Toru Hirayama who want to make a new kid's show and with a help of a friend approached Ishinomori for the character designs. Because of CrossFire's design (the name of the hero before Kamen Rider came to be), Toei agreed and thus, Ishinomori ended up having the Original Creator credit while Hirayama having the Producer credit.

But because of Ishinomori wanting to have changes in the last minute, we never have this hero but instead, Ishinomori wanted an adaptation of his manga, Skull Man! Since it is too scary for kids and it is not sure if the advertisers will buy it, they redesigned it with the grasshopper as an inspiration, thus Kamen Rider was born... and so is the partnership between the two which later created, Himitsu Sentai Goranger, JAKQ Dengekitai, Kaiketsu Zubat, Kikaida, Inazuman and more!

Asides from his heores, he also did serious and realistic manga titles back in the 80's such as The Cartoon Introduction to the Japanese Economy which became a surprise bestseller! It was later published in the US as Japan, Inc. This title talks about the boom of the Japanese economy back in the 80's. The other was Hotel which is an adult manga that talks about the lives and careers of the management and staff of Hotel Platon. It is also during that time on the 30th Anniversary of his career as an artist that he changed his name into, Ishinomori.

What makes this man awesome, asides that he created a lot of heroes that continues to inspire a lot of people, he is the current title holder of Guinness Book of World Records title for: Most Comics Published by One Author! What's amazing is that in Japan, he is hailed as the King of Manga, next to Tezuka who is hailed as the God of Manga!

Even if this man is gone for more than a decade, his spirit will continue to live on with his works as he continues to inspire a lot of people with his stories that are quite advanced during his time and the legacy of the heroes he created. So from all of us here, Happy Birthday, Ishinomori-sensei!

"When an era needs it, Kamen Rider will definitely return." - Shotaro Ishinomori

References: Anime News Network, Henshin Hall of Fame (Link 1, Link 2), Igadevil's Kamen Rider Page, ISHIMORI@STYLE, Skull Man Vol. 1 (Tokyopop), Wikipedia (Link 1, Link 2)

Also, special thanks to the people at 4chan's /m/ board for reminding me of his birthday!