Keiichiro Kimura, creator of 'Tiger Mask' anime, dies at 80

Keiichiro Kimura, the Japanese character designer and director known as the 'father of Tiger Mask', died of a heart attack in Tokyo at age 80. The news was reported by the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun. Born in 1938 in Gunma Prefecture, Kimura began working at Toei Animation in 1961 after failing art school entrance exams. He debuted as an animator in 1964 with the feature films 'Sinbad' and 'Little Prince'. As character designer and animation director, he created 'Cyborg 009' and 'Mimi and the National Volleyball Team' (104 episodes) in 1968, followed by 'Trider G7', 'Sam the Boy from the West' (1974), and 'Sally the Witch'. His most famous work is 'Tiger Mask', a 1969 anime that became a cult hit in Italy in the 1980s. Based on the manga by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji, Kimura produced three series totaling 105 episodes. The story follows Naoto Date, an orphan who joins the Tiger's Den, a for-profit wrestling organization, but rebels to donate his earnings to his orphanage.