Keiko Nobumoto (1964-2021)

Some very sad news was announced over the weekend as the animation world lost one of its brightest talents. It was announced that anime writer Keiko Nobumoto has passed away from cancer at the age of just 57. You may not know the name, but if you love Japanese animation you most likely know her work. The list of actual titles she worked on was relatively small but the impact of those titles was significant, and additionally, to animation she also wrote for live-action and the stage.

Most notably, Nobumoto was a major contributor to the success of the original Cowboy Bebop, overseeing the writing of the series and scripting the first episode. She also wrote the screenplay for the 2001 Cowboy Bebop The Movie. She also created the original 2003 anime series Wolf's Rain, which shared many staff with Bebop.

Other notable works include penning the screenplay for Satoshi Kon's festive fable Tokyo Godfathers, and for the sci-fi sequel Macross Plus, which was her first collaboration with eventual Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe, a fruitful working relationship that would last for the rest of her career. Beyond Bebop, Nobumoto also wrote episodes of later Watanabe series Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy and most recently Carole and Tuesday.

She may have left us far too soon, but in her time in the industry, she made an impact most can't hope to replicate in a lifetime, and will leave quite a legacy.

Our thoughts are with her friends and family at this difficult time.