Japanese Anime legend Shigeki Awai, known for One Piece and Naruto, dies at 71

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His vision also shaped multiple other iconic franchises, including Doraemon, Bungo Stray Dogs, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Kuroko’s Basketball, Haikyu!!, Food Wars!, Mobile Suit Gundam, Seven Deadly Sins, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Tower of God, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and Beyblade, among others. In recent years, he played key roles in projects like The Misfit of Demon King Academy Season 2, Suicide Squad ISEKAI, Uzumaki, and Terminator Zero.

Throughout his decades-long career, Awai wore many hats. He was a storyboard artist, unit director, and episode director. His talent was well-known in the anime film community as well. In 1980, he worked on Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Dinosaur. Not one to be boxed in, Awai also contributed to adult-oriented titles like Behind Closed Doors and Mizuiro.

Tributes pour In for Shigeki Awai

On social media, fans mourned the loss, while his colleagues shared heartfelt memories of working alongside him. Veteran animator Hideaki Matsuoka reminisced about their early days together in the 1980s and ’90s. He recalled their time working on projects together. “The first time I met Awai was about 40 years ago when Studio Gallop was still in its prefab days,” Matsuoka shared. “At that time, both Awai and I were working as key animators. We were both from Kyushu, and since we worked on the same projects from the beginning, we had a lot to talk about and often chatted about everyday things.”

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Matsuoka went on to describe how their paths continued to cross throughout their careers. “Five or six years later, we worked together at Tokyo Kids. I was an animator on Abashiri Ikka, where Awai served as the character designer and animation director. Later, on Ys, I was the animation director and Awai worked as an animator. Our desks faced each other for about a year and a half,” he recalled fondly. “I was watching X just now and was surprised to see the news of Awai Shigeki’s death. I don’t know the details, but I would like to express my deepest condolences.”

Meanwhile, Tsutomu Ohno, whose work includes Bleach, Blue Lock Season 2, MF Ghost, and Oshi no Ko, shared how Awai became a mentor during their time together. “He gave me such valuable guidance when we worked on projects together,” Tsutomu continued. Animator Ohno recalled the time he was sent to Studio Musashi to learn under Awai. “When I was commissioned by Studio Comet to do the original drawings for Kamengumi and Tonchinkan, I think Comet probably advised me to go to Studio Musashi, where Awai was based at the time, to learn from them,” Ohno wrote. “Myself and one other person—whose name I can’t recall—went to Studio Musashi in Nishiogikubo and received instruction from Mr. Awai for a short period. We offer our deepest condolences.”