Popular motorcycle police action manga inspired live-action & anime projects

Manga creator Mikiya Mochizuki passed away on Sunday, April 3 at 7:56 a.m. in a Kawasaki City hospital due to pulmonary adenocarcinoma. He was 77. He leaves behind his wife Sanae, who will be his chief mourner at his services.

Mochizuki was born in Yokohama, and he made his professional debut in 1960 with the story "Toku Dana o Oe" in a special issue of Shōnen Club magazine. He worked as an assistant at the anime studio Tatsunoko Production when Tatsuo Yoshida founded it in 1962, and he later worked independently.

His 1964 manga series Himitsu Tantei JA (Secret Detective JA) became a hit in Shonen Gahosha's Weekly Shonen King magazine, followed by the 1969 launch of a bigger hit named Wild 7 , a motorcycle police action manga and his signature work.

Wild 7 ran from 1969 to 1979 in Weekly Shōnen King , and its 48 compiled book volumes sold 8 million copies. Mochizuki would later create several sequel manga, including Shin Wild 7 - Yajū Densetsu , Zoku Shin Wild 7 - Yajū no Monshō , and Hiba - Mō Hitotsu no Wild 7 . The story inspired a controversial but highly rated 1972-1973 live-action television series, a 1994-1995 original video anime ( OVA ) project, a 2002 television anime series, and a 2011 live-action film. ComicsOne licensed the original manga in North America, and Urban Vision released the OVA project.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun via Hachima Kikō