Mutsumi Inomata, known for her work on the Tales series, died. It happened on March 10, 2024.
Her younger sister made a post on Twitter (X) to announce this news. According to her, it was a very sudden death. She left behind several unfinished drafts that she had been working on, and her sister noted that she hopes that she is still drawing and working on them in Heaven. She added that Inomata is probably surrounded by cats and creating more characters with strong eyes. The funeral was for close family only, and Inomata had requested that no one send any flowers or gifts or messages to her family. Her sister closed out the message by thanking everyone for all of the support they showed Inomata over the years and hoping that people will still enjoy her artwork.
Mutsumi Inomata was an animator and character designer for several anime series, but people might be most familiar with her work for the Tales series. She has designed for games such as Tales of Destiny, Tales of Rebirth, and Tales of Graces. When it comes to her work in animation, she worked on the animation for Urusei Yatsura and City Hunter. She also worked on My-HiME and the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED franchise, helping with the characters’ clothing designs.
Inomata is not the only high-profile (for those who like Japanese media) death this month. Earlier in March 2024, Akira Toriyama (most famous for creating Dragon Ball) died. A day after Toriyama, Tarako, a voice actress famous for her work as Maruko in Chibi Maruko-chan, died as well. Like Inomata, Tarako’s death was also very sudden, with no discernible or disclosed cause.
Mutsumi Inomata died on March 10, 2024. Her funeral was a private affair. Inomata was 63 at the age of death.
