Kanda Takeyuki, whose credits include DRAGONAR, VIFAM, and recently MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: The 08th MS Team passed away not too long ago. The release of vol. 3 was delayed as a result.
Kanda had previously stated his desire to deglamorize the all-famous white mobile suit. By introducing the mass-produced Gundams in the 08th MS Team and a grittier, ground-troop level of combat (much like the atmosphere of Votoms), he attempted to make the Gundam more commonplace and mundane.
Amino Tetsuro, the director of MACROSS 7, will be replacing Kanda as the producing director and editor of The 08th MS Team OVA.

Voice actor Hase Arihiro passed away early last July shortly after recording his final work, a reprisal of his first role as MACROSS' Ichijyo Hikaru. He had turned 31 last April. (He and Iijima Mari were teenagers just coming out of high school when they debuted as Hikaru and Lynn Minmay in the 1982-1983 television series, THE SUPER DIMENSION FORTRESS MACROSS) He had just finished the MACROSS CLASSIC radio drama with Doi Mika (Hayase Misa) as well as most of the MACROSS original cast. MACROSS CLASSIC now becomes the final reunion of the original cast and the last chance for a project featuring Hikaru and Misa.

Hase Arihiro Filmography & Discography

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Ichijyo Hikaru
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Vol. III: Miss D.J.: Ichijyo Hikaru
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Vol. IV Distantly Fading Memories: Ichijyo Hikaru
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Vol. V: Rhapsody in Love, Macross Love: Ichijyo Hikaru
Captain Tsubasa: Koyama
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross the Movie: Do You Remember Love?: Ichijyo Hikaru
The Super Dimension Century Orguss: Young Man
The Super Dimension Calvary Southern Cross: Bowie Emerson
Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01: Onose Haruo
Ranma 1/2: Niku-man 4
Megazone 23 Part III: Orange Co. Chief Operator
Hime-chan no Ribbon: Shinoyama
Ultimate Superman Aaru: Kishida
Macross 7: Bobby, Gorrahm
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Macross Classic: Ichijyo Hikaru

Manga creator Fujimoto Hiroshi (better known as Fujiko F. Fujio) passed away of liver failure early morning on 23 September 1996 at Tokyo's Keioh University Hospital. He was 62.
Fujimoto is perhaps best remembered for DORAEMON, his manga of a boy and an adorable robot cat from the future that he co-created with Abiko Motoh under the pen name Fujiko Fujio. The two creators came together as elementary schoolboys in a four-decade partnership that spawned other fondly regarded classics including Obake no Q Taroh, Paaman, Kaibutsu Kun, and countless others. Through their works, they garnered a global readership through translations in more than a dozen languages.
The pair eventually split up under separate pen names nine years ago. (Fujimoto's liver condition that apparently led to his death this month was their cited reason for the split.) Until the very hour of his collapse last week, he was still working on his more recent works such as Kiteretsu Daihyakka. He is survived by his wife, Masako, and three children.

Fujimoto Hiroshi (Fujiko F. Fujio), 1933-1996

1933		1 December: Fujimoto born at Takaoka, Toyama
1943		Fujimoto and Abiko begin creating manga together in elementary school
1952		Manga Shounen, one of the first major magazines devoted to manga, features the pair's work Tenshi no Tama-chan under the pen name Fujiko Fujio
1964		February: Fujimoto and Abiko publish Obake no Q Taroh in Shonen Sunday
1965		29 August: Obake no Q Taroh is established as a cultural phenomenon by the broadcast of first animated episode
1970		The manga Doraemon begins
1973		1 April to 30 September: The first animated version of Doraemon airs (and is later superceded by the 1979 Doraemon series that still continues to this day)
1987		Fujimoto and Abiko go their separate ways under the pen names Fujiko F. Fujio and Fujiko Fujio A., respectively.
1996		20 September: Fujimoto collapses while at work and is rushed to a hospital
		23 September: Fujimoto passes away in Tokyo at 2:10 AM