Mangaka Tetsuya Chiba Comes Out of Hiatus After Successful Heart Surgery

Tetsuya Chiba

The manga creator Tetsuya Chiba revealed on his personal blog last Saturday that he had successfully undergone heart surgery. The 82-year-old gave details that on Thursday he underwent an operation to install a stent in his coronary artery and was released from the hospital the very next day.

Chiba had previously revealed on his blog back in November that he had been feeling unwell over the summer and autumn last year and had admitted himself to a local hospital in Tokyo. He stated that he started having abnormalities one after another in his heart valve, coronary artery, and throat. He then also started treatment for a tumor discovered in his throat.

Chiba further revealed on his blog that he was having difficulties walking but is feeling energetic and on the mend. He added that depending on the situation, he should be going back to the hospital one more time in February for rehabilitation. He went on to say that he had been socially distancing with his dog Jiro, refraining from leaving the house too much.

Of course, this has affected Chiba’s work. His manga, Hinemosu Notari Nikki, went on hiatus for this year’s third, fourth, and fifth issues of Shogakukan’s Big Comic magazine. He plans for the manga to resume in the sixth issue of the magazine on March 10th.

Chiba has a long and decorated history when it comes to manga. He started his career as an author in 1956. He is best known for his classic manga Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe), which ran from 1968 to 1973. This classic has remained popular in Japan and abroad for decades. The manga inspired two separate television runs: one in 1970 and one in 1980. Ashita no Joe also received two anime films in 1980 and 1981.

Anime fans will know that recently Ashita no Joe was re-imagined in a new sci-fi setting with new characters in 2018’s Megalobox anime, which credits the original manga as its origin.


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