The official website of screenwriter Sō Kuramoto‘s foundation Kuramoto Sō Kaiwai announced on Monday that he died on September 18 due to multiple organ failure. He was 91. 

A private funeral service with only close relatives in attendance was held in accordance with the family’s wishes. A memorial service will be held on November 3 at the Furano Theatre Factory in Hokkaido. More details of the memorial service will be revealed at a later date. 

Screenwriter, playwright, and director Kuramoto (real name Kaoru Yamaya) was born in Tokyo in 1935. He joined Nippon Broadcasting System in 1959, after graduating from University of Tokyo. After leaving the company in 1963, he became an independent screenwriter, and started using the pen name Sō Kuramoto. 

His notable works include the original story of the 1975 drama series Zenryaku Ofukuro-sama (Dear Mother), screenplay of the 1980 drama series Sayonara Oryū-san (Goodbye, Oryū-san), and original story and screenplay of the drama series Kita no Kuni kara (From the North Country), which aired from 1981 to 1982, among others. Kuramoto also wrote the screenplay for the 2024 film Umi no Chinmoku (The Silence of the Sea), which had been in development for 60 years.

In anime, Kuramoto wrote the script for the 1964 series Zero-sen Hayato, along with Akira Kōno and Tomio Sagisu. 

Sources: Kuramoto Sō Kaiwai foundation’s website, livedoor News

The 2026 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards (“Ringo Awards”) announced its winners at 26th annual Baltimore Comic-Con on September 26. The Deluxe Edition of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima‘s Lone Wolf and Cub samurai manga won the “Best Presentation in Design” award from the jury and fans. May Hijikuro is credited as the designer.

The first volume of the Deluxe Edition of the manga shipped on December 9.

The original manga centers on Ogami Ittō, who is an executioner for the Shogun. After he is framed and his wife murdered, he and his infant son Daigorō wander the country as assassins for hire, while also working toward their own revenge.

Koike and Kojima original serialized the manga from 1970-1976. Kojima died in 2000 and Koike died in 2019.

First Comics premiered the manga in English in May 1987. The series was one of the first manga published in North America, and the first manga to be released in North America on a monthly schedule. Dark Horse Comics began releasing the series in 2000 as the first manga series to be published in North America straight to graphic novels that corresponded with the Japanese releases. In 2013, Dark Horse began releasing the series in omnibus format. In 2017, the company announced a Gallery Edition reprint that was released in a single volume in July 2018.

The manga inspired six feature movies starring Tomisaburō Wakayama, four stage plays, and a television series. As of October 2017, Paramount had the rights to a separate English-language live-action film adaptation of the manga.

Dark Horse Comics has also released the New Lone Wolf & Cub sequel manga and the Western comic series Lone Wolf 2100.

The manga recently inspired a kabuki stage play adaptation that ran at Kabukiza Theatre in Tokyo from June 3-25.

The Ringo Awards, named after the late comic artist Mike Wieringo, recognize achievements across the comic book industry, with categories ranging from Best Cartoonist and Best Series to Best Original Graphic Novel and Best Webcomic. Both fans and professionals choose the nominations, and final voting is limited to professionals working in the comics field. The the awards ceremony itself is open to both fans and industry members. 2026 marked the 10th annual awards.

Source: Email correspondence