Studio Ghibli co-founder and anime director Isao Takahata passes away in Tokyo [Video]

Anime veteran leaves behind a legacy of more than 50 years of landmark anime including Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

Most people would say that 82 years is not a tremendously short life. And yet, in a way, it feels like the time to say good-bye to anime director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata has come far too soon.

The 82-year-old Takahata passed away on April 5 at a hospital in Tokyo, succumbing to lung cancer after being plagued by heart and poor health conditions since last summer which had caused him to be hospitalized multiple times. An unnamed personal acquaintance was quoted as saying that Takahata looked startlingly thin when they last saw him in November.“He’d always given the impression of an inquisitive child with glimmering eyes, but [in November] he looked so tired that he seemed like a completely different …