Caribu Marley, “Old Boy” Writer, Dead at 70

From the Comic Beam Twitter account (via Crunchyroll), we have learned that Japanese writer Caribu Marley died on January 7, 2018, at the age of 70. He was best known for creating the manga “Old Boy” – which was published in English by Dark Horse under Marley’s real name Garon Tsuchiya – with artist Nobuaki Minegishi. The revenge story was published from 1996 to 1998, and was adapted into Park Chan-wook’s critically-acclaimed 2003 Korean film, as well as a less well-received American remake from Spike Lee in 2013.

According to Anime News Network, Marley was born in Tokyo, and coined his pen name as a tribute to Caribbean singer-songwriter Bob Marley; he also wrote under the names Marginal, and Yuuhou Hijikata. One of his earliest works was “A Homansu” (“Fool Performance;” drawn by Makata Akyo), which was adapted into a 1986 film directed by and starring Yusaku Matsuda. From 1986 to 1989, he wrote Akio Tanaka’s “Meisō-Ō Border,” which became an original video anime in 1991.

After it was published by Dark Horse in 2006, “Old Boy” won Marley and Minegishi the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Japan. From 2005 to 2007, he wrote Syuji Takeya’s manga “Astral Project,” Other titles Marley created included “Hard & Loose” with Kaiji Kawaguchi, “Hard Core: Heisei Jigoku Brothers” with Takashi Imashiro, and “Ao no Senshi” with the late Jiro Taniguchi. A live-action adaptation of “Hard Core” is due for release later this year.