Super Robot Mach Baron's Makoto Shimotsuka Passes Away at Age 64

 Makoto Shimotsuka in June 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The Japanese media is reporting that actor Makoto Shimotsuka has passed away due to cancer on July 7 in a hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture. He was 64.

Beginning his acting career in 1972, Mr. Shimotsuka appeared in several films, such as Toho's Zero Pilot (1976), Human Revolution II (1976), and Toei's The Terrifying Revelations of Nostradamus (a.k.a. Nostradamus, 1994). But he would go on to make his mark on the small screen, starring as Yo Arashida in Super Robot Mach Baron (1974-75).

I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Shimotsuka in June 2016 and hoped that our paths would eventually cross again. Rest in peace, Mr. Shimotsuka.