Ghibli co-founder, veteran director and all-round anime legend Isao Takahata passed away in Tokyo yesterday at the age of 82.

As well as founding the hugely influential Studio Ghibli alongside Hayao Miyazaki in 1985, Takahata had a long and successful directorial career to his name, helming acclaimed anime movies such as harrowing 1988 wartime drama Grave Of The Fireflies, 1991 box office hit Only Yesterday and 1994 ecological fantasy Pom Poko.

Isao Takahata’s final film as director, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, was released to critical acclaim in 2013, garnering an Oscar nomination for best animated feature at the 87th Academy Awards. Other major works include My Neighbours the Yamadas (1999), The Little Norse Prince (1968) and seminal 1974 TV series Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

Although best known as one of the greatest anime directors of all time, Takahata was also highly regarded as a producer, working with long-time colleague Hayao Miyazaki on anime classics Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Takahata was still working as recently as 2016, acting as artistic producer on Dutch animator Michaël Dudok de Wit’s film, The Red Turtle.

Only YesterdayGrave Of The FirefliesThe Tale of the Princess Kaguya