Every so often, I come across an artist who is just so incredibly nice and giving that I feel really fortunate to have had the chance to meet them. One of these people is Izumi Matsumoto. For those of you who have met him at a con, you may know that Matsumoto-sensei is not in the best of health. As a child, Matsumoto was in a car accident. While, by all appearances, he appeared to have recovered, what he and doctors were unaware of was that his spinal fluid was leaking into his body. This condition, known as Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak, is a devastating condition which causes acute headaches, vertigo, nausea and loss of muscular control in the facial regions.

I attended Matsumoto's panel where he spoke about this condition and how it was not diagnosed for years. It was not a condition that was acknowledged in Japan, and as such, Matsumoto's entire family told him he was insane and tried to have him committed. He spent the bulk of his earnings trying to get treatment, and only after fifteen years, was he able to find a doctor who would diagnose his condition properly. He underwent surgery for the condition and is only now recovering. Matsumoto urged us to inform others of what he went through in the hope that someone who is suffering something similar receive proper care for it instead of suffering for years as he did.

Well, me being me, I was bawling during the panel. I went through the small pack of tissue I normally carry with me and was doing my best to keep it together. Maybe I'm too emotional and too much of a sap, but I couldn't help but be moved to help him out. Normally, I wouldn't buy a lithograph, even if it were personally signed. But if I could help out an artist, I wanted to do so. Matsumoto was very nice and said he wanted to personalize the print.

August 19, 2016 Update - It's been a couple of years since I bought this, but in the interim, I've made this my "go-to" Kimagure Orange Road item. I've hauled it off to two more conventions to have it signed by those that have worked on it. This print has now been signed by Yuu Mizushima (Kyousuke's seiyuu during the pilot episode) and Akemi Takada, the character designer for this series. Mizushima was super excited to see this when he was a guest at Animazement in 2016. He took pictures of this, along with all four Creamy Mami DVD covers.


Password required to view sketches