Sakura Wars series scriptwriter Hiroyuki Kawasaki passed away on January 23 at 60 years old

by Kite Stenbuck on 29 May, 2026

Hiroyuki Kawasaki, the Japanese writer who had been involved in a number of Japanese anime franchises, had passed away earlier this year on January 23 at 60 years old. This news was broken just recently by fellow veteran writer Takao Koyama on the latter's social media account.

Kawasaki started his career by co-writing the 10th episode of the 1986 anime show Doteraman, and the last anime title he was seen working on was the 2020 Zoids Wild Zero for 3 episodes. But the writer was best known for his works in the Sakura Wars series.

Although he was not in every series entry, he was notably the scenario creator of Sakura Wars 2 & 3, as well as the scriptwriter of Sakura Wars 4. He also had a role in the script for Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love, although it was more of a supporting role.

In addition, Kawasaki also wrote the series' novels and was involved in some of its anime adaptations from the 1997 OVA (The Gorgeous Blooming Cherry Blossoms) to the 2004 OVA (Le Nouveau Paris)—including the 2000 TV series.

For all the contributions he made to the series, Sega posted a tweet expressing their condolences on Kawasaki's passing on the Sakura Wars series' Japanese official social media account.

脚本家・川崎ヒロユキ様のご逝去の報に接し、謹んで哀悼の意を表します。
『サクラ大戦』シリーズにおけるご尽力に、深く感謝申し上げます。
ここに生前のご功績を偲び、心よりご冥福をお祈り申し上げます。
— サクラ大戦公式 (@Sakura_Taisen) May 29, 2026

Outside of Sakura Wars, Hiroyuki Kawasaki was also involved in multimedia projects for Namco's Tales of Eternia by writing its novel and working on the series composition for its anime adaptation.

In addition, he was also notably involved in a good number of robot/mecha anime titles that would be later featured in Super Robot Wars games:

Mashin Hero Wataru (1988, in SRW X)
Jushin Liger (1989, in SRW NEO & OE)
The Brave of Legend Da-Garn (1992, in SRW Y DLC)
Tekkaman Blade (1992, in SRW J & W)
Tekkaman Blade II (1994, in SRW W)
Brave Express Mightgaine (1993, in SRW V, X & T)
Brave Police J-Decker (1994, in SRW 30)
After War Gundam X (1996, in SRW α Gaiden, R, and Z series)
Martian Successor Nadesico (1996, in SRW A, R, J, W, Impact, and BX)
Marriage of God and Soul: Godannar (2003, in SRW SC2, K, L, and Gakuen)
Marriage of God and Soul: Godannar Second Season (2004, in SRW K, L, and Gakuen)