{{short description|Japanese manga artist}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Seiichi Hayashi | honorific_suffix = | native_name = 林静一 | native_name_lang = ja | pronunciation = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1945|03|07}} | birth_place = Mukden, State of Manchuria | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (enter DEATH date then BIRTH date (e.g., ...|1967|8|31|1908|2|28}} use both this parameter and |birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> | death_place = | death_cause = <!--should only be included when the cause of death has significance for the subject's notability--> | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Manga artist, animator, illustrator | years_active = 1962–present | era = | employer = | organization = | known_for = ''Red Colored Elegy'' | notable_works = | style = | spouse = <!-- Use article title or common name --> | partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) --> | children = | awards = }} {{Nihongo|'''Seiichi Hayashi'''|林静一|Hayashi Seiichi|lead=yes|extra=born 7 March 1945}} is a Japanese manga artist, animator and illustrator.
==Life and career== Hayashi was born in Mukden, Manchuria in Japanese-occupied Manchuria.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Saru Gallery - Prints by Seiichi Hayashi (1945 - )|url=https://www.sarugallery.com/japanese_woodblock_prints_ukiyoe/artists/seiichi_hayashi.html|access-date=2021-12-20|website=www.sarugallery.com}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|first=Ryan|last=Holmberg |date=2015-12-16|title=A Vogue for I Don't Get It: Hayashi Seiichi vs. Sasaki Maki, 1967-69|url=https://www.tcj.com/a-vogue-for-i-dont-get-it-hayashi-seiichi-vs-sasaki-maki-1967-69/|access-date=2021-12-20|website=The Comics Journal|language=en-US}}</ref>
Hayashi attended a design school in Yoyogi, where he learned creating work reminiscent of International Typographic Style. He started his career in 1962 in animation by working for Toei Animation.<ref name=":1" /> He was involved in founding the animation studio Knack Productions in 1967.
From 1967 on, he published manga in the alternative manga magazine ''Garo'', which stayed his main outlet for publishing manga. His breakthrough came in 1970 with the manga ''Red Colored Elegy'' about the break-up of an unmarried couple. The singer Morio Agata named a popular song of his after the manga.<ref name=":0" />
Hayashi became an important figure in the 1960s and 1970s avant-garde arts scene of Tokyo. He is cited with bringing pop art into manga.<ref name=":1" /> Apart from manga, he is also known as a designer and illustrator.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Seiichi Hayashi - Ryan Holmberg, Seiichi Hayashi - McNally Robinson Booksellers|url=https://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/9781939799074/ryan-holmberg/seiichi-hayashi|access-date=2021-12-20|website=www.mcnallyrobinson.com|language=en}}</ref> He designed and illustrated the cover of Happy End's 1970 self-titled debut album.<ref>{{cite web|last=Shibasaki|first=Yuji| title=【Part1】｜はっぴいえんどヒストリー | url=https://otonanoweb.jp/s/magazine/diary/detail/9090| work=Otonano| language=Japanese| date=2023-11-01| accessdate=2024-12-24}}</ref> Hayashi designed the packaging of the candy drops Lotte Koume, which came on the market in 1974.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Artist talk: Seiichi Hayashi in conversation with Ryan Holmberg - Talk at The Japan Foundation in London|url=https://www.artrabbit.com/events/artist-talk-seiichi-hayashi-in-conversation-with-ryan-holmberg|access-date=2021-12-20|website=ArtRabbit|language=en}}</ref>
== Style and themes == He is famous for depicting women in a style similar to Yumeji Takehisa.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goodman|first=David|title=Angura: Posters of the Japanese Avant-Garde|year=1999|pages=85}}</ref> Film director Seijun Suzuki was a major inspiration for his work.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Ryan|last=Holmberg|date=2016-01-20|title=Singing Our Own Song: Hayashi Seiichi vs. Sasaki Maki, 1969|url=https://www.tcj.com/singing-our-own-song-hayashi-seiichi-vs-sasaki-maki-1969/|access-date=2021-12-20|website=The Comics Journal|language=en-US}}</ref>
Hayashi often explored the psychological aftermath of World War II and the effects of Americanization and economic growth on Japanese identity. His 1968 story ''Red Dragonfly'' (''Akatonbo'') portrays a child’s bleak home life under postwar conditions, combining modernist aesthetics with cultural references from the Taisho era. Hayashi’s manga often recontextualized prewar and early 20th-century imagery to critique contemporary Japanese society and evoke a sense of nostalgic loss.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Holmberg |first=Ryan |date=May 2010 |title=The Manga of Garo, 1964–1973 |journal=Orientations: The Magazine for Collectors and Connoisseurs of Asian Art |volume=41 |issue=4}}</ref>
== Legacy == Hayao Miyazaki names Hayashi as an influence on his work.<ref name=":2" />
==Works== *''Red Colored Elegy'' (赤色エレジー, ''Sekishoku Erejii'', 1970-1971) *''Red Red Rock and Other Stories'' *''Gold Pollen and Other Stories''
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayashi, Seiichi}} Category:Manga artists Category:Japanese animators Category:Japanese illustrators Category:Japanese pop artists Category:1945 births Category:Living people {{Authority control}}