Kenji Morita was a Japanese manga artist and creator best known for his prolific work in comedic manga for children, which were adapted into several popular anime television series. Born in Tokyo on May 11, 1939, Morita spent part of his childhood in Manchuria, an experience that would later influence his serious, non-comedic work. He died on December 23, 2024, at the age of 85.

Morita began his professional career as a cartoonist at the age of 17, having studied under the manga artist Tomohiko Okada. He rose to prominence in the 1960s by creating a string of successful gag manga series. One of his earliest major hits was Marude Dameo, a comedy about a hapless elementary school boy and a household robot named Borot. The manga was serialized in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1964 to 1967. Its popularity led to a live-action tokusatsu television drama produced by Toei Company, which aired for 52 episodes from March 1966 to February 1967. Decades later, the property was revived as an anime television series produced by Studio Pierrot, which ran for 47 episodes from 1991 to 1992.

Another of his most famous creations is Robotan. The original manga was serialized in Shonen Gahō magazine from 1966 to 1968. The story follows a boy who receives a peculiar, cube-shaped robot. The first black-and-white anime adaptation aired from 1966 to 1968, with Morita serving as both the original creator and the animation director. A second, color anime series, simply titled Robotan, was produced in 1986.

Morita also created the manga Chingo Muchabei, which was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1967 to 1968. This gag-comedy series is set in the Edo period and follows a ronin who uses an umbrella as his primary weapon. The anime adaptation, produced by Tokyo Movie, is notable for being the final black-and-white anime series to be broadcast on Japanese television, finally airing its 26 episodes in 1971, several years after the manga had concluded.

Beyond his comedic works for children, Morita was also a highly respected creator of single-panel cartoons and political satire. He was a member of the Japan Cartoonists Association and co-founded JAPUNCH, a Japanese chapter of the European Cartoonists Organization. Later in his career, Morita turned his focus to more historical and autobiographical subjects. His own childhood as a Japanese repatriate from Manchuria directly inspired the two-volume manga My Manchuria, which was published in 2001 after being serialized in the newspaper Red Flag. He also co-founded a group with fellow manga artists Chiba Tetsuya and Saito Takao called “The ‘My August 15th’ Association,” which creates works about the Japanese wartime experience. For these serious historical works, Morita received the Grand Prize at the 34th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards in 2005.