In a statement, Studio Leijisha said he died of acute heart failure on 13 February. He added that Matsumoto's depiction of emotionally vulnerable boys and young men showed it was ok to have feelings: "Star Blazers and Galaxy Express was a gut-punch. Matsumoto has received several prestigious cultural and arts medals by Japan, including the Order of the Rising Sun, and the French government awarded him the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters