Katsuhiro Otomo is a Japanese manga artist,screenwriter,animator and film director. He is best known as the creator of Akira,in terms of both the original 1982 manga series and the 1988 animated film adaptation. He was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2005,promoted to Officier of the order in 2014,became the fourth manga artist ever inducted into the American Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2012,and was awarded the Purple Medal of Honor from the Japanese government in 2013. Otomo later received the Winsor McCay Award at the 41st Annie Awards in 2014 and the 2015 Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême,the first manga artist to receive the award. Otomo is married to Yoko Otomo. Together they have one child,a son named Shohei Otomo,who is also an artist.
Manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century,and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term manga is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside of Japan,the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country.
Perfect Blue is a 1997 Japanese adult-oriented animated psychological thriller film directed by Satoshi Kon. It is based on the novel Perfect Blue:Complete Metamorphosis by Yoshikazu Takeuchi,with a screenplay written by Sadayuki Murai. Featuring the voices of Junko Iwao,Rica Matsumoto,Shiho Niiyama,Masaaki Okura,Shinpachi Tsuji and Emiko Furukawa,the plot follows a member of a Japanese idol group who retires from music to pursue an acting career. As she becomes a victim of stalking by her obsessive fan,gruesome murders take place,and she begins losing her grip on reality.
Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director,animator,screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo,Hokkaido,and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art University. He is best known for his acclaimed anime films Perfect Blue (1997),Millennium Actress (2001),Tokyo Godfathers (2003),and Paprika (2006),and the TV series Paranoia Agent (2004). He died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 46 on August 24,2010.
Tsutomu Nihei is a Japanese manga artist. Nihei has been drawing comics professionally since the mid-1990s. In 1995 he was awarded the Jiro Taniguchi Special Prize in that year's Afternoon Four Seasons Award for his submission,Blame. After working as an assistant to veteran comic artist Tsutomu Takahashi,Nihei went on to launch his debut series Blame! in Monthly Afternoon in 1997. Following the success of Blame!,he next penned Wolverine:Snikt! and Biomega. In 2009,Nihei returned to Afternoon to launch what would become his most successful series,Knights of Sidonia. An architectural student,Nihei's early work were mainly wordless,relying on visuals and backgrounds to tell their stories. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following worldwide.
TaiyōMatsumoto is a Japanese manga artist.
Kaoru Mori is a Japanese manga artist from Tokyo and the creator of the manga series Shirley,Emma,and A Bride's Story. Many of her works are centered on female characters in the 19th century,such as a maid in Victorian Britain and a bride in Turkic Central Asia. She also wrote dōjinshi under the pen name Fumio Agata as a member of the dōjin circle Lady Maid.
Roujin Z is a 1991 Japanese animated science fiction action thriller film directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo and written by Katsuhiro Otomo. The animation for Roujin Z was produced by A.P.P.P. in association with other companies including Movic,Sony Music Entertainment Japan,Aniplex and TV Asahi.
Sennin Buraku is a manga series by KōKojima which ran in the adult magazine Weekly Asahi Geinō,published by Tokuma Shoten in Japan. It is the longest running comic with only one artist,being published weekly since October 1956,and the longest-running strip ever in Japan. By contrast,Golgo 13 is the longest running manga to be serialized in a dedicated manga magazine with Doraemon the second longest,and Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo (Kochi-Kame) the third longest. While Sennin Buraku has been running for more years than Peanuts,Charles M. Schulz's strip has more "episodes" as it ran daily rather than weekly. The story was a romantic comedy taking place in historical China,and it was quite risquéfor its time. The characters were very traditionally dressed. The anime has been rerun on Japanese television,and all episodes have appeared on DVD.
Alain Auderset is a Swiss Christian author of bandes dessinées and is best known for his comics albums Willy Grunch,Marcel,and ROBI.
Showa:A History of Japan,known in Japan as Comic Showa-shi,is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shigeru Mizuki. An autobiographical work,this manga describes the author's experiences growing up during the Shōwa period. The author is a veteran of the Japanese army,but his series is filled with critical views of Japanese and American militarism.
Dreaming Machine is a cancelled Japanese anime fantasy-adventure film directed by Satoshi Kon. It would have been the director's fifth feature film. After Kon's death on August 24,2010,production continued at Madhouse,where the team used Satoshi Kon's directorial tapes and notes to guide them to completing the film,though the main work such as storyboards and script was already complete. In August 2011,Madhouse founder Masao Maruyama revealed that production of the film had been cancelled due to lack of finances. Only 600 of 1,500 shots have been animated. Originally,Maruyama said there was intent to finish the film,despite the lack of finances. In August 2018,Maruyama revealed that the movie will not be completed or released in the foreseeable future,as there were no Japanese animation directors that could match Kon's level of ability,though he did not rule out the possibility of the project being revived in the future under a talented foreign director.
Sunny is a Japanese slice of life manga series written and illustrated by TaiyōMatsumoto. It was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Monthly Ikki from December 2010 to September 2014,when the magazine ceased publication. It was later transferred to Monthly Big Comic Spirits,being serialized from January to July 2015. Its chapters were collected in six wide-ban volumes. The manga was licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media.
MAPPA Co.,Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Suginami,Tokyo. Founded in 2011 by Madhouse co-founder and producer Masao Maruyama,it has produced anime works including Terror in Resonance,Yuri!!! on Ice,In This Corner of the World,Kakegurui,Banana Fish,Zombie Land Saga,Dororo,Dorohedoro,The God of High School,Jujutsu Kaisen,Attack on Titan:The Final Season,Vinland Saga Season 2,Chainsaw Man and Hell's Paradise.MAPPA is an acronym for Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association.
Devilman is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The manga focuses on a high school student named Akira Fudo who absorbs the powers of the demon called "Amon" with help of his friend Ryo Asuka in order to battle creatures hidden in human society,thus calling himself the "Devilman" in the process. The series was originally ordered by Toei Animation as a toned-down anime version of Nagai's previous manga series,Demon Lord Dante. However,Nagai wrote a darker-toned manga in order to alert readers of the dangers of the wars based on how dark the narrative becomes with each of Akira's challenges.
Cigarette Girl is a Japanese short story manga collection written and illustrated by Masahiko Matsumoto. Matsumoto originally wrote the stories for several magazines from 1972 to 1974. Seirinkogeisha collected and published these stories on September 20,2009. Top Shelf licensed the manga in North America in 2010,publishing it on May 24,2016. The manga has also been published in France by Cambourakis and in Spain by Gallo Nero. The French edition was nominated at the 2011 Angoulême International Comics Festival for "Best Heritage Comic".
Takashi Fukutani was a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his manga series Dokudami Tenement.
Sports manga is a genre of Japanese manga and anime that focuses on stories involving sports and other athletic and competitive pursuits. Though Japanese animated works depicting sports were released as early as the 1920s,sports manga did not emerge as a discrete category until the early 1950s. The genre achieved prominence in the context of the post-war occupation of Japan,and gained significant visibility during and subsequent to the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Noted as among the most popular genres of manga and anime,sports manga is credited with introducing new sports to Japan,and popularizing existing sports.
Zack Davisson is a writer,lecturer,and translator,especially known for translating the works of Shigeru Mizuki,Leiji Matsumoto,Go Nagai,Satoshi Kon,and Gou Tanabe. He is also well known for his works on Japanese folklore and ghosts.
Seraphim 266613336Wings is an unfinished Japanese manga series by Mamoru Oshii and Satoshi Kon. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world bent by a disease called "angel disease" that is decimating the population,and centers on the journey of two men and a dog,called "Magi",and a girl they escort,Sera,sent by the World Health Organization (WHO) to an area of Central Asia where the outbreak is believed to be located. Enemies and conspiracies await them along the way.
