I don’t like to have so many short posts together, but it’s making room for good stuff further into the blog. On the bright side, I’ve got posts planned for the remainder of the challenge and more ideas than I have days left to talk about them.
Key Frames #3: Mangakas Continued
Monkey Punch
Born: May 26, 1937
Age: 81
Major Works: Lupin III
Biography: Monkey Punch was born Kazuhiko Katō in Hamanaka. The pen name wasn’t his choice. An editor suggested it to him, and since his next project was only going to last three months, he went with it. The series turned out to be his most successful and esteemed work, Lupin III.
Akira Toriyama
Born: April 5, 1955
Age: 63
Major Works: Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump
Biography: Born in Kiyosu, Toriyama is both a mangaka and a game artist. His first major success was Dr. Slump, but the later series Dragon Ball is the second best-selling manga of all time. Toriyama’s designs appear in Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger and Blue Dragon.
Naoko Takeuchi
Born: March 15, 1967
Age: 51
Major Works: Sailor Moon, Codename: Sailor V
Biography: Born in Kofu, Takeuchi’s childhood was a deep influence on her magical girl manga Sailor Moon. During high school she was required to wear sailor suit uniforms, and she participated in astronomy and manga clubs. She would also work as a miko at a shrine near her university. After graduating with a chemistry degree and pharmacist license, Takeuchi entered the manga industry at 19.
Eiichiro Oda
Born: January 1, 1975
Age: 43
Major Works: One Piece
Biography: Kumamoto native Oda is the creator of the best-selling manga series of all time, One Piece. Oda got his start at age 17 when his work Wanted! earned him several awards, including second place for the Tezuka Award. This lead to him working as an assistant to several artists at Weekly Shonen Jump, including Rurouni Kenshin creator Nobuhiro Watsuki. Even outside of One Piece, Oda tends to write about pirates. His interest, he says, was sparked by anime Vicky the Viking.
Hiromu Arakawa
Born: May 8, 1973
Age: 45
Major Works: Fullmetal Alchemist, Silver Spoon
Biography: Arakawa was born in Makubetsu, and her real first name is Hiromi. The artist, who often portrays herself as a cow with glasses, broke into the business in 1999. Her first major success was fantasy series Fullmetal Alchemist. Silver Spoon was inspired by Arakawa’s desire to do something more realistic than the high concept fantasy she wrote for nearly a decade.
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