birth date	May 26, 1970
death date
nationality	Japanese
known for	''Rurouni Kenshin''
occupation	Manga artist }}

is a Japanese manga artist, best known for his samurai-themed series ''Rurouni Kenshin''. He once worked as an assistant for his favorite author Takeshi Obata.

Biography

Nobuhiro Watsuki was born in Nagaoka, Niigata prefecture, Japan. When Watsuki was a young boy, his brother, who was three years older, drew manga. Watsuki’s older brother was his role model so he started drawing Manga as well. Watsuki was also inspired by a variety of early Manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka and Fujiko F. Fujio. Later on, his brother stopped drawing manga but, "Because Mr. Watsuki was dumb, he kept drawing it (manga) for a while.”

When Watsuki was in middle school, he practiced kendo. He still drew Manga but also enjoyed sports. Watsuki admits that he was "So weak in fact, that I was an embarrassment to my 183 centimeters of height" (about 6 feet). Watsuki never won a kendo match. He was once chosen to be a starter after a teammate was suspended for causing an uproar. Watsuki grew frustrated with kendo, and eventually quit. When he was challenged to come up with a new character for ''Rurouni Kenshin'', he used his outlook on kendo for a base of Myōjin Yahiko.

Nobuhiro Watsuki has had many works in the past. In high school he won the Hop Step award for his work on his comic sleeve he called ''Podmark''. Not much is known about ''Podmark'' because it has not been translated to English. Later on, Watsuki was an assistant in the work of ''Mashin Bōken Tan Lamp-Lamp'' (''Arabian Genie Adventure Lamp-Lamp''). The model for Sagara Sanosuke was based on a version of Lamp. In 1994 a new sleeve was created and published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. It seems that this was the first sleeve about ''Rurouni Kenshin''. His most recent work, ''Buso Renkin'' (Arms Alchemy) was published on June 2003, also in Jump. His 2001 work, Gun Blaze West, was cancelled after three volumes, and is currently being published in English by ''Shonen Jump''.

When not working on manga, Watsuki enjoys playing video games, reading other manga, and watching television. His favorite American comic book is ''X-Men'' because he likes the action. His favorite anime (other than his own) is Neon Genesis Evangelion. He likes video games like Samurai Spirits and things of that sort. He also enjoys action movies like Die Hard and The Matrix.

Watsuki describes himself as "pro-dōjinshi" and asks fans to send fan comics.

Real-World Inspirations

Watsuki bases many of his characters on historical figures and characters from other anime/manga series. For example, Himura Kenshin was based on Kawakami Gensai, one of the hitokiri (assassins) during the Bakumatsu (Japanese revolution). He was the master of the sword style called shiranui-ryū. Gensai is famous for killing the famous idealist Sakuma Shozan. Four years after the revolution ended, Gensai was falsely accused of a crime and was executed. Watsuki admires Kenshin for his desire to do good in honor of those whom he had to kill so the Meiji government could exist.

In addition, Saitō Hajime was based on the historical Saitō Hajime, a member of the Shinsengumi although Watsuki admitted altering him to the point of fans complaint. Several other characters, most notably Sagara Sanosuke, Shinomori Aoshi, and Seta Sōjirō, are also loosely based on certain figures among the Shinsengumi. Okita Sōji, Ōkubo Toshimichi, and Katsura Kogorō were among numerous other historical figures who made appearances in the story. Yukishiro Enishi's minion Gein was based on puppeteer and serial killer Ed Gein, as stated in "The Secret Life of Characters #47", volume 24.

Manga Works

''Podmark'' was written by Watsuki during high school, and earned the Hop Step award.

''Crescent Moon in the Warring States'' was Watsuki's first professional work. Set in the Sengoku Jidai era of the warring states, it relates the tale of a former lone ''Hiten-Mitsurugi'' swordsman Hiko Seijūrō. It is collected in the sixth ''Rurouni Kenshin'' tankōbon volume.

''Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story'' is the name of two one-shots that preceded ''Rurouni Kenshin's launch'' in Weekly Shōnen Jump. They are collected in the first and third ''Rurouni Kenshin'' tankōbon volumes, respectively.

''Rurouni Kenshin'' (るろうに剣心) is Watsuki's best known work. It chronicles the adventures of an ex-hitokiri in the age of Meiji. It Ran for 255 chapters which were compiled into 28 tankōbon, 22 kanzenban and in North America only, 9 wide-ban.

''See main article: Rurouni Kenshin.''

''Kenshin Kaden'' is a guidebook that includes the full color short story, "Haru ni Sakura", which details the fates of all of the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' characters after the conclusion of the story. "Haru ni Sakura" was included in the ninth volume of North America's wide-ban edition of ''Rurouni Kenshin''.

''Yahiko no Sakabatō'' (弥彦の逆刃刀, "Yahiko's Reversed-Edge Sword") is also set in the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' universe, five years after the conclusion of the main story. Myōjin Yahiko must save the daughter of a dojo master from an old foe. It was included in the twenty second ''Rurouni Kenshin'' ''kanzenban'' volume, in the twenty eighth volume of the European release of ''Rurouni Kenshin'' and in the ninth volume of North American's wide-ban edition of ''Rurouni Kenshin''.

is a one-shot written for a Shōnen Jump artist competition. It chronicles the what-if adventures of a young boy who is struck in the head by a meteor and gains superhuman powers, eventually saving his town from a nuclear disaster. It is enclosed in the twenty-eighth volume of ''Rurouni Kenshin''.

Watsuki created Meteor Strike while in the middle of writing ''Rurouni Kenshin''. Watsuki felt disgusted with the work and originally did not plan on revealing it, but he ultimately decided to include ''Meteor Strike'' to increase the page count of the volume. Watsuki said that after reading the story over it "relaxed" him "in a nice way." Watsuki said that the work has "some different flavors" than ''Rurouni Kenshin''.

Watsuki included three main elements in the story. He had wanted to use meteors in a story since they are the "most energetic natural phenomena." His second element was a boy wearing a pair of white gloves. Watsuki described white gloves as "sort of plain" and "not cool at all," yet he considers the element to be one of his favorites since the gloves "give off a sense of strength." His third element is the girl wearing a construction site helmet. The helmet is masculine, while the Japanese school uniform that the girl wears is feminine.

Watsuki said that he created Shinya, the main character, "on the spot." Watsuki believed that he created Shinya to have too much honesty, and that Shinya's personality overlaps the personality of Himura Kenshin, the main character of ''Rurouni Kenshin''; he said that he regretted the overlap "a little." Watsuki created Chiho, the other major character, to show the "shojo theme of the moment" where the boy's maturity becomes larger than the girl's maturity. Watsuki felt that the plan "didn't work out so well" and "a lot isn't what I wanted it to be." He added that he liked portraying the "helpful nature" of Chiho.

''Gun Blaze West'' is set in the United States in the 1800s, the three main characters look for the gunslinger's paradise "Gun Blaze West". It was canceled after three volumes.

''See main article: Gun Blaze West.''

''Buso Renkin'' (武装錬金 ''Busō Renkin'') ran for eighty chapters (10 volumes), of which seventy nine were published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'', the final chapter was published in another magazine from Shueisha in two installments.

''See main article: Buso Renkin.''

''Embalming -Dead Body and Bride-'' ''(エンバーミング Enbāmingu) '' is a one-shot written for "Jump the Revolution!" 2005. It takes its base from the Frankensteinian idea of bringing the dead to life. It is enclosed in the last volume of ''Buso Renkin''.

''Embalming II -Dead Body and Lover-'' was written for "Jump the Revolution!" 2006 and is another one-shot that takes place in the ''Embalming'' universe

''Embalming -The Another Tale of Frankenstein-'' began publication in November 2007 in Jump Square. It is set in the realm of the other ''Embalming'' one-shots.

''See main article: Embalming -The Another Tale of Frankenstein-.''

Video Game Designs

Shinsengumi Gunraw Den

Samurai Shodown V

Notable Helpers

Eiichiro Oda - Manga artist of ''One Piece''

Hiroyuki Takei - Manga artist of ''Shaman King''

Kaoru Kurosaki - Novelist and wife

Shinya Suzuki - Manga artist of ''Mr. Fullswing''

Gin Shinga

Mikio Itoh

References

External links

The-OrO// Mangaka More information about Watsuki.

Embalming Embalming Manga Fansite.

Aoiya.de Watsuki fansite, has mini sites of pretty much all Watsuki's works.

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Manga artists Category:People from Niigata Prefecture

ar:نوبوهيرو واتسوكي de:Nobuhiro Watsuki es:Nobuhiro Watsuki eo:Watsuki Nobuhiro fr:Nobuhiro Watsuki ko:와쓰키 노부히로 id:Nobuhiro Watsuki it:Nobuhiro Watsuki lt:Nobuhiro Watsuki hu:Vacuki Nobuhiro ms:Nobuhiro Watsuki ja:和月伸宏 pl:Nobuhiro Watsuki pt:Nobuhiro Watsuki ru:Вацуки, Нобухиро fi:Nobuhiro Watsuki sv:Nobuhiro Watsuki uk:Вацукі Нобухіро vi:Watsuki Nobuhiro zh:和月伸宏

Name	Immortal Technique
Background	solo_singer
Born	February 19, 1978 Lima, Lima Province, Peru
Birth name	Felipe Andres Coronel
Origin	Harlem, New York, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	2000–present|label Viper Records
Associated acts	Akir, Diabolic, Lowkey, Chino XL, DJ Green Lantern, La Coka Nostra, Jean Grae, Rockin' Squat, Mos Def , Dead Prez , Ras Kass , Krs-One , Reppin MG
Website	myspace.com/immortaltechnique }}

Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper of Afro-Peruvian descent as well as an urban activist. He was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Harlem, New York. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics. The views expressed in his lyrics are largely commentary on issues such as class struggle, poverty, religion, government and institutional racism.

Immortal Technique has voiced a desire to retain control over his production, and has stated in his music that record companies, not artists themselves, profit the most from mass production and marketing of music. He claimed in an interview to have sold close to 200,000 copies of his three official releases.

Biography

Early life

Coronel is African-Peruvian and was born in 1978 in a military hospital in Lima. His family emigrated in 1980 to Harlem to escape the ongoing internal conflict in Peru. During his teenage years he was arrested multiple times due in part to what he has said was "selfish and childish" behavior. He attended Hunter College High School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Shortly after enrolling in Pennsylvania State University, he was arrested and charged with assault-related offenses due to his involvement in an altercation between fellow students, the charges stemming from this incident led to him being incarcerated for a year. After being paroled, he took political science classes at Baruch College in New York City for two semesters at the behest of his father, who allowed Coronel to live with him on the condition that he go to school. Honing his rapping skills in jail, and unable to find decent wage-paying employment after his release, Coronel began selling his music on the streets of New York while battling with MCs whenever the opportunity arose. This, coupled with his victories in numerous freestyle rap competitions of the New York underground hip hop scene such as Rocksteady Anniversary, Braggin Rites and others, led to his reputation as a ferocious Battle MC.

Revolutionary Vol.1 and Vol.2

In 2001 , Immortal Technique released his first album ''Revolutionary Vol. 1'' without the help of a record label or distribution, instead using money earned from his rap battle triumphs. ''Revolutionary Vol. 1'' also contained the underground classic ''Dance With The Devil''. In November 2002, he was listed by ''The Source'' in its "Unsigned Hype" column, highlighting artists that are not signed to a record label. The following year, in September 2003, he received the coveted "Hip Hop Quotable" in ''The Source'' for a song entitled "Industrial Revolution" from his second album. Immortal Technique is the only rapper in history to have a "Hip Hop Quotable" while being unsigned. He released his second album ''Revolutionary Vol. 2'' in 2003. In 2004, Viper Records and, in 2005, Babygrande Records re-released Immortal Technique's debut, ''Revolutionary Vol. 1'', to make it available to a wider audience. "Point of No Return" from ''Revolutionary Vol 2'' was used as the entrance theme for Rashad Evans during the UFC 88 Main Event between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans.

Revolutionary Vol.3 and The Middle Passage

Between 2005 and 2007 Immortal Technique began working on ''The Middle Passage'' and ''The 3rd World'', the two albums that would serve a follow up to ''Revolutionary Vol. 2'' and complete the series. He was also featured on several movie soundtracks and video game soundtracks, all the while touring relentlessly and becoming heavily involved in visiting prisons to speak to youth and working with immigrant rights activists and raising tens of thousands of dollars for children’s hospitals overseas. He invested his money not in items that are usually associated with fame but rather in large pieces of farmland in Latin America. He created a writing grant program for high school students as well.

Collaborations

The summer of 2005 saw the release of "Bin Laden", a vinyl single 12" featuring Mos Def and DJ Green Lantern. The single also contained a remix of the song featured Chuck D of Public Enemy and KRS-One. In early 2006, the song "Impeach the President", featuring Dead Prez and Saigon turned up in the mixtape "Alive on Arrival" DJ Green Lantern. This is a simple version of The Honeydrippers, 1973, in which Immortal Technique urged fans to organize a vote of censure against George W. Bush. In April 2009, a new song leaked on the internet named "Democratie Fasciste (Article 4)" by Brazilian-French rapper Rockin' Squat which featured Immortal Technique. The official release of the song and Rockin' Squat's album ''Confessions D'un Enfant Du Siècle Volume 2'' was on May 12, 2009. The instrumental from the song was sampled from Wendy Rene's "After Laughter". The song expresses the inequalities of the Third World and revolutionary events throughout history against tyranny and oppression. The song contains lyrics in English (Immortal Technique), French (Rockin' Squat) and brief shout outs in Spanish (Immortal Technique). This song is Immortal Technique's first official international collaboration. In early 2009, it was announced that there would be a collaboration between Technique and UK underground artist Lowkey, on a single called "Voices of the Voiceless". On September 11, 2009, a "snippet" of the song was released on YouTube. The preview was released ahead of its September 21 launch on iTunes, as part of a web-campaign that included updates, promotion and links on forums, E-Magazines and several social networking sites. The song's lyrics cover a broad range of issues that are familiar to listeners of both artists – racism, world revolution, war, socialism, government control, rape, famine, colonialism, Classism, self-determination and the war in Iraq.

Charitable work

In June 2008, Immortal Technique partnered with Omeid International, a Non–Profit Human Rights Organization, to lend his support. He dubbed the work as "The Green Light Project". With the profits of ''The 3rd World'' album, Immortal Technique traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan to help Omeid build an orphanage without any corporate or external funding. The orphanage, having been successfully established, currently houses over 20 orphaned children from Kabul.

''This Revolution''

Immortal Technique appeared as himself in a docudrama film entitled ''This Revolution'', which was recorded during the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. The tape contains the protests surrounding the convention in the form of a documentary. It also featured Viper Records affiliates Akir and producer SouthPaw in roles.

Since then Immortal Technique has taken control of Viper Records and has signed a distribution deal with Babygrande Records / E1 Entertainment to vent to their next album. SouthPaw has managed to establish himself as A&R; of Viper Records.

Discography

Albums

{|class="wikitable" !align=center rowspan=2|Year !align=center rowspan=2|Title !align=center colspan=2|Peak chart positions |- !align=center width=45|US !align=center width=45|USRap |- |align=center|2001 | ''Revolutionary Vol. 1''

Release Date: September 14, 2001

Label: Viper (1)

Format: CD, digital download

|align=center|— |align=center|— |- |align=center|2003 |''Revolutionary Vol. 2''

Release Date: November 18, 2003

Label: Viper (104)

Format: CD, digital download, LP

|align=center|— |align=center|— |- |align=center|2008 |''The 3rd World'' (with DJ Green Lantern)

Release Date: June 24, 2008

Label: Viper (8)

Format: CD, digital download

|align=center|99 |align=center|12 |- |align=center|TBA |''The Middle Passage''

Release Date: TBA

Label: Viper

Format: CD, digital download

|align=center|TBA |align=center|TBA |- | align="center" colspan="11" style="font-size:90%" | "—" indicates that album did not chart. |- |}

Singles

{|class="wikitable" !align=center rowspan=2|Year !align=center rowspan=2|Title !align=center colspan=1|Peak chart positions !align=center rowspan=2|Album |- !align=center width=25|US R&B; Sales |- |align=center|2001 |align=left|"Dance With the Devil" |align=center|(Citation needed) |align=left rowspan=1|''Revolutionary Vol. 1'' |- |align=center|2003 |align=left|"The Cause of Death" |align=center|(Citation needed) |align=left rowspan=3|''Revolutionary Vol. 2'' |- |align=center|2003 |align=left|"Industrial Revolution" |align=center|63 |- |align=center|2004 |align=left|"The Point of No Return" |align=center|57 |- |align=center|2004 |align=left|"Bin Laden" |align=center|? |align=left|Single only |- |align=center|2005 |align=left|"Caught in a Hustle" |align=center|? |align=left|''BAADASSSSS!'' soundtrack |}

References

External links

Viper Records website

Immortal Technique's Twitter

Unofficial forums

Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:American music industry executives Category:American people convicted of assault Category:American socialists Category:Baruch College alumni Category:Hispanic and Latino American rappers Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni Category:People from Harlem Category:People from Manhattan Category:People from Lima Category:Peruvian emigrants to the United States Category:Peruvian exiles Category:Peruvian people of Black African descent Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Underground rappers

ar:إيمورتل تكنيك az:Immortal Technique da:Immortal Technique de:Immortal Technique et:Immortal Technique es:Immortal Technique fr:Immortal technique it:Immortal Technique nl:Immortal Technique no:Immortal Technique pl:Immortal Technique pt:Immortal Technique ru:Immortal Technique simple:Immortal Technique sr:Immortal Technique fi:Immortal Technique sv:Immortal Technique