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Mangaka (漫画家^?) is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese. As of 2006, about 3000 professional mangaka were working in Japan.^[1]

Some artists may study at an art college, manga school, or take on an apprenticeship with another mangaka, before entering the world of manga as a professional artist. However, there are some that just start in manga, without being an assistant by applying to contests that magazines run. For example, Naoko Takeuchi, author of Sailor Moon, who won such a contest sponsored by Kodansha, and Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro Boy started out without being an assistant.

A mangaka will rise to prominence through recognition of their ability when they spark the interest of institutions, individuals or a demographic of manga consumers. For example, there are contests which prospective mangaka may enter, sponsored by manga editors and publishers. They are also recognized for the number of manga they run at one time.^[2]

Etymology[link]

The word can be broken down into two parts: manga (漫画^?) and ka (家^?).

The Manga corresponds to the medium of art the artist uses: comics, or Japanese comics, depending on how the term is used inside or outside of Japan.

The -ka (家) suffix implies a degree of expertise and traditional authorship. For example, this term would not be applied to a writer creating a story which is then handed over to a manga artist for drawing. The Japanese term for such a writer of comics is gensakusha (原作者^?). The term geijutsuka (芸術家^?) is also commonly used for mangakas. The phrase means "artist" in the literal.

Relationship with staff[link]

Editor[link]

The editor helps and supports the mangaka by ensuring that the manga is being produced at an even pace and that deadlines are met. The editor may also do a little bit of managing of the appearances of the mangaka. He or she will often comment on the layout of the manga panels, the art, and make sure that the manga stays up to company standards.

The editor also does basic editing and story suggestions of the manga itself. Generally the editor is considered the boss of the mangaka and oversees the majority of the production to make sure it runs smoothly. In addition, in cases where the mangaka cannot supervise the anime character and action figure designs, the editor often supervises these things in place of the actual mangaka.

Assistants[link]

Many mangaka have assistants who help them with their artwork. The duties of assistants vary widely; some mangaka only sketch out the very basics of their manga, and have their numerous assistants fill in all of the details, while others use assistants only for specific things (Go Nagai, for instance, at one time employed an assistant specifically to draw helicopters and other military vehicles^[2]). Other mangaka have no assistants at all, and prefer to do everything themselves, even though to meet the tight deadlines assistants are usually needed. The group CLAMP for example, splits the duties between its members, but does not use additional assistants.

Most often, assistants are responsible for the backgrounds and screentones in manga, while the mangaka him/herself draws and inks the main characters. While they are often employed to help with art, assistants almost never help the mangaka with the plot of their manga, beyond being a "sounding board" for ideas. Most full-fledged mangaka started out as assistants, such as Miwa Ueda to Naoko Takeuchi, Leiji Matsumoto to Osamu Tezuka, Kaoru Shintani to Leiji Matsumoto and many others. However it is also possible for an assistant to spend their entire career as such without making the jump to being a mangaka in their own right. It is not a must to become an assistant prior to becoming a mangaka. It is possible to become a mangaka without having to serve as anyones assistant.

See also[link]

• Bakuman
• List of Japanese artists
• List of manga artists

References[link]

1. ^ McCarthy, Helen (2006). "Manga: A Brief History". 500 Manga Heroes & Villains. Hauppauge, New York, USA: Chrysalis Book Group. pp. 14. ISBN 978-0-7641-3201-8. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Schodt, Frederik L.: Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics, Kodansha International, August 18, 1997, ISBN 0-87011-752-1

Yoshihiro Togashi (冨樫 義博, Togashi Yoshihiro^?, born April 27, 1966 in Yamagata Prefecture^[1][2]) is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age; while he attended college, the publisher Shueisha recognized his talent. Togashi has authored numerous manga series in different genres during the past three decades. He is perhaps best known for writing and illustrating the YuYu Hakusho and Hunter × Hunter series, both of which have been published in the popular Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Togashi is married to Naoko Takeuchi, the author of Sailor Moon.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Born in Shinjō, Yamagata, Togashi began drawing manga casually in his first to second year of elementary school.^[1][2][3] In high school, Togashi joined the fine-arts club; he later enrolled at Yamagata University where he studied education in the hope of becoming a teacher.^[1] During college he submitted some of his manga work to Weekly Young Jump, published by Shueisha.^[1][2] In 1986, at age 20, he authored a manga titled Buttobi Straight (ぶっとびストレート^?) for which he received the Tezuka Award, the most prestigious award for new comic artists in Japan.^[3][4][5] Another manga by Togashi titled Jura no Miduki (ジュラのミヅキ^?) was an honorable mention in Shueisha's first annual Hop Step Award Selection magazine, published in 1988.^[6] After having given up his goal of becoming a teacher, Togashi was contacted by an editor of Weekly Shōnen Jump during his senior year of college, who asked him to move to Tokyo.^[2]

Career[link]

Togashi's earliest published works for Shueisha included Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!! (狼なんて怖くない!!^?, lit. I'm Not Afraid of the Wolf!!), a collection of comedy manga short-stories. Weekly Shōnen Jump published some of the stories prior to a tankōbon release in 1989. Between 1989 and 1990, Togashi authored Ten de Shōwaru Cupid (てんで性悪キューピッド^?, lit. Altogether Wicked Cupid), a four-volume romance manga involving the relationship between a normal, human boy and a beautiful, devil girl.

In 1990, Togashi made a name for himself with his next series YuYu Hakusho (幽☆遊☆白書^?, lit. Poltergeist Report). Based on his interests in the occult and in horror films, the plot features the character Yusuke Urameshi, who is killed and brought back to life as an "Underworld Detective". The manga, which lasted 175 chapter over 19 tankōbon from 1990 to 1994, went on to sell 49,000,000 copies in Japan, earned Togashi a Shogakukan Manga Award in 1994, and received a hit anime adaptation.^[7][8] In 1995, he created Level E (レベルE^?), a science fiction-comedy manga. Comprising three volumes, it was first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1995 and ran until 1997.^[9][10][11] Level E was adapated into an anime television series in 2011.^[12]

Togashi's next major series Hunter × Hunter (ハンター×ハンター^?), an action-adventure manga, began serialization in 1998. The story revolves around the protagonist Gon Freecss, a young boy in search of his father, who is a legendary, elite member of society called a "Hunter". This manga also performed very well commercially, with the first 20 volumes selling nearly 55,000,000 copies in Japan as of August 2011.^[13] In 2008, Togashi tied with One Piece author Eiichiro Oda as the fifth favorite manga artist from a poll posted by the marketing research firm Oricon.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Togashi is married to Naoko Takeuchi, the manga artist of Sailor Moon.^[1][2][4] The two were introduced at a party hosted by Kazushi Hagiwara in August 1997. The following year, Takeuchi assisted Togashi for short time by adding screentone to his manga Hunter × Hunter.^[15] Togashi and Takeuchi were married on January 6, 1999. In attendance for the ceremony were several fellow manga artists and voice actors from both the Sailor Moon and YuYu Hakusho anime series.^[16] The couple have two children and have collaborated on a children's book titled Oobo— Nu— Tochiibo— Nu— (おおぼーぬーとちぃぼーぬー^?), which Takeuchi wrote and Togashi illustrated.^[3][17][18] Togashi is good friends with Masashi Kishimoto, the author of Naruto.^[19]

Togashi enjoys board-game-style video games and bowling with his family.^[3] He also likes watching horror movies,^[20] and considers Don't Look Up and Dawn of the Dead his favorites.^[3] Togashi cites visual effects designer H. R. Giger as a major influence.^[3] Togashi suffered from an immense amount of stress while working on YuYu Hakusho, which caused him inconsistent sleep patterns and chest pain.^[21] Togashi has taken numerous breaks in recent years while writing Hunter × Hunter, the first of which was due to illness.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27]} On March 29, 2011, Togashi and his fellow manga artist posted messages on the official Shōnen Jump website in support of the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.^[28]

Works[link]

Manga[link]

• Sensēha Toshishita!! (1986, later featured in Ten de Shōwaru Cupid Volume 4)^[29]
• Jura no Miduki (1987, featured in Hop Step Award Selection Volume 1)^[6]
• Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!! (1989, tankōbon published by Shueisha)
  • Buttobi Straight (1987)
  • Tonda Birthday Present (1987, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
  • Occult Tanteidan (1988–1989, two parts published in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
  • Horror Angel (1988, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
  • Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!! (1989, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
• Ten de Shōwaru Cupid (1989–1990, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
• YuYu Hakusho (1990–1994, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
• Level E (1995–1997, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
• Hunter × Hunter (1998–ongoing, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump)

Other[link]

• Yoshirin de Pon! (1994, YuYu Hakusho dōjinshi distributed at 1994 Summer Comic Market)
• Biohazard 3: The Last Escape Official Guidebook (1999, published by ASCII)^[30]
• Official Hunter × Hunter Guide (2004, published by Shueisha)^[31]
• YuYu Hakusho Who's Who Underworld Character Book (2005, published by Shueisha)^[32]
• YuYu Hakusho Illustrations (2005, published by Shueisha)^[33]
• Oobo— Nu— To Chiibo— Nu— (2005, published by Kodansha)
• Hetappi Manga Kenkyujo R (2011, published by Shueisha)^[34]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Transcript of interview in American Monthly Shonen Jump
• Profile at takeuchi-naoko.com
• Yoshihiro Togashi at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia