Best known as the creator of Akira, as mangaka to the manga and director of the animated movie, Katsuhiro Otomo is a man of many hats. As a director, his other works include such hits as Steamboy and Mushishi (live-action). On top of his professions of mangaka and director, Otomo-sensei is also a screenwriter. having written the screenplays for the mentioned films, along with the screenplay for Metropolis.

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Rumiko Takahashi-sensei is considered to be one of the most affluent mangaka in Japan and one of its wealthiest citizens. It is no wonder why sensei acquired such wealth and fame — she is the best selling female comic artist in history. With titles such as InuYasha, Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, and Rin-ne under her name, it is only right that sensei would have such a position.

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Moto Hagio-sensei is considered to be the founding mother of modern both shojo manga and the shonen-ai genre. Her work, They Were Eleven, was one of the first four shojo manga to be released to America. The work, along with three others, were compiled into one volume and released to test the American market in 1996.

She was the first female manga artist to win a Medal of Honor, in Japan, with a Purple Ribbon in honor of her artistic achievements.

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It is common knowledge that Power Rangers, the show that many of us grew up watching, is based off of the Japanese Super Sentai series. But did you know that the creator of the Super Sentai series and the prominent Kamen Rider series was, in fact, a mangaka?

Shotaro Ishinomori-sensei was an influential figure in not only manga and anime but also tokusatsu, the “Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects.”

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Keiko Takemiya-sensei burst onto the manga scene in the early 1970’s and helped pioneer a new genre of shōjo (girl) manga and shōnen-ai, which depicts love between two young men. In fact, in December 1970 she published the short story, In the Sunroom, which is considered to be the first shōnen-ai and contains the earliest known kiss between two male characters in shōjo manga.

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Fujio Akatsuka-sensei pioneered comedy in manga, hence his title as the Gag Manga King.

He has numerous accomplishments under his belt: As one of the founding artists of manga he revolutionized the manga industry through his use of puns and countless other means of word play.  Ever wonder why puns are in every manga you read? Well, it is because of this man.

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Fujiko Fujio is the pen name of the mangaka duo of Hiroshi Fujimoto-sensei and Motoo Abiko-sensei. The two have worked apart more than they collaborated, as individuals they adopted various of their pen name as pseudonyms. Abiko-sensei adopted the name Fujiko Fujio (A) and Fujimoto-senei became Fujiko F. Fujio. They achieved their fame from their decorated series, Doraemon.

Together they won: the 1963 Shogakukan Manga Award for their work on Old Song and Tebukuro Tecchan, the 1981 Kawasaki City’s Cultural Prize, the 1982 Shogakukan Manga Award  for children’s manga, the 1989 the Film Special Meritorious Prize, the 1989 Golden Gloss Prize, and the first Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Grand Prize in 1997.

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Have you ever read a manga or seen an anime about samurai? Rurouni Kenshin? Vagabond? Afro Samurai? The genre is wide spread and ever popular.  But have you ever given some thought as to the genre’s origins? This man, Kazuo Koike-sensei, wrote the story of Lone Wolf and Cub, the manga that started the idea of romanticizing the samurai and thus creating the genre. 

He won the Hall of Fame Eisner Award in 2004.

Read more of this week’s featured mangaka.

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Osamu Akimoto-sensei deserves my respect and a place on this segment not because he fathered a large number of series but for the opposite: his series, Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, is the longest continuous running series of all time.  With 1,751* chapters and 179 volumes, this behemoth of a manga has been running since 1976, that’s over thirty years!

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Takeshi Obata-sensei has mentored numerous famous mangaka including Yusuke Murata (Eyeshield 21), Nobuhiro Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin) and Kentaro Yabuki (Black Cat).

His mentees created hit series, but what did Obata-sensei accomplish? Have you heard of Hikaru no Go, Death Note, or Bakuman? Obata-sensei is the artist (not the writer) of these three hit series.

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When asked in an interview, “Up to now, what has someone said to you that has left a lasting impression?” Eiichiro Oda-sensei simply replied, “Writing is expressing!”

Best known as the creator of One Piece, which recently sold 100 million volumes, Oda-sensei currently has the notable position as a committee member for the coveted Tezuka Award. In a poll conducted in 2008, Oda-sensei was tied as the fifth favorite mangaka of Japan with Yoshirhiro Togashi-sensei, of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter fame.

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Akira Toriyama-sensei is best known for his two works, Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball. Other notable jobs of his include his work as a character designer in the famous videos games Chrono Trigger and the Dragon Quest series. Toriyama-sensei also holds the title of acting committee chair for the prestigious Tezuka Award. 

At age 20, with his debut manga, Yoshihiro Togashi won the 1986 Tezuka Award, the most prestigious award for new mangakas, for his work on Buttobi Straight. Togashi-sensei is also notable for writing and drawing both Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter, both being hugely popular and the former winning the 1994 Shogakukan Manga Award. Interestingly, he is married to Naoko Takeuchi, the author of Sailor Moon, with whom he has two children.

Kentaro Miura-sensei is the mangaka, both the author and artist, for the behemoth of a manga, Berserk. Miura-sensei received second place in the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize of Excellence in 2002 for his work in Berserk. In my opinion, he should have earned first place.

Komi-sensei, born in the Kochi Prefecture of Japan, is responsible for creating the cult favorite, Double Arts. After graduating from Kobe College he drew and wrote seven one-shots for Shonen Jump (and its affiliates); only two of which have been serialized.