Naoki Urasawa
| Naoki Urasawa | |
|---|---|
Naoki Urasawa at the 2012 Japan Expo, Paris
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| Born | Naoki Urasawa 浦沢 直樹 January 2, 1960 Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Manga artist, musician |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Education | Meisei University |
| Period | 1981–present |
| Subject | Seinen manga |
| Notable works |
20th Century Boys Monster Pluto Yawara! Billy Bat |
| Notable awards |
Shogakukan Manga Award (1989, 2000, 2002) Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (1999, 2005) |
Naoki Urasawa (浦沢 直樹 Urasawa Naoki?, born January 2, 1960 in Fuchū, Tokyo) is a Japanese manga artist and occasional musician. He has been called one of the artists that changed the history of manga, and has received the Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize twice, and the Kodansha Manga Award once.
Urasawa cited Osamu Tezuka as one of his heroes, being particularly fond of his work Phoenix. Urasawa graduated from Meisei University with a degree in economics. He made his professional manga debut with Return in 1981.
Three of his series have been adapted into anime: Yawara! (1986–1993), Master Keaton (1988–1994), and Monster (1994–2001). One of his more notable works, 20th Century Boys (2000–2006), was made into a three-part live-action movie series, which were released in 2008 and 2009. As a storyteller, his most distinctive characteristics are his dense, multi-layered, interconnecting narratives, his mastery of suspense, clever homages to classic manga & anime and a frequent use of German characters and settings.
Urasawa has frequently collaborated with manga editor and author Takashi Nagasaki. The two met when Nagasaki was made Urasawa's editor upon his debut. Although the two continued to collaborate even after Nagasaki became freelance, they rarely socialize outside of work.
In 2008, Urasawa took a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University, where he taught "Modern Expression Course: Manga Classes" two to three times a year, although the class met every month. Initially planned for only five students, Urasawa agreed to expand it to fifteen in an effort to create more "real artists." Also in 2008, the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Junot Diaz praised Monster, adding that "Urasawa is a national treasure in Japan."Oricon held a poll on the Mangaka that Changed the History of Manga in 2010, mangaka being the Japanese word for a manga artist, and Urasawa came in tenth.
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