Makoto Kobayashi (manga artist)

Makoto Kobayashi ( Japanese 小林 ま こ と , Kobayashi Makoto , actually: 小林 誠 ; * May 13, 1958 in Niigata , Niigata Prefecture , Japan ) is a Japanese manga artist .

Life

In his spare time in high school, Makoto Kobayashi practiced judo , which influenced his later work. He published his first manga as a professional draftsman in 1978 with the short story Kakutō san Kyōdai in the manga magazine Shōnen Magazine , for which Tetsuya Chiba and Go Nagai worked at the same time . The main character from Kakutō san Kyōdai also appeared in his first success, the wrestling manga series 1, 2 no Sanchirō . The publication of 1, 2 no Sanchirō in Shōnen Magazine began in 1978 and ended in 1983 after over 3815 pages. Toru Ichikawa filmed the manga, which won the Kodansha Manga Prize in 1981 , in 1996 with Masaaki Satake in the lead role.

From 1985 to 1991 Kobayashi drew Jūdō-bu Monogatari , a comedic judo manga. His only work that has been implemented as an anime so far is What's Michael? about the house cat Michael, who slips into all kinds of roles. What's Michael? was awarded the Kodansha Manga Prize in 1986, appeared at irregular intervals in Morning magazine , which is aimed at adult men, and contains allusions to, for example, Michael Jackson . The comedy manga Chichonmanchi , published in the now-discontinued Uppers magazine, is about a woman who dies a virgin at the age of 92 and is sent back to earth by the devil to have sexual experiences in the body of an 18-year-old. The author is currently working on Kakutō Tanteidan for the manga magazine Evening .

Makoto Kobayashi, who in addition to his work as a draftsman is also a photographer and whose works have all been published in Japan by Kodansha Verlag, is related to the singer Sachiko Kobayashi . His works have been translated into English, French and German, among others. The German edition of What's Michael? was canceled after four of nine volumes due to poor sales.

Works (selection)

• Kakutō san Kyōdai ( 格 闘 三 兄弟 ), 1978
• 1, 2 no Sanchirō ( 1 ・ 2 の 三四郎 ), 1978–1983
• I am Makkoi (I am マ ッ コ イ ), 1984–1985
• What's Michael? (ホ ワ ッ ツ マ イ ケ ル? , Howatts Maikeru? ), 1984–2003
• Jūdō-bu Monogatari (柔道 部 物語 ), 1985–1991
• Heba! Hello-chan ( へ ば! ハ ロ ー ち ゃ ん ), 1992–1994
• 1, 2 no Sanchirō 2 ( 1 ・ 2 の 三四郎 2 ), 1995-1998
• Chichonmanchi ( ち ち ょ ん ま ん ち ), 1999–2002
• Kakutō Tanteidan ( 格 闘 探 偵 団 ), since 2003

Web links

• Kobayashi's Tankōbon publications at Kodansha.jp (Japanese)