Nobuhiro Watsuki

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Nobuhiro Watsuki ( Japanese 和 月 伸 宏 , Watsuki Nobuhiro ; born May 26, 1970 in Tokyo Prefecture , Japan ) is a Japanese mangaka , which became famous primarily for his manga Kenshin .

Life

Nobuhiro Watsuki grew up in Nagaoka , Niigata Prefecture . During his school days he began to draw. He was inspired by his brother and by various mangaka, including Osamu Tezuka and Fujiko Fujio . In order to be able to devote himself sufficiently to drawing, he gave up his previous occupation with kendo . In 1987 he won the 33rd Tezuka Prize with the Manga Teacher Pon , a prize for young talent from the Japanese Shueisha publishing house. For a short time he assisted the two-year-old manga artist Takeshi Obata ( Hikaru no Go ) on his manga Arabian Majin Bokentan Lamp Lamp . According to their own statements, the two are good friends.

Watsuki published his first series Kenshin in Shōnen Jump magazine from 1994 . Among other things, she experienced several anime adaptations and was translated into numerous languages. It is his most successful series to date. While working on Kenshin , Eiichirō Oda ( One Piece ) and Hiroyuki Takei ( Shaman King ) worked as assistants for him. He is good friends with both of them.

After he finished Kenshin in 1999, Watsuki wanted to reorient his narrative and drawing style and draw something happier that was more in keeping with the shōnen genre . This was followed in 2001 Gun Blaze West , which was unsuccessful and ended early, and in 2003 Busō Renkin , which ran until 2005 and was implemented as an anime series the following year. The success of this series did not come close to that of Kenshin . This was followed by the series Embalming - The Another Tale of Frankenstein , which ran from 2007 to 2015 in the newly founded, monthly magazine Jump SQ . With this series, Watsuki turned back to darker, more serious subjects, and it is also aimed at an older audience.

For a game from his favorite video game series, Samurai Spirits / Samurai Shodown , Watsuki took over the design of a few characters. In 2004, he took over the complete character design for the Shinsengumi video game Shinsengumi Gunraw Den .

In September 2017, Watsuki started his new manga series Rurōni Kenshin Hokkaidō-hen , a direct sequel to Kenshin, in Jump SQ .

In November 2017, as part of an investigation into child pornography buyers, Japanese police searched Watsuki's office and found several DVDs containing child pornography by early teenage girls. The police opened a case against Watsuki for possession of child pornography and referred the case to the prosecutor. Watsuki confessed his guilt and allegedly admitted to investigators that he "would like girls in late elementary school through about the age of sophomore middle school," which in the context of the Japanese school system is roughly 11-14 years old. The current publication of his series Rurōni Kenshin Hokkaidō-hen was interrupted after the process of Shueisha became known. Shueisha stated that they were taking the matter seriously and that Watsuki would show "deepest remorse".

On February 28, 2018, Watsuki was charged with possession of child pornography and fined 200,000 yen. In June 2018, the publication of Rurōni Kenshin Hokkaidō-hen continued. The announcement said that Watsuki would lead "a life of self-reflection and penance", but together with Shueisha he made the decision to continue the series, as fulfilling the wishes of the fans was a duty.

Inspirations

As a big fan of American superhero comics, Watsuki has often based character designs on characters from, for example, X-Men or Spider-Man . He also draws his inspiration from other areas that interest him. This includes, of course, numerous manga and anime, but also video games, Hollywood films, novels and pop music. In Buso Renkin , Watsuki also likes to refer, often self-deprecatingly, to his own earlier works.

Works

  • Teacher Pon
  • Hokuriku Yurei Kobanashi (1990, short story)
  • Sengoku no Mikazuki (1992, short story)
  • Rurouni Kenshin (1994–1999, 28 volumes)
  • Yahiko no Sakabato (1999, short story)
  • Meteor Strike (short story)
  • Gun Blaze West (2000, 3 volumes)
  • Buso Renkin (2003–2005, 10 volumes)
  • Embalming - Dead Body and Bride (2005, short story)
  • Embalming II - Dead Body and Lover (2006, short story)
  • Embalming - The Another Tale of Frankenstein (2007-2015, 10 volumes)
  • Rurouni Kenshin -Cinema Edition- (2012-2013, retelling)
  • Rurōni Kenshin Hokkaidō-hen (since 2017)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido Arc Manga Launches on September 4 (Updated). Anime News Network, August 3, 2017, accessed June 6, 2020 .
  2. ↑ 'Rurouni Kenshin' cartoonist referred to prosecutors over possession of child porn. The Japan Times, November 22, 2017, accessed June 6, 2020 .
  3. ^ Rurouni Kenshin Creator Nobuhiro Watsuki Charged With Child Pornography Possession. Anime News Network, November 21, 2017, accessed June 6, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido Arc Manga Goes on Hiatus Due to Creator's Child Porn Charge. Anime News Network, November 21, 2017, accessed June 6, 2020 .
  5. ^ Rurouni Kenshin Creator Nobuhiro Watsuki Fined 200,000 Yen for Possession of Child Porn. Anime News Network, February 27, 2018, accessed June 6, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido Arc Manga Resumes in June. Anime News Network, April 23, 2018, accessed June 6, 2020 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Watsuki, Nobuhiro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 和 月 伸 宏 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese mangaka
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokyo Prefecture , Japan