Takeshi Obata

Takeshi Obata ( Japanese 小 畑 健 , Obata Takeshi ; born February 11, 1969 in Niigata , Niigata Prefecture , Japan ) is a Japanese manga artist . For most of his works, which can be assigned to the Shōnen genre, he is responsible for the drawings. The stories are written by other authors.

Career

In 1985, while still at school, Obata sent his short story 500 Kōnen no Shinwa to the Shueisha publishing house. This was awarded the Tezuka Prize , which is awarded annually by Shōnen Jump , Japan's best-selling manga magazine . He then worked as an assistant to the manga artist Makoto Niwano.

In 1989 he published his debut work in the professional manga market with Cyborg Jiichan G , but still under the pseudonym Ken Kobatake . This manga series appeared in Shōnen Jump , for which he continued to work in the following years. His Karakurizōshi Ayatsuri Sakon , which first appeared in 1995, was so successful that it was filmed in an anime series. However, he did not really make his breakthrough until 1998 with Hikaru no Go , a manga about the traditional board game Go . The series, in which he worked with Yumi Hotta for the storyline and Yukari Umezawa as the go consultant, found a huge fan base, won multiple awards, translated into numerous languages, and made into a popular anime series.

His next work, which he brought out together with Tsugumi Ōba, was again a great success and caused a sensation. Death Note tells of a youngster who kills alleged criminals by writing their names in a mystical notebook. Despite its rather gritty subject matter, this work also appeared in Shōnen Jump , which is known for its easy-to-read, fast-paced action manga. Death Note has been implemented as a real-life film and an anime television series and has been translated into several languages.

In 2007, Obata worked with Takano Tsuneo as a writer on the manga series Blue Dragon RalΩGrad for Shōnen Jump . This is a version of the video game Blue Dragon . This series ended after a total of 29 chapters.

Obata and Tsugumi Ōba's subsequent project Bakuman , which was also published in Shōnen Jump from August 2008 to April 2012 , is a story about two boys who have the big dream of one day becoming a great mangaka.

In 2014 he adapted Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel All You Need Is Kill as a manga, based on the character design by Yoshitoshi ABe and the script by Ryōsuke Takeuchi.

The well-known manga artist Nobuhiro Watsuki (including Rurouni Kenshin ) worked as an assistant on Obata's manga series Arabian Lamp Lamp . Obata employed many other assistants throughout his career. He worked at Hikaru no Go with up to nine helpers , including Yūsuke Murata ( Eyeshield 21 ).

Awards

In addition to the Tezuka Prize , Obata and Yumi Hotta received the Shogakukan Manga Prize in 2000 and the Osamu Tezuka Culture Prize for Hikaru no Go in 2003 . In 2007 he was nominated for the Osamu Tezuka Culture Prize and the Seiun Prize for Death Note .

Works

• Cyborg Jiichan G ( CYBORG じ い ち ゃ ん G ), 1989
  • Cyborg Jiichan G , One-shot in Shōnen Jump Fall 1987 Special
  • Cyborg Jiichan G , One-shot in Shōnen Jump , 1988
  • Long Shoot ( ロ ン グ シ ュ ー ト ), one-shot in Shōnen Jump Summer Special 1988
• Arabian Lamp Lamp (魔神 冒 険 譚（ア ラ ビ ア ン）ラ ン プ ・ ラ ン プ ), 1991–1992 (Text: Susumu Sendō )
  • Detekite Oku Rei! Shūtarō-kun ( 出 て き て お く 霊! 守 太郎 く ん ), One-shot in Shōnen Jump , 1990
• Chikarabito Densetsu - Oni o Tsugumono (力 人（ち か ら び と）伝 説 - 鬼 を 継 ぐ も の - ), 1992–1993 (Text: Masaru Miyazaki )
  • Mugen Dōshi - Dream Master ( 夢幻 導 士 -DREAM MASTER- ), One-shot in Shōnen Jump , 1993
  • 500 Kōnen no Shinwa ( 500 光年 の 神話 ), one-shot in Shōnen Jump Spring Special 1986
• Karakurizōshi Ayatsuri Sakon (人形（か ら く り）草紙 あ や つ り 左近 ), 1995–1996 (Text: Sharakumaro )
  • Karakurizōshi Ayatsuri Sakon , one-shot in Shōnen Jump Spring Special 1995
  • Karakurizōshi Ayatsuri Sakon , One-shot in Shōnen Jump , 1996
• Hikaru no Go (ヒ カ ル の 碁 ), 1998–2003 (together with Yumi Hotta )
• Lust For Life in Adidas Manga Fever , 2002 (together with Sho-u Tajima and Hiroyuki Asada )
• Hajime ( は じ め ), 2003 (Text: Otsuichi )
• Death Note , 2003–2006 (Text: Tsugumi Ōba )
  • Death Note , One-shot in Shōnen Jump 2003
  • Death Note: Tokubetsuhe (DEATH NOTE 特別 編 ), One-shot in Shōnen Jump , 2008
• Blue Dragon: RalΩGrad , 2007–2008 (Text: Tsuneo Takano )
• Hello Baby , One-shot, 2007 (Text: Masanori Morita )
• Tairoke Report Manga ( タ イ ロ ケ リ ポ ー ト マ ン ガ ), One-shot, 2008
• L File No.15 , supplement to the film L: Change the World , 2008 (Text: Tsugumi Ōba)
• Urooboe Uroboros! ( う ろ お ぼ え ウ ロ ボ ロ ス! ), One-shot in Shōnen Jump , 2008 (Text: Nisio Isin )
• Bakuman. (バ ク マ ン。 ), 2008–2012 (Text: Tsugumi Ōba)
• All You Need Is Kill , 2014 (Template: Hiroshi Sakurazaka, Character Design: Yoshitoshi ABe, Script: Ryōsuke Takeuchi)
• Platinum End (プ ラ チ ナ エ ン ド ), since 2015 (Text: Tsugumi Ōba)

Web links

• Literature by and about Takeshi Obata in the catalog of the German National Library
• Information on Hikaru no Go , Takeshi Obata and Yumi Hotta on the homepage of the Osamu Tezuka Culture Prize ( Memento from June 21, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) (Japanese)
• Short biography of Obata on the Carlsen Verlag website