To draw illustrations is something, but to be able to give life to it is a whole new thing. This is particularly true in the parlance of manga-making, where artists devote a big chunk of their existence to creating timeless pieces.
We owe every emotion that we feel as we flip a page of manga to the best manga artists and to those who aspire to be one of them. And for sure, even the best animators out there owe it to the creators of classic Japanese comic books--ones that filled our childhood, and even adulthood, with so many memories to look back on; Ones that gave us an emotional rollercoaster ride like when we started following the evolution of Son Goku, the famous protagonist who was always in constant search for the seven magical orbs in Akira Toriyama's classic manga, Dragon Ball; Ones that shaped our view of the sea and of the world by teaching us to not give up on our dreams. Thanks to Eiichiro Oda's One Piece, starring the most famous pirate Monkey D. Luffy; And another that has taken us into the woods of Konoha where a young ninja Naruto Uzumaki has always wanted to prove himself worthy of becoming the Hokage. Indeed, Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto will always be a great teacher of what true friendship means and how staying true to our words can take us farther than we could ever think of. We owe it to them. We owe it to the best manga artists of all time!
Dubbed as 'The God of Manga' and 'The Father of Anime', Osamu Tezuka is a prolific Japanese manga artist slash cartoonist slash animator slash film producer. While he is known for his famous work, Astro Boy (Mighty Atom), he also paved the way for the golden age of manga. Looking back on his elementary school days before becoming one of the best manga artists of all time, he would draw comics all the time! And a few laters, he had realized that he could encourage people to take care of the world. Lo and behold, after World War II, he published his first work--Diary of Ma-Chan at 17 years old!
Born into a not-so-well-off family in 1955, Akira Toriyama had drawn inspiration from the things that he could not buy as a kid. Prior to his journey of becoming one of the best manga artists, who would have thought Disney's animated movie One Hundred and One Dalmatians was his main peg at that time? Walking down the memory lane, we could see that he quit his first job at a design firm because he was always late. Although he was not a morning person, he was a gritty manga artist. He would persistently submit his work despite getting rejected a lot of times. The next thing we knew, the global phenomenon Dragon Ball was born. It was serialized in 1984 and was adapted into an anime two years after.
If you are a certified Otaku, for sure the name Eiichiro Oda does ring a bell. Well, if it does, that is because he is none other than the creator of the classic manga One Piece. And just like any other manga artists, he was engrossed in reading different mangas--The Monster Kid, Captain Tsubasa, and a lot more. Looking back on his humble beginning, Oda kicked off his career as a mangaka at age 17 during his stay in high school while his professional career really began when he started working as an assistant to pioneer manga creators at that time. Fast forward to 1997, Oda's pirate-inspired manga was finally serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump carrying the title One Piece.
Masashi Kishimoto, the brilliant mangaka behind the ninja-themed manga series most of us grew up on--Naruto. With over 250 million sold copies worldwide, no wonder Kishimoto's name got solidified as one of the best, if not the best, manga artists of all time. It was so successful that it was adapted into anime, films, and even games! Perhaps, his greatest asset has always been his pursuit of drawing human figures as realistically as possible. And it is worthy to mention that Kishimoto said it out in the open that he was greatly inspired by Dragon Ball, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Ninku, and other classic ones.
Prior to landing on Japan's list of the best manga artists of all time, Takeshi Obata found himself mired in a constant struggle to come up with a good story for his drawings. Hence, his partnership with Tsugumi Ohba. The partnership that paved the way for the birth of the record-breaking manga Death Note, which ran from 2003 to 2006. Obata's masterpiece was then adapted into different entertainment forms such as anime series and live-action films. Yet, before Light Yagami came in the picture, Cyborg Jii-chan G was Obata's first work to get serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. Two years after Death Note's serialization, the Obata-Ohba tandem once again published Bakuman, another hit manga series from 2008 to 2012.
Ooops, you can't comment at this time. We can't wait to hear your voice again soon!
Engage, learn and share with a friendly community versed in a massive range of trending topics.