Highlights
- The success of top anime is owed to quality manga, driven by talented artists who put their heart and soul into their work.
- Manga artists like Togashi, Inoue, and Kubo have shaped the industry, transcending cultural barriers with their iconic creations.
- From rejected concepts to international hits, these visionary artists have left a lasting impact on the world of manga.
The greatest anime owe their success to the quality of the source material, the manga in most circumstances. These mangas also owe their quality to the heart and effort that the manga artists and illustrators have put in, to ensure that they come out well.
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From groundbreaking narratives to visually stunning illustrations, these visionaries have reshaped the way manga is viewed, transcending cultural barriers and garnering fans worldwide for their stunning artwork. From the pioneers who laid the foundation for manga to the next generation who carry on his mantle, here are some of the most iconic manga artists and their best works so far.
9 Yoshihiro Togashi
Most Famous Work: Hunter x Hunter
- Where To Read: MangaPlus
- Illustrator: Yoshihiro Togashi
- Number Of Chapters: 400
Seeing as his parents owned a paper shop, Yoshihiro started out drawing manga casually in elementary school which led to him joining the fine arts club in his high school. Surprisingly, he chose to study education in college, hoping to become a teacher, but he still made submissions to Shueisha which made it to the pages of Weekly Young Jump.
He won the Tezuka award for upcoming manga artists when he authored Buttobi Straight, which prompted him to give up on his dreams of teaching and pursuing his passion full-time.
8 Takehiko Inoue
Most Famous Work: Vagabond
- Where To Read: VIZ
- Illustrator: Takehiko Inoue
- Number Of Chapters: 327
From a young age, Takehiko Inoue has always demonstrated a talent for drawing and sports, so it is no surprise that he is responsible for the incredible Slam Dunk and the renowned Vagabond series. He initially wanted to attend an art university, but due to the cost, he ended up enrolling at his local university and settled for studying literature.
While doing that, he never gave up on his dreams, till one of his submissions dazzled an editor at Weekly Shonen Jump. He dropped out to pursue his dreams full-time, and the rest is history.
7 Tite Kubo
Most Famous Work: Bleach
- Where To Read: MangaPlus
- Illustrator: Tite Kubo
- Number Of Chapters: 698
Kubo fell in love with the profession in elementary school when he read Saint Seiya. His first series was a one-shot written for the Weekly Shonen Jump, before eventually creating a manga series named Zombiepowder, which was canceled only a year after its inception.
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The original Bleach concept was rejected by the Weekly Shonen Jump, prompting Akira Toriyama to send him a letter of encouragement. Bleach went on to sell over 130 million copies and become one of the best manga and anime series of all time.
6 Kentaro Miura
Most Famous Work: Berserk
- Where To Read: Dark Horse
- Illustrator: Kentaro Miura
- Number Of Chapters: 375
At the age of ten, Kentaro Miura created a manga series for his schoolmates, illustrated in the school’s publication, named Miuranger. This series would end up running for forty volumes. He started using professional drawing techniques in middle school and went on to enroll in an artistic curriculum.
After being rejected by Weekly Shonen Sunday several times, things were looking grim. George Morikawa eventually took him under his wing when he turned 18, which was around the same time he began the first concepts for Guts and Berserk.
5 Masashi Kishimoto
Most Famous Work: Naruto
- Where To Read: VIZ
- Illustrator: Masashi Kishimoto
- Number Of Chapters: 700
Masashi Kishimoto was born as the first of a set of identical twins and spent most of his childhood with his grandfather, during which he loved to draw his favorite cartoon characters. His grandfather loved to tell him stories of war and how they are related to grudges, essentially creating a cycle of hatred.
It is said that this was the main inspiration for incorporating that concept when he was drawing Naruto. He greatly idolized Akira Toriyama growing up, being a great fans of his work, from Dragon Ball to the Dragon Quest RPG game.
4 Akira Toriyama
Most Famous Work: Dragon Ball
- Where To Read: VIZ
- Illustrator: Akira Toriyama
- Number Of Chapters: 520
Toriyama is responsible for inspiring most of the Big 3 manga artists vand was one of two great manga artists to be inspired by the great Osamu Tezuka. Toriyama had always loved drawing and illustrations, but he only decided to become a manga artist after coming across Astro Boy.
He would go on to attend a high school that emphasizes creative design and enter the job market immediately after his graduation, despite contrary opinions from his parents. He worked at an advertising company for years before quitting and finding his feet with the release of Dr. Slump.
3 Eiichiro Oda
Most Famous Work: One Piece
- Where To Read: MangaPlus
- Illustrator: Eiichiro Oda
- Number Of Chapters: 1000
Eiichiro Oda is well known for One Piece, his masterpiece, which is the highest-selling manga in history. From the age of four, Oda had decided that he would become a manga artist, to avoid getting a “real job”, a feat reminiscent of his character, Monkey. D. Luffy. His major source of inspiration was Akira Toriyama and his Dragon Ball series, and he got the pirate theme from the Vicky the Viking series, which he watched many times as a child.
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At the age of 17, he won second place in the Tezuka Awards and went on to become one of the most iconic manga artists of all time.
2 Naoki Urasawa
Most Famous Work: 20th Century Boy
- Where To Read: VIZ
- Illustrator: Naoki Urasawa
- Number Of Chapters: 249
Naoki Urasawa is responsible for some of the best seinen manga ever and has been touted as one of the artists that changed the game, with regards to manga. He won the Tezuka Osamu cultural prize twice and paid homage to his idol by revisualizing an arc from Astro Boy, which was his favorite childhood manga.
His first international hit was The Incredibly Disturbing Monster before he released the 20th Century Boys sci-fi mystery and continued this great run with Pluto. He initially never wanted to become a professional manga artist, and studied Economics at University as a result.
1 Osamu Tezuka
Most Famous Work: Astroboy
- Where To Read: Dark Horse
- Illustrator: Osamu Tezuka
- Number Of Chapters: 112
Osamu Tezuka is the manga artist responsible for the classic called Astroboy. Often touted as the “Godfather of Manga,” he attributed most of his inspiration to the illustrations by Walt Disney. He, in turn, inspired a generation of manga artists, especially with his work, Astro Boy, which many of them grew up reading.
He began the manga revolution in 1947 when his New Treasure Island series was published, and remained an icon till he eventually died of cancer in 1989. The Tezuka Award for the best new manga artists in the Story Manga category was created to uphold his legacy.
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