Interest Stacks

Over four decades ago, Yoshihiro Tatsumi expanded the horizons of comics storytelling by using the visual language of manga to tell gritty, literary stories about the private lives of everyday people. He has been called "the grandfather of Japanese alternative comics" and has influenced generations of cartoonists around the world. Now the visionary creator of "The Push Man and Other Stories" and "Good-bye" has turned his incisive, unflinching gaze upon himself. Over ten years in the making, "A Drifting Life" is Tatsumis' most ambitious, personal, and heart felt work: an autobiographical bildungsroman in comics form. Using his life long obsession with comics as a frame work, Tatsumi weaves a complex story that encompasses family dynamics, Japanese culture and history, first love, the intricacies of the manga industry, and most importantly, what it means to be an artist. Alternately humorous, enlightening, and haunting, this is the masterful summartion of a fascinating life and a historic career. (Source: Drawn & Quarterly)

Akiko Hayashi has soaring but strangely specific dreams: to make a successful manga debut while still in school, have her favorite actor star in its adaptation, and end up marrying him. However, she is far from having the motivation or skills to realize these hopes. When a friend introduces her to an unorthodox, backstreet art class taught by the strong-armed Kenzou Hidaka, called simply as "sensei," Akiko decides to enroll, expecting an easy ride and an automatic improvement in her art skills. To her chagrin, what she gets is something else entirely—a tough, demanding, and uncompromising teacher with absolutely no interest in manga. But when Akiko takes up Sensei's challenge of an intense schedule, she comes to recognize how much he cares about his students and forms a close bond with him. With Sensei's guidance, Akiko learns what is necessary to become a successful mangaka as well as what it means to be an adult. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

An autobiography of the duo Fujio Fujiko, creators of Paman and Doraemon. How they become friends and developed love for manga—but their passion lead them into different ways in the end. (Source: MU)

This manga follows the residents of Tokiwasou—a beat-down tenant apartment in Tokyo for manga artists. Manga Michio is a 21 year-old aspiring artist who is keeping a journal of his experiences as a starting out artist. When Konotera Yukie comes to stay with her younger brother, Michio is smitten. But Yukie has come to take her brother home and send him back to college—her father thinks that being a manga artist is no way to live. Can Michio convince her that her talented brother should stay? Or will she be the inspiration for his latest character design? The manga gives intriguing insight to the life of a struggling mangaka. (Source: MU) Included one-shots: Volume 1: Rocket-kun Volume 2: Rocket-kun: Uchuusen Bakudan Jiken no Maki Volume 4: Lonely Gun Volume 7-8: Kyoufu Tantei-kyoku Dai 1-wa: Mimizuku Ningen (2 parts) Volume 10: The Hunter Volume 11: Makete Tamaru ka Matsudaira Yasutaka

It is the year 1966. Hamaguchi, a young man comes to Kyoto, where he finds work in a small textile company.In his free time, he goes to the local Zoo to draw animals. His peaceful life is one day disturbed by the company owner's daughter. Because of that, when his friend tells him of a certain job offer in Tokyo, Hamaguchi decides to go at once. In the capital he gets to learn the way of a manga artist.

An autobiographical manga detailing Kouji Maki's struggle in the manga industry during the 80s, the "Golden Age of Shounen Jump."

A short autobiography by Makoto Kobayashi about his experience serializing 1 2 no Sanshirou in Weekly Shounen Magazine from 1978 to 1983. Included one-shot: Kakutou Sankyoudai

(No synopsis yet.)

Oku Hiroya tells in this manga what inspired him to draw GANTZ, and his love of Sci-Fi movies.

This series tells the story of a bar where several mangaka come to visit. Each chapter is a short gag and interview with an artist that visits the bars. These collection of stories work as an artist to explain their unique styles and stories about some of their most famous series.

A biographical manga about Yuuji Aoki, the creator of Naniwa Kinyuudou.

An autobiographical manga about the career of Nagai Go and how his most known works were born. How a young Nagai Go, struggling to break out of his typecasting as the go-to guy for gag manga by breaking into the sophisticated world of story manga.

The autobiographical manga reveals the untold story of the creation of Nagai's Mazinger Z mecha manga. (Source: ANN)

Mizukami-sensei tells the story of his life as a mangaka!! An autobiographical "column manga" in which Satoshi Mizukami recounts the beginning of his career as a mangaka. (Source: Batoto)

(No synopsis yet.)

Shigeru Mizuki's autobiography in manga form, from his journey through childhood to a mangaka.

This is the tale of how Adachi Mitsuru went from being an assistant artist on a weekly manga to the superstar mangaka we know him to be today. But it's told (and written by) Mitsuru's older brother Tsutomu, who was also an assistant artist early on in their careers. (Source: MU)

An autobiographical manga focusing particularly on the author's tumultuous childhood as the daughter of Yasumi Yoshizawa, the author of the Dokonjougaeru manga for which this manga is named after. In the manga, Ootsuki shows how unstable their family situation was even as her father garnered fame for the manga. (Source: ANN)

Gekiga Fanatics is biographical manga about the creation of the gekiga genre in the the 50's by Takao Saito, Matsumoto Masahiko and Yoshihiro Tatsumi.

An autobiographical manga about Fujihiko Hosono's life during 1978, an important year in his life.

A biographical manga about Mushi Production, Osamu Tezuka's animation studio.

In 1978 animation director Yoshiyuki Tomino set forth to change the Japanese animation industry. For decades prior, Japanese science fiction had churned out numerous tales of semi-autonomous robots that would often come to the aide of humanity, but as someone who worked on a number of those works, Tomino came to the realization that he wanted to see a more realistic robot narrative. His vision was one where the robot while just slightly more human in appearance, was utilized more as a tool manipulated by man. With renowned artist Yoshikazu Yasuhiko by his side, and occasionally as his artistic rival, Tomino would change the way the whole world came to see Japanese animation and the broader toy and comics industries built around it. This evolution would be a war in its own right! Battles were fought in the offices of the animation studio! Conflicts were equally as heated in the recording booth! (Source: Denpa Books) Note: Gundam Sousei was collected in Kidou Senshi Gundam-san.

Then an assistant for manga artists like Suzue Miuchi and Fusako Kuramochi in the golden age of shoujo manga (that is, manga aimed at girls), the artist of this book lovingly recounts the untold labors and passions of the genre's then-upcoming superstars. In the era's popular artistic style, the book recounts little-known anecdotes about the origins of masterworks and the veritable war zones of production, putting readers in the midst of it all. (Source: Japan Media Arts Festival)