Naoki Urasawa
Naoki Urasawa (浦沢 直樹 Urasawa Naoki, born 2 January 1960 in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan[1]) is a Japanese manga artist and occasional musician.
A successor to the spirit of Osamu Tezuka
We barely find authors who respect Osamu Tezuka more than him.
You fill find his homage to Tezuka in “Pluto” in 2003-09 which is based on an episode of “Astro Boy” by Tezuka.
Osamu Tezuka’s works are very wide-ranging, so it’s too hard for other authors to follow Tezuka’s example even if they admires what Tezuka did.
But Naoki Urasawa has kept writing fine works in many genres such as SF, mystery, sports, comedy and so on — as if he follow Tezuka's footsteps. Beyond his eyes, Osamu Tezuka may keep smiling.
Another artist he was inspired by is Bob Dylan.
Naoki Urasawa loves rock music from his early days and adores Bob Dylan who never stopped singing even when audience booed him severely.
Bob’s way of living may affect Naoki’s philosophy how to pursue his ideas while meeting the expectations from the readers.
Led by these two pioneers, Naoki Urasawa never stops. I expect the day Naoki will pioneer the new ground.
Notable works:
20th Century Boys (1999-2006)
Monster (1994-2001)
Next author (Akira Toriyama)