A popular Japanese ranking site recently closed voting on a poll to decide the most skilled manga artist of all-time. The survey placed an emphasis on drawing skill and technique and not necessarily other elements like story.
From May 30 to July 13, 7,235 votes were tallied and a lot of creators behind fan favorite series placed fairly high though their order is sure to create some controversary if the discussion is purely about illustration skills. Likewise, a few mangaka that fell out of the top 10 will likely surprise western anime and manga fans.
To check out the Top 10 (starting with #10), click the next button below. On the last page, we'll also recap where some other fan favorite creators ranked.
10.Masakazu Katsura
Known for: I's, DNA² (character designer for Tiger & Bunny)
Katsura had a pretty strong run as a mangaka in the '90s, though he seems to be more heavily employed as a character designer for TV anime these days. A little known fact is that he's a good friend of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama (Kazuhiko Torishima was both of their editors at Jump) and is credited with suggesting the fusion technique to Toriyama.
A 2012 interview
with Viz at New York Comic-Con revealed that Katsura only became a manga creator because he wanted to buy something his parents refused to buy. "
It was when I was in my second or third year of junior high school. I was into drawing, but I wasn’t interested in drawing manga. I really wanted a stereo system, but my parents never bought me one. So I entered the Tezuka Award for the prize money, and that’s how I became a mangaka."
09: Yoshihiro Togashi
Known for: Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter
Manga fans have a love/hate relationship with Togashi as his brilliance is undeniable yet that's what makes the frequent hiatuses he takes all the more unbearable. Hunter x Hunter was first started in 1998 and it appears that we're nowhere close to the series' conclusion. Perhaps he'd get more chapters completed if he teamed up with his wife, Sailor Moon maga creator Naoko Takeuchi?
Growing up, Togashi didn't think his artwork was particularly good until classmates started taking notice as he revealed
in a 2016 interview with Viz. "
When classmates look at your scribbles and say “Wow!!” you can’t help but think that you’re good. It comes down to the opinions of others. I didn’t actually think I was good, but when others tell you that you are, you start to think that you might have talent."
08: Tsukasa Hojo
Known for: Cat's Eye, City Hunter
There are traces of City Hunter in nearly every bounty hunter/detective manga title that followed after the series' finale in 1991. The series was so popular that Hojo begun serialization of a City Hunter alternate telling titled Angel Hearts, which featured the same characters but in a parallel universe.
While i
nterviewed for a 2015 manga contest titled Silent Manga Audition, Hojo commented, "
There really is no need to do anything special. If I had to put into words, it’s just a matter of “trial and error” – keep on drawing, and learn from one’s own mistakes. If you’re looking at youth as a weakness, then the only way to overcome it is to accumulate experience. Maturity is not something that can be taught, nor learned from another person. They just have to draw something that’s full of errors, then reflect “What could I have done better? What could I have done differently?”, and then try again. By repeating this process, one will naturally improve, little by little."
07: Hirohiko Araki
Known for: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
While most manga creators shun the spotlight, Hhirohiko Araki is quite the oppossite, appearing in numberous television specials and at various public events. His outgoing personality is definitely reflected in the stylish poses that serve as the corner stone of his manga series. The poses have become affectionately known as JoJo-dachi (Jo-Jo standing). Araki attributes his style to his love of heavy metal music and horror films.
In a 2017
interview with ANN, the JoJo creator discussed the differences between drawing a weekly title and a monthly book. "
Having a deadline every week, along with shorter chapters, restricts what can be drawn, and also requires momentum to build up excitement for the following week. With monthlies, there's more pages and flexibility for me to draw at my own pace, which suits me at this time."
06: Sorachi Hideaki
Known for: Gintama
Mangaka are generally a reclusive lot, typically using pen names instead of their real names and avoiding public interviews and photo opportunites. Of course, their chosen-profession lends itself to this lifestyle as they typically need to stay at their desk, toiling away for 15-20 hours per day in order to meet their schedule, (especially if its a weekly title instead of monthly). Gintama author Sorachi Hideaki takes things a step further, chosing to use a pen name and the above image of a gorilla whenever situations require him to use his likeness.
05: Takehiko Inoue
Known for: Slam Dunk, Vagabond, (character designer for the Xbox 360 JRPG Lost Odyssey)
Vagabond is one of the most beautiful manga series ever created and its only flaw is that it's been on hiatus for quite some time. Unlike most mangaka on this list, who do most (if not all) the artwork in their series, Inoue employs five, full-time assistants. However, what they're doing these days is a mystery as the series has been on hiatus since 2015.
In an
interview with Medium, Inoue discussed how he manages to convey such speed in Vagabond's kinetic samurai battles. "
There is no special technique to reflect the speed, but I try to understand how the body works and where are the axis points, as well as its center of gravity… In short, if you understand how the body works, you can generate that sense of speed."
04: Eiichiro Oda
Known for: One Piece
While Oda didn't come in at #1, he's definitely the richest person on this list. As One Piece, regularly dominates the market and shows no signs of slowing down, the series typically sells more collected volumes than the next 9 combined in any given year. Recently, Oda has begun talking about the end of the series, which he states will have, "just over 100 volumes." Volume 81 was just released earlier this year. There's typically about 4 volumes released a year so that still gives about 4-5 years for Oda to wrap things up.
At
JumpFesta last year, Oda talked about his drawing process and clarified a previous statement he made about only drawing the moving elemtns of the panel and leaving the backgrounds for his assitants. "
I start with the storyboards and send them to my editor. Once he says that they are good, I blow those up and place them on manga paper. I add in where the text will go and start the penciling and then the inking. I draw the characters, and then the backgrounds are added in. I try to have the least number of people possible touching the work. If too many people are involved, I often end up not being satisfied with the final product."
03: Yusuke Murata
Known for: Eyeshield 21, re-drawing One-Punch Man from One's crude sketches
These days, he's best known for drawing One-Punch Man, the hit manga series that garnered high praise from Western anime fans during its first season only to stumble and falter in season 2 due to a number of reasons. However, before Murata began redrawing One-Punch Man, he worked on his own series, the football shonen manga Eyeshield 21, which is still very popular to this day after concluding in 2009.
A Japanese interview (
translated via reddit) featuring both One and Murata saw the latter reveal his process for redrawing One's original web comic. "J
ust trying not to lose any of the characters' appeal. I basically revamp the artwork of the original Onepunch Man, so the only thing I have to think about is emphasizing the characters' appeal. In reality, an artists job starts before he even starts drawing. It's important to know what the character's good parts. If you don't understand that to the core, there's no point in drawing the character in the first place. On the flip side, as long as you understand the character's appeal, there are so many scenes that come into your mind to draw that appeal out. So the only thing I care for is if I can accurately grasp Mr. ONE's characters' appeal."
02:Takeshi Obata
Known for: Death Note, All You Need Is Kill (manga series that inspired Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow)
The story for Death Note (at least the first-half) is so stellar, that many manga readers often overlook the art so it's nice to see Obata receive some praise for his attention to detail. Recently, a new one-shot manga for Death Note was announced though, he and his writing partner Tsugumi Ohba, have kept pretty busy with other projects since the series ended in 2006.
At New York Comic Con 2014, Obata spoke about developing hsi art style with
Comic Alliance. "
I’d always liked drawing and art since I was a kid. I’d draw and draw. For me, drawing is work. I keep my nose to the ground and draw all the time. For me, it’s not exactly exercise — but it’s akin to that. Every day. I've structured my life to be able to draw more, and that’s how my style developed. Also, taking inspiration from my favorite writers and artists and basing my own work on things I liked from them. I’d say that’s how I built my style, as it were."
01: Akira Toriyama
Known for: Dragon Ball
Though Akira Toriyama stopped drawing Dragon Ball in 1995, his creation lives on thanks to his protege Toyotarō and several anime projects at Toei Animation. A noted recluse, Toriyama has rarely been photographed over the course of his long career and resides in a small, rural Japanese town instead of a big city.
In a 2003 interview in Weekly Shonen Jump, Akira Toriyama discussed how he developed his art style and how he was discovered by Jump. "
I started copy-drawing other people's magna characters when I was about 5 years old, but I only started drawing magna with a proper storyline when I was about 22 years old. I was an avid anime watcher from the age of 7 until I was about 10, when I moved to magna. I think I am influenced by Osamu Tenzuka's during that time. Such as Tetsuwan Atom("Astro Boy") and 101 Dalmations. I submitted a story to a monthly contest for amateur artist in Weekly Shonen Jump. It didn't win, but afterwards, I was approached by one of the editors [KAZUHIKO TORISHIMA, NOW WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP SENIOR DIRECTOR], and after I studied for about a year, I became a pro."
Other popular manga artists placed outisde of Top 10:
11. Masashi Kishimoto - Naruto
14. Tite Kubo - Bleach
19. Kohei Horikoshi - My Hero Academia
27. Watsuki Nobuhiro - Ruroni Kenshin
tie-30. Daisuke Kuwahara - World Trigger
tie-30: Aso Shuichi - The Disastrous Life of Saki K.
38: Hiroki Tajima - Black Clover
52: Boichi - Dr. Stone