Naoki Urasawa is one of Japan's premier manga artists, with over two decades of work that's made him a genuine master of the medium. Born in Tokyo in 1960, he debuted with BETA! in 1983 and has maintained a prolific career ever since.
What sets Urasawa apart is his range. He's tackled romantic comedy (Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl), military thriller (Pineapple ARMY, with story by Kazuya Kudo), and psychological horror with equal skill. His best-known works are probably Monster—a gripping suspense thriller—and 20th Century Boys, an ambitious sci-fi adventure that spawned three live-action films starting in 2008. He's also known for Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, a modern reimagining of Osamu Tezuka's work created with Takashi Nagasaki and supervised by Macoto Tezka.
His work translates well to other media. Most of his major series have been adapted into anime and live-action productions, which speaks to how compelling his stories are beyond the page.
Awards have followed naturally. Urasawa's won the Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize twice, and the Kodansha Manga Award. Monster even earned two Eisner Award nominations in America. In 2008, he started teaching manga at Nagoya Zokei University as a guest instructor.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
