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Yoshihiro Togashi (()(がし) ()(よし)(ひろ)()()()()(), Togashi Yoshihiro), born April 27, 1966 in Yamagata Prefecture (Japan), is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age; while he attended college, the publishing company Shueisha recognized his talent. Togashi has authored numerous manga series in different genres during the past three decades. He is perhaps best known for writing and illustrating the YuYu Hakusho and Hunter × Hunter series, both of which have been published in the popular Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Togashi is married to Naoko Takeuchi, the author of Sailor Moon.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Born in Shinjō, Yamagata[4][5] to a family that owned a paper shop,[6] Togashi began drawing manga casually in his first through his second year of elementary school.[4][5][7] In high school, Togashi joined the fine-arts club; he later enrolled at Yamagata University where he studied education in the hope of becoming a teacher.[4] During college he submitted some of his manga work to Weekly Young Jump, published by Shueisha.[4][5] In 1986, at age 20, he authored a manga titled Buttobi Straight (ぶっとびストレート, Buttobi Sutorēto) for which he received the Tezuka Award, the most prestigious award for new comic artists in Japan.[7][8][9] Another manga by Togashi titled Jura no Mizuki (ジュラのミヅキ) was an honorable mention in Shueisha's first annual Hop Step Award Selection magazine, published in 1988.[10] After having given up his goal of becoming a teacher, Togashi was contacted by an editor of Weekly Shōnen Jump during his senior year of college, who asked him to move to Tokyo.[5]

Career[]

Togashi's earliest published works for Shueisha included Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!! (狼なんて怖くない!!, lit. I'm Not Afraid of the Wolf!!), a collection of comedy manga short stories. Weekly Shōnen Jump published some of the stories prior to a tankōbon released in 1989. Between 1989 and 1990, Togashi authored Ten de Shōwaru Cupid (てんで性悪キューピッド, lit. An Ill-tempered Cupid in Heaven), a four-volume romance manga involving the relationship between a normal, human boy and a beautiful, devil girl.

In 1990, Togashi made a name for himself with his next series YuYu Hakusho (幽☆遊☆白書, lit. Poltergeist Report). Based on his interests in the occult and in horror films, the plot features the character Yusuke Urameshi, who is killed and brought back to life as a "Underworld Detective". The manga, which lasted 175 chapters over 19 tankōbon from 1990 to 1994, went on to sell over 50 million copies worldwide, earned Togashi a Shogakukan Manga Award in 1994, and received a hit anime adaptation.[11][12] Togashi next authored Church!, a dōjinshi series.[13] In 1995, he created Level E (レベルE), a science fiction-comedy manga. Comprising three volumes, it was first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1995 and ran until 1997.[14][15][16] Level E was adapted into an anime television series in 2011.[17]

Togashi's next major series Hunter × Hunter (ハンター×ハンター), an action-adventure manga, began serialization in 1998. The story revolves around the protagonist Gon Freecss, a young boy in search of his father, who is a legendary, elite member of a society called a "Hunter". This manga also performed very well commercially, with the first 20 volumes selling nearly 55 million copies in Japan as of August 2011.[18] In 2008, Togashi tied with One Piece author Eiichiro Oda as the fifth favorite manga artist from a poll posted by the marketing research firm Oricon.[19]

In 2017, Togashi wrote the two-chapter manga Akuten Wars (悪天ウォーズ). It was illustrated by Hachi Mizuno and published in the September and November issues of Grand Jump Premium.[20]

Personal Life[]

Togashi is married to Naoko Takeuchi, the manga artist of Sailor Moon.[4][5][8] The two were introduced at a party hosted by Kazushi Hagiwara in August 1997. The following year, Takeuchi assisted Togashi for a short time by adding screentone to his manga Hunter × Hunter.[21] Togashi and Takeuchi were married on January 6, 1999. In attendance for the ceremony were several fellow manga artists and voice actors from both the Sailor Moon and YuYu Hakusho anime series.[22] The couple have two children and have collaborated on a children's book titled Oobo— Nu— Tochiibo— Nu— (おおぼーぬーとちぃぼーぬー), which Takeuchi wrote and Togashi illustrated.[7][23][24]

Togashi enjoys board-game-style video games and bowling with his family.[7] He also likes watching horror movies,[25] and considers Don't Look Up and Dawn of the Dead his favorites.[7] Including movies such as Alien, movies involving Zombies, and War.[26] Togashi cites visual effects designer H. R. Giger as a major influence.[7] Togashi suffered from an immense amount of stress while working on YuYu Hakusho, which caused him inconsistent sleep patterns and chest pain.[27] On March 29, 2011, Togashi and his fellow manga artists posted messages on the official Shōnen Jump website in support of the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[28] He has a younger brother named Hideaki Togashi, who is also a manga artist.

The Togashi Paper Store run by his mother is still open in Shinjō, Yamagata. She welcomes fans and sells limited-edition Togashi goods.[29]

Style[]

Manga critic Jason Thompson stated that Togashi is no ordinary manga artist and does things his own way, explaining that his first few one-shots were a mix of school comedy and "splatter-film horror references." Then, at age 24, Togashi created a hit with the supernatural fighting comedy YuYu Hakusho, one of the obvious imitators of the Dragon Ball formula of "start out as a comedy and then, once the readers like the characters, have them kick the crap out of each other." But rather than continue the series for as long as possible to maximize his profit, Togashi ended the series abruptly by turning the fighting manga back into a comedy. He then created the "0% fighting and 100% humor" science-fiction horror manga Level E.[30]

Togashi's style of artwork began with screentone but gradually developed into minimalism.[7] Both Rika Takahashi of EX.org and Claude J. Pelletier of Protoculture Addicts found the art style in Hunter × Hunter to be much simpler than YuYu Hakusho and Level E.[31][32] Thompson noted that artwork during Hunter × Hunter's magazine run is often "sketchy" and missing backgrounds, but Togashi goes back and fixes it for its collected tankōbon release.[30] He also wrote that Togashi has a love of gore and noted that some panels in Hunter × Hunter are apparently censored for gore by being covered with screentone.[30]

Since 2006, Togashi has taken numerous lengthy hiatuses while serializing Hunter × Hunter.[33] Some were due to illness and lower back pain,[34][35] while the reasons for others were never disclosed.[36][37] Thompson speculated that Togashi's slow output is because he is a perfectionist who wants to do everything himself, noting that he could have his assistants do everything if he really wanted to.[30] In his 2017 book Sensei Hakusho, which recounts his time working as Togashi's assistant from 1990 to 1997, Kunio Ajino stated that Togashi was unusually generous to his staff.[38]

Manga artists Nobuhiro Watsuki and Pink Hanamori have cited Togashi and YuYu Hakusho as an influence.[39][40] He is one of the favorite artists of Naruto author Masashi Kishimoto and Tokyo Ghoul author Sui Ishida.[41]

Works[]

Manga[]

  • Sensēha Toshishita!! (1986, later featured in Ten de Shōwaru Cupid Volume 4)[42]
  • Jura no Miduki (1987, featured in Hop Step Award Selection Volume 1 and later in Ten de Shōwaru Cupid Volume 4)[10]
  • Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!! (1989, tankōbon published by Shueisha)
    • Buttobi Straight (1987)
    • Tonda Birthday Present (1987, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
    • Occult Tanteidan (1988–1989, two parts published in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
    • Horror Angel (1988, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
    • Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!! (1989, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
  • Ten de Shōwaru Cupid (1989–1990, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
  • YuYu Hakusho (1990–1994, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
  • Church! (チャーチ!, Chāchi!) [Togashi and co., self-published][13][note 1]
  • Level E (1995–1997, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
  • Hunter × Hunter (1998–ongoing, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump)
  • Akuten Wars (2017, published in Grand Jump Premium, story only, illustrated by Hachi Mizuno)[20]

Other[]

  • Kamuten (かむてん) design [Shinjō city's official mascot character] (1994)[43][44][45]
  • Yoshirin de Pon! (1994, YuYu Hakusho dōjinshi distributed at 1994 summer Comic Market)
  • Declaration of Rehabilitation (1998, Q&A doujinshi written along with Naoko Takeuchi, self published)[46]
  • Biohazard 3: The Last Escape Official Guidebook (1999, published by ASCII)[47]
  • Some [undisclosed] illustration arts from the "Dragon Kingdom" (ドラゴンキングダム, Doragon Kingudamu) trading card game (2000 [presumably], published by Kraft.Heil)[48]{{Note|blank|rg = note|rn = DragonKingdomcard|content = One of the undisclosed illustration arts for the Kraft. Heil's Dragon Kingdom trading card game that were mentioned by Togashi could be the "Heresy's Advocate" card illustration (also mentioned by the author).
  • Official Hunter × Hunter Guide (2004, published by Shueisha)[49]
  • YuYu Hakusho Who's Who Underworld Character Book (2005, published by Shueisha)[50]
  • YuYu Hakusho Illustrations (2005, published by Shueisha)[51]
  • Oobo— Nu— To Chiibo— Nu— (2005, published by Kodansha)
  • Hetappi Manga Kenkyūjo R (2011, published by Shueisha)[52]
  • Special Hunter × Hunter magazine cover (August 9, 2016, Kōhō Shinjō [Shinjō Public Relations] magazine August issue no. 704)[43][44]
  • "Jun Togawa with Vampillia"'s group illustration portraits (2017)[53][54]

Unpublished Works[]

Featured in[]

  • Sensei Hakusho (先生白書) by Kunio Ajino (2017, published by East Press)[note 3]

Manga Endorsements[]

Trivia[]

  • In 1998, Togashi voice acted in JSAT's Hunter × Hunter anime pilot,[66] but the role played is unknown.
  • In the 1999 anime adaptation, Togashi voiced the examinee #86.[67][68]
  • His favorite food is rice with curry.[69][70][71]
  • 2015 was Togashi's first year of not releasing any Hunter × Hunter chapters, likely due to health problems. He then didn't publish any chapters during 2019, 2020, and 2021.
  • A character named Togashi appears in episode 42 and episode 50 of the 1999 anime adaptation.
  • He enjoys listening to Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Black Sabbath, and old songs by Matsuri Bayashi.

External Links[]

Interviews[]

References[]

  1. Shonen Jump Issue 14 (Chapter 1), Yoshihiro Togashi's author comment.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Tezuka Prize Article for Buttobi Straight (Tezuka Prize Article for Buttobi Straight)
  3. Shonen Jump Issue 27 (Chapter 356), Yoshihiro Togashi's author comment.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Vol.13[巻頭インタビュー冨樫義博]" [Vol.13 The First Page Interview Yoshihiro Togashi] (in Japanese). Yamagata River and National Highway Office. Archived from the original on 2006-02-04. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Fujie, Kazuhisa & Wyman, Walt (2005). YuYu Hakusho Uncovered: The Unofficial Guide. Tokyo, Japan: DH Publishing Inc. pp. 11–2.
  6. "Manga Planet Visits....Yoshihiro Togashi's Childhood Home - Manga Planet". Manga Planet. 2018-04-05. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Togashi, Yoshihiro (2003). "Interview: Yoshihiro Togashi". Shonen Jump. San Francisco: Viz Media. 1 (5). ISSN [[1]].
  8. 8.0 8.1 "SHONEN JUMP: Yoshihiro Togashi". Shonen Jump. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  9. Togashi, Yoshihiro (October 1989). 狼なんて怖くない!! [Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!!]. 1. Shueisha. p. 145. ISBN 978-4-08-871336-6.
  10. 10.0 10.1 ホップ☆ステップ賞 Selection [Hop Step Award Selection]. 1. Shueisha. March 15, 1988. p. 69. ISBN 978-4-08-871111-9.
  11. "Atari and Funimation Expand Relationship with New Publishing Agreement; Atari to Produce Video Games Based on FUNimation's Yu Yu Hakusho Hit Anime" (Press release). Beverly, Massachusetts: Business Wire. May 15, 2003. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  12. 小学館漫画賞: 歴代受賞者 [Shogakukan Manga Award: Past winners] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Togashi, Yoshihiro. YuYu Hakusho. 1. Viz Media. May, 2003. p. 187. ISSN 978-1-56931-904-8.
  14. "レベルE/1" [Level E/1] (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-872071-5. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  15. "レベルE/2" [Level E/2] (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-872072-2. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  16. "レベルE/3" [Level E/3] (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-872073-9. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  17. "Yoshihiro Togashi's Level E Manga Gets Anime in 2011". Anime News Network. October 25, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  18. "『HUNTER×HUNTER』日本テレビ系にてアニメ化決定!" [Decision by NTV to animation Hunter × Hunter!] (in Japanese). Famitsu. August 2, 2006. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
  19. "Oricon: Nana's Yazawa, DB's Toriyama are Most Popular". Anime News Network. March 4, 2008. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
  20. 20.0 20.1 ""Hunter x Hunter" Author Teams Up With Rookie On Short Manga". Crunchyroll. August 19, 2017. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  21. Takeuchi, Naoko (January 1999). "武内直子姫の社会復帰ぱーんち!!(Round 2)" [Princess Naoko Takeuchi's Return to Society Punch!! (Round 2)]. Young You (in Japanese). Shueisha.
  22. Takeuchi, Naoko (March 1999). "武内直子姫の社会復帰ぱーんち!!(Round 4)" [Princess Naoko Takeuchi's Return to Society Punch!! (Round 4)]. Young You (in Japanese). Shueisha.
  23. Togashi, Yoshihiro (December 25, 2009). 名前 [Name]. Hunter × Hunter. 27. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-870065-6.
  24. おおぼーぬーとちぃぼーぬー [Oobo— Nu— Tochiibo— Nu—] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  25. Togashi, Yoshihiro (October 1989). 狼なんて怖くない!! [I'm Not Afraid of the Wolf!!] (in Japanese). Shueisha. p. 77. ISBN 978-4-08-871336-6.
  26. https://www.reddit.com/r/HunterXHunter/comments/1ic64x/interview_with_togashi_included_in_hxh_no_0/
  27. Togashi, Yoshihiro (1994). Yoshihiro Togashi Speaks. ヨシりんでポン![Yoshirin de Pon!] (in Japanese). pp. 13–4.
  28. ジャンプのマンガ家から被災者のみなさまへのメッセージが続々届いてます [A message to the victims from the authors of Jump manga] (in Japanese). Shueisha. March 29, 2011. Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
  29. "Manga Planet Visits....Yoshihiro Togashi's Childhood Home - Manga Planet". Manga Planet. 2018-04-05. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Hunter x Hunter". Anime News Network. April 26, 2012. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  31. Takahashi, Rika. "Hunter x Hunter". EX.org. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  32. Matsuda, Miyako; Pelletier, Claude J. (June 2001). "Anime Stories: Hunter X Hunter". Protoculture Addicts. No. 66. Protoculture Inc. pp. 64–5. ISSN [[2]].
  33. "Graphs, Charts Chronicle Hunter x Hunter Manga's Many Hiatuses". Anime News Network. 2016-02-24. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  34. "Hunter X Hunter on Hiatus". Anime News Network. November 16, 2005. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  35. "Hunter x Hunter Manga Goes on Hiatus With Plans to Return By End of Year". Anime News Network. August 31, 2017. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  36. "HunterXHunter To Resume Serialization". Anime News Network. August 30, 2007. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  37. "Hunter X Hunter Manga Put on Hold in Japan Again". Anime News Network. December 10, 2007. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  38. "New Manga Creator, Veteran Continue Debate Over Assistants' Working Conditions". Anime News Network. January 11, 2018. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  39. "Rurouni Secrets". Rurouni Kenshin Profiles. Viz Media. 2005. pp. 185–191. ISBN 978-1-4215-0160-4.
  40. "Interview: Pink Hanamori". Anime News Network. 2005-09-01. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  41. Kishimoto, Masashi (December 4, 2009). NARUTO―ナルト―[秘伝·皆の書]オフィシャルプレミアムファンBOOK. Naruto (in Japanese). Japan: Shueisha. pp. 74–81. ISBN 978-4-08-874834-4.
  42. センセーは年下!! [The Teacher is Younger!!]. Ten de Shōwaru Cupid. 4. Shueisha. March 24, 1994. p. 169. ISBN 978-4-08-871674-9.
  43. 43.0 43.1 "Hunter x Hunter's Togashi Draws His Birth City's Magazine Cover" by Amanda Ellard. Anime News Network. August 13, 2016. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  44. 44.0 44.1 冨樫義博、地元・新庄の広報誌表紙を描く!「HUNTER×HUNTER」の面々も登場. Comic Natalie. August 9, 2016 15:48. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  45. かむてんとは - 新庄市 [About Kamuten - Shinjo City]. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  46. https://missdream.org/sailor-moon-doujinshi/takeuchi-togashi/
  47. Studio Bentstuff. "バイオハザード 3 ラスト エスケープ 公式ガイドブック 脱出遂行編 CONTENTS" [Biohazard 3: The Last Escape Official Guidebook Contents] (in Japanese). ASCII. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  48. Hunter × Hunter - Volume 8, page 96 [tankōbon's extra content after Chapter 68]
  49. "HUNTER×HUNTERハンター協会公式発行ハンターズ・ガイド" [Official Hunter × Hunter Guide] (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-873701-0. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  50. 幽・遊・白書 公式キャラクターズブック 霊界紳士録|冨樫 義博/(株)樹想社 [YuYu Hakusho Who's Who Underworld Character Book] (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-873732-4. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  51. 冨樫義博 幽・遊・白書画集|冨樫 義博 [YuYu Hakusho Illustrations] (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-873733-1. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  52. "「アイシールド21」の村田雄介氏が執筆した、週刊少年ジャンプ公認の「漫画の描き方」マンガ、ジャンプコミックス「ヘタッピマンガ研究所R」(集英社)が6月3日(金)に発売!" ["Eyeshield 21" was written by Dr. Yusuke Murata, Weekly Shōnen Jump's official "How to draw manga" comics, Graphic Novels "Hetappi Institute Comics R" (Shueisha), June 03 (Friday) released!] (in Japanese). Dream News. June 3, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  53. "Hunter × Hunter's Yoshihiro Togashi Draws Avant-Garde Musicians" by Eric Stimson. Anime News Network. January 3, 2017 (21:45 EST). Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  54. 冨樫義博が描き下ろし、戸川純 with Vampilliaのアーティストイラスト公開. Comic Natalie. January 1, 2017 22:00. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  55. Togashi, Yoshihiro. YuYu Hakusho. 1. Viz Media. May, 2003. p. 116 and 136. ISSN 978-1-56931-904-8.
  56. Togashi's recommendation as seen in: Togashi manga recommendation (Ultramarine Magmell)
  57. Togashi's recommendation as seen in: Togashi manga recommendation (EX-ARM)
  58. Togashi's recommendation as seen in: Togashi manga recommendation (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
  59. "Kimetsu no Yaiba Volume 4 Features Comment from Yoshihiro Togashi" translation by nifa. MANGA.TOKYO. 2016. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  60. 「鬼滅の刃」4巻帯コメントは冨樫義博!LINEスタンプもリリース. Comic Natalie. December 2, 2016 23:55. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  61. Togashi's recommendation as seen in: Togashi manga recommendation (Shuukyoku Engage)
  62. Togashi's recommendation as seen in: Togashi manga recommendation (Nononono)
  63. Togashi's recommendation as seen in: Togashi manga recommendation (Flip Flap)
  64. Togashi's recommendation as seen in: Togashi manga recommendation (Kōdai-ke no Hitobito)
  65. Togashi's recommendation as seen in: Togashi manga recommendation (Tonkatsu DJ Agetarō)
  66. Shonen Jump Issue 33 (Chapter 18), Yoshihiro Togashi's author comment.
  67. Hunter × Hunter - Episode 13 (1999)
  68. Shonen Jump Issue 5-6 (Chapter 71), Yoshihiro Togashi's author comment.
  69. Shonen Jump Issue 25 (Chapter 148), Yoshihiro Togashi's author comment.
  70. Shonen Jump Issue 27 (Chapter 184), Yoshihiro Togashi's author comment.
  71. Shonen Jump Issue 31 (Chapter 187), Yoshihiro Togashi's author comment.

Notes

  1. Church! is a dōjinshi series written by Togashi and co. "Church! Vol.3: We're Carried Away Here" was advertised in page 187 of volume one of YuYu Hakusho. The VIZ Media version also states that the series is no longer available.
  2. Togashi also created a series called Trouble Quartet, a sports manga with homosexual characters and cross-dressing. According to page 116 of Volume 1 of YuYu Hakusho, Shueisha decided not to publish the comic in Weekly Shonen Jump because the manga was not interesting; Togashi wrote the script based on his personal interests and liked the result, but admits he couldn't work the manga up to the level where it would be commercially successful. In an extra page content for YuYu Hakusho's Vol. 1 (page 136), the main character of Trouble Quartet is revealed to be a girl-looking male named Gen Otoda (音田 弦, Otoda Gen).
  3. Sensei Hakusho is a behind-the-scenes look at the life of mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi. Written and illustrated by Kunio Ajino who was his assistant right through from YuYu Hakusho to Level E, Sensei Hakusho has plenty of previously unknown details about Togashi.
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