is a

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

known for the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

Rosario + Vampire is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akihisa Ikeda. The story revolves around Tsukune Aono, a boy who inadvertently enrolls in a boarding school for monsters. He quickly befriends Moka Akashiya, a vampire who soon develop ...

''.

Biography

Ikeda was born in Miyazaki in 1976. His first work, ''Kiruto'', debuted in 2002 in ''

Monthly Shōnen Jump was a shōnen manga magazine which was published monthly in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. History The ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' magazine started ...

''. It is described as a "four-volume magical warrior fantasy series". ''

'' debuted in ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' in March 2004The publisher's brief biography for Ikeda has a few discrepancies: It claims he was born in 1977 and that ''Rosario + Vampire'' debuted in March 2002, although it has a series publish date of 2004. – However, in Season II, the bio is corrected to show he was born in 1976, the ''Kiruto'' debut in 2002, and the series debut in March 2004. and continued in ''

Jump Square , also written as , is a Japanese monthly '' shōnen'' manga magazine. Published by Shueisha, the magazine premiered on November 2, 2007 as a replacement for ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', another manga anthology that Shueisha discontinued in June of t ...

'' (''Jump SQ'') as ''Rosario+Vampire: Season II'' until its conclusion in 2014. ''Rosario'' has been adapted into a drama CD and anime series, as well as some video games.''Rosario + Vampire'' manga Volume 1, author's profile He has mentioned having the same editor since he was 16 until the beginning of volume 7 of ''Rosario''.''Rosario + Vampire'' manga Volume 7, author's notes In the March 2014 issue, Ikeda concluded the ''Rosario'' series. In July 2020, Ikeda serialized a new manga series "'' Ghost Reaper Girl''" in '' Shonen Jump+'' under the name of .

Influences

Ikeda has mentioned that he has been a huge fan of

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

s and monsters since he was a child. He also enjoys reading detective novels from "Holmes, Lupin, Kindaichi, Nijyumenso and the like".''Rosario + Vampire'' manga Volume 8, author's notes In an interview at Lucca Comics 2012, Ikeda says he is a big fan of

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

and was inspired by his works, including ''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Henry Selick (in his feature directorial debut) and produced and ...

'', and particularly ''

Edward Scissorhands ''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American fantasy romance film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Anthony Mi ...

'' because the monster has a sensitive soul. He had researched various monsters from the encyclopedias and the Internet. His first character design for ''Rosario'' was

Moka Akashiya is a fictional title character from the Japanese manga and anime series '' Rosario + Vampire''. She serves as one of the love interests to Tsukune Aono, who is the only human enrolled in a school of monsters. She has a rosary that gives her a ...

, a beautiful girl vampire with a crucifix around her neck; he then created the school of monsters and

Tsukune is a Japanese chicken meatball most often cooked yakitori style (but also can be fried, baked, or boiled) and sometimes covered in a sweet soy or yakitori ''tare'', which is often mistaken for teriyaki sauce. Summary Thickeners are added to ...

afterward. He credits the beautiful girls for the series' popularity but added the fighting elements. After the first series ended with the retirement of the ''

'' magazine, and with the serialization in a second magazine, ''

'', he retitled the second series to give it a sense of renewal.

Notable works

* ''Kiruto'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004–07) * '' Rosario + Vampire: Season II'' (2008–14) * '' Ghost Reaper Girl'' (2020-)

References

External links

* at

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

* * 1976 births People from Miyazaki Prefecture Manga artists from Miyazaki Prefecture Living people {{Manga-artist-stub