is a Japanese

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 ...

, best known for his series ''

School Rumble is a Japanese ''shōnen'' manga series written and illustrated by Jin Kobayashi. First serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from October 22, 2002 to July 23, 2008, all 345 chapters were later collected in 22 ''tankōbon'' volumes b ...

''.

Overview

Kobayashi began drawing manga seriously during his university years, and won an honorable mention at the ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...

''s Rookie Award in 2000, allowing him to serialize ''

''. He stated to an audience at

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

's 2006

Kawaii Kon Kawaii Kon is an anime convention geared towards Japanese animation and comics held in the Honolulu area. Programming Kawaii Kon currently has AMV and anime screenings; industry, fan, and guest panels; Hall Cosplay contests, Masquerade/Cospl ...

convention that he started writing the series because he found the idea of a manga involving a delinquent falling in love interesting. His favorite character, Kenji Harima, is based largely on an amalgam of various friends, although he estimates "about 30%" of Harima is a reflection of himself. However, despite putting most of his personal feelings into the female characters, he stated that Ryuhei Suga, a minor supporting character, is the most autobiographical. Most of the other characters are based on memories of former high-school classmates; Kobayashi recalled that he had no real idea of their voices when drawing them, and it was not until much later, when he heard the

voice actors Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

' interpretations during the production of the anime series, that he knew how they should sound. He acknowledged that some characters are more developed than others; in reply to a fan question about the mysterious

Akira Takano The ''School Rumble'' manga and anime series features a cast of characters designed by Jin Kobayashi. The story takes place mostly in a Japanese high school and revolves around various love triangles and polygons. The manga series is follow ...

, he admitted that, despite the closeness he feels for her, he did not put much emphasis on Takano and planned to develop her love-life slowly. Kobayashi intentionally centered his story arcs around misunderstandings which he then resolves, since he believes "if there's no misunderstanding then there's no funny story." He claims that none of his stories are based on real-life events, although when pressed admits the possibility of some resemblances but without divulging specific details. He has made some

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

s in the anime adaptation ''School Rumble'', supplying the voice of Sailor F in two episodes of the first season, and being the narrator of the prehistoric segment in the first

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

, ''School Rumble - First Term Extra''. After completing ''School Rumble'', he said "School Rumble is an important piece that I want to draw more, but I wanted to do more other things so I ended it. When I have some time, I would like to draw their adult days in a ''seinen'' magazine."

Works

Manga

Serials

* * * * * *

Short stories

* *

Anime

End Card Illustrations

*''

Pani Poni Dash! , also known by the title of its anime adaptation, , is a Japanese manga series by Hekiru Hikawa that uses parody, frequently referencing Japanese and American pop-culture in many ways. It features several first year students and their teach ...

'', ep 21, 2005 *''

Hidamari Sketch × 365 is a Japanese ''yonkoma'' manga series written and illustrated by Ume Aoki, centering around a group of young female art students, and following their daily lives as close friends and neighbors at the nearby Hidamari Apartments. The man ...

'', ep 11, 2008 *'' ef - a tale of melodies.'', ep 8, 2009 *''

Maria Holic is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Minari Endō, the author of ''Dazzle''. The manga was first serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine ''Monthly Comic Alive'' on June 27, 2006, and is published by Media Factory. Th ...

'', ep 2, 2009 *''

Bakemonogatari is a Japanese light novel series written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Vofan. The plot centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third-year high school student who survives a vampire attack and finds himself helping girls involved with a variety ...

'', ep 3, 2009 *''

Dance in the Vampire Bund is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nozomu Tamaki. The manga was serialized in Media Factory's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Comic Flapper'' between 2005 and 2012, and is licensed for publication in English by Se ...

'', ep 2, 2010 *''

Hanamaru Kindergarten is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuto and published by Square Enix. The series follows Anzu, a kindergarten girl who is in love with her teacher and tries to win his affection but always fails. It has been adapted into an ...

'', ep 1, 2010 *'' Arakawa Under the Bridge*2'', ep 1, 2010 *'' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', ep 4, 2011

Visual Novel

Artbook

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Jin Manga artists from Chiba Prefecture 1977 births People from Chiba Prefecture Living people Keio University alumni