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 ...

and

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

character designer.

Professional career

Born in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, M ...

, Sonoda moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in 1984, at the age of 21, and began work at

Artmic was a Japanese animation design studio formed in 1978. It went bankrupt and was liquidated in 1997. AIC RIGHTS now holds the intellectual property of most of Artmic's titles. The studio was founded by Toshimichi Suzuki after he left Tatsunoko ...

, an anime studio. During this time, he worked on ''

Bubblegum Crisis is a 1987 to 1991 cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by AIC and Artmic. The series was planned to run for 13 episodes, but was cut short to just 8. The series involves the adventures of the K ...

'', producing the original Knight Saber character designs. He also worked on ''

Gall Force is a metaseries of science fiction anime OVAs by the studios Artmic and AIC, with production by Youmex. The original character designs were by Kenichi Sonoda, though these were dropped for the ''Gall Force: The Revolution'' remake. C ...

'', for which he did the original character designs. He worked at Artmic until 1991, when he began work on the manga series ''

Gunsmith Cats is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenichi Sonoda. It was published in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from 1991 to 1997 and was followed between 2004 and 2008 by a sequel series ''Gunsmith C ...

''. ''Gunsmith Cats'' is one of Sonoda's best known works, being both a

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

and

Tezuka award The is a semi-annual manga award offered by the Japanese publisher Shueisha since 1971, under the auspices of its ''Weekly Shonen Jump'' magazine. It awarded new manga artists in the Story Manga category. Its counterpart award, Akatsuka Award, a ...

nominee. Sonoda concluded ''Gunsmith Cats'' run in 1997, when he put the comic on hiatus, and began work on '' Cannon God Exaxxion''. In 2004, after finishing ''Cannon God Exaxxion'', he returned to work on ''Gunsmith Cats'', with the follow-up sequel, ''

Gunsmith Cats Burst is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenichi Sonoda. It was published in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from 1991 to 1997 and was followed between 2004 and 2008 by a sequel series ''Gunsmith Ca ...

''. He is currently the 19th head of the ''

wagashi are traditional Japanese confections that are often served with green tea, especially the types made of ''mochi'', ''anko'' ( azuki bean paste), and fruit. ''Wagashi'' are typically made from plant-based ingredients. History In Japan, the wo ...

'' confectionery shop "Sonoda-ya" in Kumamoto, established in 1582. Sonoda created a new product, its first in 115 years, by adding lemon peels to his family's existing ''chōsen-ame'' candies and providing his own ''

bishōjo In Japanese popular culture, a , also romanized as ''bishojo'' or ''bishoujo'', is a cute girl character. ''Bishōjo'' characters appear ubiquitously in media including manga, anime, and computer games (especially in the ''bishojo'' game genre) ...

'' illustrations for the packaging.

Personal life

Sonoda is a self-confessed gun fanatic, owning several replica guns.

Works

Manga

* ''

Riding Bean is a 1989 anime original video animation following the exploits of courier-for-hire Bean Bandit and his partner, gunwoman Rally Vincent. A manga was also published in the Japanese magazine that was left unfinished (due to the closure of the ...

'' (1988–1989; cancelled with the magazine) * ''

'' (1991–1997) * '' Cannon God Exaxxion'' (1997–2004) * ''

Gunsmith Cats BURST is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenichi Sonoda. It was published in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from 1991 to 1997 and was followed between 2004 and 2008 by a sequel series ''Gunsmith Ca ...

'' (2004–2008) * '' Bullet the Wizard'' (2010–2013)

Animation

* '' Wanna-Be's'' (1986)—character concept design * '' Gall Force: First Story Arc'' (1986)—character design * '' Gall Force: Rhea Arc'' (1989)—character design * '' Gall Force: Earth Chapter Arc'' (1989)—character design * '' Gall Force: New Era Arc'' (1991)—character design * ''

'' (1987-1991)—character and mecha design * '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise'' (1987)—production design * ''

'' (1989) original story, character design * ''

Bubblegum Crash is a 1987 to 1991 cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by AIC and Artmic. The series was planned to run for 13 episodes, but was cut short to just 8. The series involves the adventures of the K ...

'' (1991)—character design * ''

Otaku no Video is a 1991 anime OVA spoofing the life and culture of otaku, individuals with obsessive interests in media, particularly anime and manga, as well as the history of Gainax, its creators. It is noted for its mix of conventional documentary film s ...

'' (1991)—character design * ''

'' (1995-1996)—original story, character design * ''

Idol Janshi Suchie-Pai is a series of mahjong video games that have been developed and released by Jaleco on a variety of platforms including arcade, PC, and video game consoles. The first game in the series was on the Super Famicom in 1993 as Bishōjo Janshi Suchie-P ...

'' (1996)—original character design * ''

Solty Rei ''SoltyRei'' is a Japanese anime television series animated by Gonzo and AIC following the inhabitants of a city where an Aurora prevents aerial travel. The series aired on TV Asahi between October 2005 and March 2006. On April 2, 2006, Funi ...

'' (2005)—conceptual design

Video games

*''

Sol Bianca is a two-volume Japanese OVA series released in 1990 and 1991. It was directed by Katsuhito Akiyama and Hiroki Hayashi in association with AIC. '' Sol Bianca: The Legacy'', a six-episode OVA remake of this series. The name of the OVA is also ...

'' *'' Suchie-Pai The Idol Fighter'' series (1993–ongoing) *''

Neon Genesis Evangelion Eva to Yukai na Nakamitachi Datsuihokankeikaku Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...

'' *'' Temho Painyan''

References

External links

A Dark Horse interview with Sonoda

2017 Q&A with Kenichi Sonoda on J!-ENT
* * 1962 births Anime character designers Living people Manga artists People from Kumamoto Mechanical designers (mecha) Video game artists {{manga-artist-stub