was a prolific Japanese manga writer ( gensakusha), novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and entrepreneur. He is best known for his violent, artful ''

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Ma ...

'' manga, notably ''

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, and i ...

'' (with

Goseki Kojima was a Japanese manga artist. He is known for his collaborations with manga writer Kazuo Koike, the most famous of them being ''Lone Wolf and Cub''. Biography Kojima was born in Yokkaichi, Mie, on the same day as Osamu Tezuka. After getting out ...

, 1970–6), '' Lady Snowblood'' (with Kazuo Kamimura, 1972–3) and ''

Crying Freeman is a Japanese manga series written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami. ''Crying Freeman'' follows a Japanese assassin hypnotized and trained by the Chinese mafia (called the "108 Dragons") to serve as its agent and covered in ...

'' (with

Ryoichi Ikegami is a Japanese manga artist that usually works as the illustrator in collaboration with a writer. He is best known for ''Crying Freeman'' (1986–1988), written by Kazuo Koike, and '' Heat'' (1999–2004), written by Buronson. The latter won the ...

, 1986–8), which – along with their numerous media adaptations − have been credited for their influence on the international growth of

Japanese popular culture Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be ...

Career

Early in Koike's career, he studied under ''

Golgo 13 is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Saito, published in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic'' since October 1968. The series follows the title character, a professional assassin for hire. ''Golgo ...

'' creator

Takao Saito was a Japanese manga artist, although he rejected the term and considered his work gekiga. He was best known for '' Golgo 13'', which has been serialized in ''Big Comic'' since 1968, making it the oldest manga still in publication. ''Golgo ...

and served as a writer on the series. Koike, along with artist

, made the manga ''Kozure Okami'' (''

''), and Koike also contributed to the scripts for the 1970s film adaptations of the series, which starred famous Japanese actor

Tomisaburo Wakayama , born Masaru Okumura (奥村勝),Leous, G. (''c.'' 2003)Tomisaburo WakayamaRetrieved on May 23, 2010. was a Japanese actor best known for playing Ogami Ittō, the scowling, 19th-century '' ronin'' warrior in the six ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' samura ...

. In 1992 he himself produced a Lone Wolf and Cub's film Lone Wolf and Cub: Final Conflict which starred

Masakazu Tamura was a Japanese film and theatre actor. Profile Masakazu Tamura was born 1 August 1943 in Kyoto, Japan to Japanese actor Tsumasaburō Bandō. Tsumasaburō Bandō died when Tamura was only nine years old. His brothers Takahiro and Ryō are also ...

. Koike and Kojima became known as the "Golden Duo" because of the success of ''Lone Wolf and Cub''. Another series written by Koike, ''

'', which was illustrated by

, was adapted into a 1995 live-action film by French director Christophe Gans. In addition to his more violent, action-oriented manga, Koike, an avid golfer, has also written golf manga. He has also written mahjong manga, as he himself is a former professional mahjong player. In the early 2000s, he wrote a

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

story for Marvel. In 2011, Koike announced his intention to write a magical girl manga series titled '' Maho Shojo Mimitsuki Mimi no QED.'' Koike started the ''Gekiga Sonjuku'', a college course meant to teach people how to be a manga artist.

Death

On April 17, 2019, Kazuo Koike died due to

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

at the age of 82. His death happened just five days after the death of the fellow prolific manga author

Monkey Punch , known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist, best known for his series ''Lupin III''. Life and career Katō was born in Hamanaka, Hokkaido; he began drawing at a very young age, but did not draw manga until junior high school, when h ...

on April 11, who also died of pneumonia and who Koike considered his rival in the ''

Weekly Manga Action is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Futabasha. It is currently published twice a month, on the first and third Thursday. The magazine was originally formed as and began publishing weekly from July 7, 1967. It is considered the f ...

'' magazine.

Graduates of Koike's ''Gekiga Sonjuku''

Rumiko Takahashi is a Japanese manga artist. With a career of several commercially successful works, beginning with '' Urusei Yatsura'' in 1978, Takahashi is one of Japan's best-known and wealthiest manga artists. Her works are popular worldwide, where they have ...

– manga artist: ''

Urusei Yatsura is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from September 1978 to February 1987. Its 366 individual chapters were published in 34 ''tankōbon'' volume ...

'', ''

Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 1987 to March 1996, with the chapters collected into 38 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. The s ...

'', ''

InuYasha is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in fifty-six '' ...

'' etc. * Akira Sakuma –

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

, freelance writer: '' Momotaro Densetsu'' series *

Hideyuki Kikuchi is a Japanese author known for his horror novels. His most famous works include the '' Vampire Hunter D'' series, ''Darkside Blues'' and '' Wicked City''. Biography Kikuchi was born in Chōshi, Japan on September 25, 1949. He attended Aoyama ...

– horror writer:

Vampire Hunter D is a series of novels written by Japanese author Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano since 1983. As of April 2022, 40 novels have been published in the main series, with some novels comprising as many as four volumes. They ha ...

Tetsuo Hara is a Japanese manga artist. He is best-known for creating the post-apocalyptic martial arts series ''Fist of the North Star'' (1983–1988) with writer Buronson, which is one of the best-selling manga in history with over 100 million copies ...

– manga artist: ''

Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 ' ...

'' * Yuji Horii –

, freelance writer: '' Dragon Quest'' series *

Keisuke Itagaki is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his martial arts series ''Grappler Baki'' (1991–1999) and its four sequels, which have sold over 75 million volumes. In 1996, he began working on '' Garōden'', an original work by Baku Yumemaku ...

– manga artist: '' Baki the Grappler'' * Naoki Yamamoto – manga artist: ''

Dance till Tomorrow is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Yamamoto. It is a romantic comedy which details the life of Suekichi Terayama, a student who will inherit a fortune when he graduates from college and gets married with unexpecte ...

'' * Takayuki Yamaguchi – manga artist: ''

Apocalypse Zero ''Apocalypse Zero'', known in Japan as , is a manga series written and illustrated by Takayuki Yamaguchi. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's '' Weekly Shōnen Champion'' from July 1994 to August 1996. The manga was adapted into a two epis ...

'' and '' Shigurui''.

Bibliography

* ''

'', with artist

, 1970–1976 * '' Hulk: The Manga'', with artist Yoshihiro Morifuji, November 24, 1970 – January 6, 1971 * '' Lady Snowblood'', with artist Kazuo Kamimura, 1972–1973 * '' Samurai Executioner'', with artist

, 1972–1976 * The script to the film '' Lady Snowblood'', 1973 * '' Adolescent Zoo'', with artist Hiromi Yamasaki, 1978–1981 * '' Nijitte Monogatari'', with artist , 1978–2003 * '' Path of the Assassin'', with artist

, 1978–1984 * '' Hanappe Bazooka'', with artist

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', but is best known for creating popular 1970s ...

, June 7, 1979 – January 7, 1982 * '' Wounded Man'', with artist

, 1983–1986 * '' Mad Bull 34'', with artist Noriyoshi Inoue, 1985–1991 * ''

'', with artist

, 1986–1988 * '' Kawaite sōrō'', with artist

, 1995–1999 * ''

X-Men Unlimited ''X-Men Unlimited'' was the title of three comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The purpose of this title was to run stories that fit between the main X-Men comics. The stories included all characters (heroes and villains) from the X-tit ...

'' #50, 2003 * ''

Kajō , also romanized as Kashō, was a after ''Chōji'' and before ''Tennin.'' This period spanned the years from April 1106 through August 1108. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * February 6, 1106 : The new era name was created to ...

'', with artist Hideki Mori, 2003–2006 * '' New Lone Wolf and Cub'' (Shin Kozure Okami), with artist Hideki Mori, 2003–2006 * '' Yume Genji Tsurugi no Saimon'', with artist Natsuki Sumeragi, 2006–? * '' Shura Yukihime Gaiden'', with artist

, 2009–? * '' Oda Nobunaga'', with artist

, ?-? * '' Offered'', with artist

, ?-? * '' Color of Rage'', with artist Seisaku Kano, ?-? * Goyokiba, with artist Takeshi Kanda, ?-?

Awards

* 2004: Won the Hall of Fame Eisner Award2004 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Comic Book Awards Almanac

Notes

References

External links

* * * Macias, Patrick (June 2008). . Manga Hell! Archived via the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

. Retrieved October 3, 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Koike, Kazuo 1936 births 2019 deaths People from Daisen, Akita Writers from Akita Prefecture Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees Manga writers Gekiga creators