is a Japanese

manga creator 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 b ...

. His most well known works are ''

Sgt. Frog ''Sgt. Frog'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mine Yoshizaki. It was launched in ''Monthly Shōnen Ace'' in April 1999. The story follows the attempts of a platoon of frog-like alien invaders to c ...

'', a manga he created which later received an anime adaption, and ''

Kemono Friends is a Japanese media franchise created by manga artist Mine Yoshizaki. The first project was a mobile game developed by Nexon, which ran from March 2015 to December 2016. A manga by Furai was serialized in Kadokawa's '' Monthly Shōn ...

'', a multimedia franchise for which Yoshizaki serves as concept designer.

Career

Yoshizaki was born in

Isahaya, Nagasaki is a Cities of Japan, city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on September 1, 1940. As of November 1, 2022, the city has an estimated population of 132,385 and a population density of 389 persons per km². The total area ...

. As a graduate student of

Nagasaki University is a national university of Japan. Its nickname is ''Chōdai'' (). The main campus is located in Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. History Nagasaki University was established in 1949 by incorporating several national ...

, he started from drawing his own

dōjinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created ...

, based on video games that were famous at that time (somewhere in the 1980s). With that dōjinshi, he practiced and improved his drawing skills day by day. Yoshizaki said that his experience in drawing dōjinshi was the most priceless experience that he ever had. According to him, making dōjinshi gave him the opportunity to seek through the world of the manga industry, with all aspects from drawing to producing (meeting with printers, editing process etc.). This allows him to do all the work, rather working in a big-scale production company that lets him work in one particular branch. Yoshizaki later worked as an assistant to manga artist

Katsu Aki , pen name , is a Japanese manga artist best known for his works ''The Vision of Escaflowne'', ''Futari Ecchi'', and ''Psychic Academy''. Mine Yoshizaki is a Japanese mangaka, manga creator. His most well known works are ''Sgt. Frog'', a mang ...

. His first publication was featured in a compilation book published by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

in 1989. He is best known for his

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 ...

''Keroro Gunso'', published as ''

'' in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, which was first published in the Japanese

manga magazine 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 used ...

'' Shōnen Ace''.Wong, Amos. "Creator Profile: Mine Yoshizaki". (February 2007) ''Newtype USA''. pp. 52-55. He is also the creator of '' Arcade Gamer Fubuki'' and did character designs on the series ''

Seven of Seven is an anime TV series created by Yasuhiro Imagawa (''Giant Robo'', ''G Gundam'') and produced by A.C.G.T. The TV series premiered January 10, 2002 on TV Tokyo and finished in run on June 27, 2002, totaling 25 episodes. A New Year's special ...

''. In 2005, ''Sgt. Frog'' received the 50th

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being ...

for

children's manga and refer to manga and anime directed towards children. These series are usually moralistic, often educating children about staying in the right path in life. Each chapter is usually a self-contained story. History ''Kodomo'' manga started ...

. Due to various ''

Gundam is a Japanese military fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile ...

'' references, an ongoing ''Sgt. Frog''

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

was produced by

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

, the original creators of the ''Gundam'' franchise. The show’s main sponsor is

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

, Sunrise’s parent company, and the maker of the plastic model Gundam kits commonly seen in both the manga and anime (also known as "Gunpla" in Japan). This led to Yoshizaki collaborating on certain ''Gundam'' projects, such as designing the mascot girls Reiko Holinger and Catharine Blitzen for the '' Gundam Card Builder'' game. He was also the designer of the Angel-XX figurine series from ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. ''Evangelion' ...

''. He provided character designs for the 1999

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

video game '' Pop'n Tanks''. He later was a character designer for the

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

Gradius is a series of shooter video games, introduced in 1985, developed and published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper. Games *''Scr ...

''-type shooter ''

Otomedius is a side scrolling shooter by Konami which featured personification of space fighters from various Konami games. The name is a pun, being a portmanteau of the terms "Otome" and "Gradius", with a set of equipment resembling space fighters fro ...

''. This is significant because, instead of simply moving a fighter craft around, the player controls a unique character bound within a vehicle. He has also designed a playable character called Angol Fear (a nod to his character Angol Mois in ''Sgt. Frog'' – they even wield similar weapons) to the fighting game ''

Soulcalibur IV is the sixth installment in the ''Soulcalibur'' series of fighting games, released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2008. It features greatly improved graphics over the previous title, and includes three guest characters from the ''Star War ...

''. He also is credited as concept designer for the ''

'' franchise, including the anime series.

Works

* 1993–1995: '' FANTASWEAT'' * 1993–1995: ''

Detana!! TwinBee , released in Europe and North America as ''Bells & Whistles'', is a 1991 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Konami. It is the fifth entry in the ''TwinBee'' series and the second to be released for arcades fo ...

'' (spin-off from the video game series ''

Twin Bee is a scrolling shooter, vertically scrolling shooter released by Konami as an arcade video game in 1985 in Japan. Along with Sega's ''Fantasy Zone'', released a year later, ''TwinBee'' is credited as an early archetype of the "Shoot 'em up#Cute ...

'') * 1994–1995: '' 8BIT FIGHTER SHIEN'' * 1995–1997: '' Space Juubei'' * 1996–1998: '' VS Knight Lamune & 40 Fire'' (tie-in manga) * 1998–2002: '' Arcade Gamer Fubuki'' * 1999–present: ''

'' (story and design) * 1999: '' Pop'n Tanks'' (character design) * 2000–2003: '' Dragon Quest Monsters +'' * 2005: '' Taisen Hot Gimmick: Axes-Jong'' (partial character design) * 2007–2011: ''

'' (spin-off from the ''

'' series) * 2015: ''

'' (concept design)

References

External links

Mine Yoshizaki's Homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshizaki, Mine Manga artists from Nagasaki Prefecture Living people 1971 births