(born March 18, 1974) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 ...

, visual designer and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

, most notable for writing and illustrating the manga series '' Afro Samurai''.

Early life

Okazaki was born in

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

and graduated from the Tama University of the Arts.

Career

Okazaki was one of four artists to debut in the self-published ''

Nou Nou Hau , stylized ''NOU NOU HAU'', abbreviated ''NNH'', was an avant-garde ''dōjinshi'' manga anthology first published in November 1998. The magazine serialized the manga series ''Afro Samurai''. History Manga artist Takashi Okazaki started drawing Af ...

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 ...

magazine in November 1998. His first manga series, '' Afro Samurai,'' was first published as a ''

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 ...

'' in the preparatory issue zero of the magazine, and was featured as the cover. ''Afro Samurai'' was serialized until the magazine's end in September 2002. ''Afro Samurai'' was adapted into an

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 ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

and a sequel

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

, '' Afro Samurai: Resurrection''. After the release of the anime series, Takashi Okazaki went back and recreated the original ''dōjinshi'' into a two-volume manga series which was released in the United States by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

and

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...

. Also, the first volume has been released in Germany, the second to be released in August 2011. On November 23, 2004, Okazaki wrote and illustrated a 9-panel manga published in the pamphlet of the '' Blade: Trinity'' soundtrack. Takashi Okazaki also illustrated the ending of the series serialized in a flyer handed out at the Japanese club "UNIT". ''Cho-Kōryu-Gōjin Danke Choen'' was created by Kugelblitz — a collaborative effort between ''Nou Nou Hau'' and the German comic magazine ''

Moga Mobo ''Moga Mobo'' is a German comics magazine published since 1994 by the Berlin-based art group of the same name. The group consists of artists Titus Ackermann, Jonas Greulich and Thomas Gronle (Legron). The comic has an irregular publishing schedule, ...

''. Okazaki also designed the characters in The Game Baker's 2016 game, ''

Furi ''Furi'' is a 2016 action shoot 'em up video game developed and published by indie studio The Game Bakers available for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Amazon Luna. The game takes place on a planet ...

''. He is also credited as original character designer for the 2017 '' Garo: Vanishing Line'' anime. In April 2020, Okazaki made his debut as a

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

cover artist for the re-launch of ''

Werewolf By Night The Werewolf by Night (usually referred to by other characters simply as the Werewolf) is the name applied to two fictional characters who are werewolves appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of W ...

''. He has also created covers for multiple other Marvel titles, including ''Black Widow, Non-Stop Spiderman, Falcon & Winter Soldier, Iron Fist Heart of the Dragon'', and ''Deadpool: Black, White & Blood''. Okazaki created the portrait of

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

two-way player In sports that require a player to play on offense and defense (such as basketball and ice hockey), a two-way player refers to a player who excels at both. In sports where a player typically specializes on offense or defense (like American footb ...

Shohei Ohtani , nicknamed "Shotime", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher, designated hitter and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional B ...

for the cover of the MVP and Digital Deluxe editions of ''

MLB The Show 22 ''MLB The Show 22'' is a baseball video game by San Diego Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, based on Major League Baseball (MLB). It was released for the PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, as well as ...

.'' He also creates art for cards used in the game mode Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 22, which includes many

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

players, such as

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed "The Big Unit", is an American photographer and former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle M ...

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

Ken Griffey Jr George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Marin ...

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

and

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

Bibliography

*'' Afro Samurai!'' ( dojinshi manga, 1998–2002) *9-panel '' Blade:Trinity'' comic (2004) * (2005) *''Afro Samurai Maniaxxx!!!'' (2007) *''Afro Samurai'' (recreation, 2008–2009) *''

Summer Wars is a 2009 Japanese animated science fiction film directed by Mamoru Hosoda, produced by Madhouse, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film's voice cast includes Ryunosuke Kamiki, Nanami Sakuraba, Mitsuki Tanimura, Sumiko Fuji and ...

'' animated movie (character design, 2009) *''Izanagi Online'' mobile video game (character design, 2015) *''

'' video game (artistic director, 2016) *'' Garo: Vanishing Line'' Anime (character designer, 2017) *''

Batman Ninja is a 2018 animated superhero film directed by Junpei Mizusaki, produced by Warner Bros., and animated by Kamikaze Douga and YamatoWorks, which features the DC Comics character Batman. Takashi Okazaki, the creator of '' Afro Samurai'', is the c ...

'' animated movie (character designer, 2018) *''Sound and Fury'' Netflix film (artistic director, 2019) *'' Star Wars: Visions Episode 1: “The Duel”'' (character designer, concept artist, artistic director, 2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okazaki, Takashi Living people 1974 births Japanese graphic designers Manga artists from Kanagawa Prefecture