is a Japanese manga artist that usually works as the illustrator in collaboration with a writer. He is best known for ''

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 ...

'' (1986–1988), written by Kazuo Koike, and ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

'' (1999–2004), written by

Buronson , known by the pen names and , is a Japanese manga writer. Making his debut in 1972, he first found success with the hardboiled detective manga series ''Doberman Deka'' (1975–1979) alongside illustrator Shinji Hiramatsu. He is best-known for ...

. The latter won the 2001

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by 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 given since ...

for general manga. Yoshihide Fujiwara is a former assistant of Ikegami's.

Career

After graduating from junior high school, Ikegami moved to Osaka and drew manga while working as a billboard sign painter, debuting at the age of 17 writing rental comics. Urasawa Naoki no Manben: Ikegami Ryoichi (S3E1, 2016),

NHK Educational TV , abbreviated on-screen as NHK E, is the second television service of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). It is a sister service of NHK General TV, showing programs of a more educational, documentaries, cultural, children's or intellectual n ...

In 1966, he published a story called in the

gekiga , literally "dramatic pictures", is a style of Japanese comics aimed at adult audiences and marked by a more cinematic art style and more mature themes. ''Gekiga'' was the predominant style of adult comics in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. It is ...

magazine ''

Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the Ga ...

'' that caught the eye of fellow ''Garo'' contributor,

Shigeru Mizuki was a Japanese manga artist and historian, best known for his manga series ''GeGeGe no Kitarō''. Born in a hospital in Osaka and raised in the city of Sakaiminato, Tottori, he later moved to Chōfu, Tokyo where he remained until his death ...

, who offered him a job as his assistant. Ikegami accepted and moved to Tokyo where he worked as Mizuki's assistant for two and a half years. From a young age Ikegami had admired

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 Yoshiharu Tsuge, so he was delighted to work with Tsuge as Mizuki's assistant. Ikegami is also a fan of American comics, particularly

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Sup ...

. Ikegami has worked on several popular series, such as '' Mai, the Psychic Girl'' with writer Kazuya Kudo, ''

'', with writer Kazuo Koike, as well as ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

'' and ''

'' with writer Sho Fumimura. He also wrote and drew '' Spider-Man: The Manga'', a manga version of Spider-Man and collaborated with

Garon Tsuchiya , also known as and Marginal (in '' Astral Project''), was a Japanese manga writer. In 1986 he completed his first major works in collaboration with Akyo Makata in ''Ahomansu'' and ''Meisouou Boodaa''. Afterwards, Tsuchiya collaborated with dr ...

for the manga ''Box''. In 2001, he won the

for general manga as the artist of ''

''. He became a professor at Osaka University of Arts in 2005. From 2016 to 2020, he and Sho Fumimura created '' Begin'' in ''

Big Comic Superior is a semimonthly seinen manga magazine published since July 1, 1987 by Shogakukan in Japan. Its target audience is somewhere between the audience for ''Big Comic Original'' and ''Big Comic Spirits''. The magazine has published works by a numb ...

''. Ikegami teamed up with writer Richard Woo for ''M no Shirushi -MacArthur Ansatsu Keikaku-'' (2020) for ''Big Comic Superior''. It tells the story of a plot to assassinate Douglas MacArthur. A character called Kēichi Kurata (played by

Masataka Kubota is a Japanese actor. Filmography Films * ''Boku no Hatsukoi o Kimi ni Sasagu'' (2009) * ''Kyōretsu! Mōretsu!! Kodai Shōjo Doguchan Matsuri Special Movie Edition'' (2010), Makoto Sugihara * ''Gachiban Series'' (2010–2014), Yūto Kuronaga * ...

) in the TV-drama ''

GeGeGe no Nyōbō is an autobiography written by Nunoe Mura and published in 2008. It details her life as the wife of the manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, especially their struggles against poverty before he became successful. It has sold over 500,000 copies. In 20 ...

'' is modeled after him. He did a collaboration manga for the anime '' Girls und Panzer''.

Selected works

* (1970–1971): Written by Kōsei Ono and Kazumasa Hirai * (1973–1977): Written by Kazuo Koike, serialized in general-interest magazine '' Shūkan Gendai'' * (1974–1979): Written by Tetsu Kariya, serialized in '' Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' * (1980–1982): Written by Tetsu Kariya, serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' * (1981–1986): Written by Kazuo Koike * (1985–1986): Written by Kazuya Kudō, serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' * (1986–1987): Written by Kazuya Kudō * (1986–1988): Written by Kazuo Koike * (1990–1991): Written by Kazuo Koike * (1990–1995): Written by Sho Fumimura * (1991–1992): Written by Oji Hiroi * (1996–1998): Written by Buronson * (1999–2004): Written by Buronson * (2000–2004) * (2004–2011): Written by Buronson * (2013–2015): Written by Buronson * (2015–2016) — Written by Hideo Yamamoto * '' Begin'' (2016–2020): Written by Sho Fumimura * (2020–present): Written by Riichiro Inagaki

References

External links

Ryoichi Ikegami Official Website
(Japanese)

Jason Thompson's article about the Spider-man manga

The Illustrious Career of Ryoichi Ikegami
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ikegami, Ryoichi 1944 births Inkpot Award winners Living people Manga artists from Fukui Prefecture Gekiga creators