Nobuhiro Watsuki

Birth : 1970-05-26, Niigata, Japan

History

Nobuhiro Watsuki (和月 伸宏 Watsuki Nobuhiro?, born May 26, 1970) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for his samurai-themed series Rurouni Kenshin. and his fantasy series Buso Renkin, both of which have been adapted into anime series. He once worked as an assistant for his favorite artist Takeshi Obata. When Watsuki was in middle school, he practiced kendo. He still drew Manga but also enjoyed sports. Watsuki admits that he was "So weak in fact, that I was an embarrassment to my 183 centimeters of height" (about 6 feet). Watsuki never won a kendo match. He was once chosen to be a starter after a teammate was suspended for causing an uproar. Watsuki grew frustrated with kendo, and eventually quit. When he was challenged to come up with a new character for Rurouni Kenshin, he used his outlook on kendo for a base of Myōjin Yahiko.[1] Nobuhiro Watsuki has had many works in the past. In high school he won the Hop Step award for his work on his manga he called Podmark. This award winning title was Watsuki's first manga and it has not been translated into English. Later on, Watsuki was an assistant in the work of Mashin Bōken Tan Lamp-Lamp (Arabian Genie Adventure Lamp-Lamp). The model for Sagara Sanosuke was based on a version of Lamp.[2] In 1994 a new manga was created and published in Weekly Shōnen Jump. It seems that this was the first manga about Rurouni Kenshin. When not working on manga, Watsuki enjoys playing video games, reading other manga, and watching television. His favorite American comic book is X-Men because he likes the action. His favorite anime (other than his own) is Neon Genesis Evangelion. He likes video games like Samurai Spirits and things of that sort. He also enjoys action movies like Die Hard and The Matrix. Watsuki describes himself as "pro-dōjinshi" and asks fans to send fan comics.[3] From August 9–11, 2013, an exhibit of art from Rurouni Kenshin was displayed at Otakon in the United States [4] curated by Watsuki's wife, Kaoru Kurosaki.[4]

Movies

Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning
Comic Book
Before he was a protector, Kenshin was a fearsome assassin known as Battosai. But when he meets gentle Tomoe Yukishiro, a beautiful young woman who carries a huge burden in her heart, his life will change forever.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Final
Comic Book
In 1879, Kenshin and his allies face their strongest enemy yet: his former brother-in-law Enishi Yukishiro and his minions, who've vowed their revenge.
Rurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends
Comic Book
Shishio sets sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the government. In order to stop him, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.
Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno
Comic Book
Kenshin has settled into his new life with Kaoru and his other friends when he is approached with a request from the Meiji government. Makoto Shishio, a former assassin like Kenshin, was betrayed, set on fire and left for dead. He survived, and is now in Kyoto, plotting with his gathered warriors to overthrow the new government. Against Kaoru's wishes, Kenshin reluctantly agrees to go to Kyoto and help keep his country from falling back into civil war.
Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins
Novel
In 1868, after the Bakumatsu war ends, the ex-assassin Kenshin Himura traverses Japan with an inverted sword, to defend the needy without killing.
Rurouni Kenshin: New Kyoto Arc: The Chirps of Light
Original Story
Shishio's plan is enacted while Kenshin and Misao help defend the city.
Rurouni Kenshin: New Kyoto Arc: Cage of Flames
Original Story
Although she's only sixteen and looks even younger, Misao Makimachi is already a skilled and competent member of the Oniwabanshu ninja clan. That's fortunate for Misao, because her onimitsu talents may be all that keeps her alive when a journey in search of the leader of the clan, Aoshi Shinomori, leads her instead into a face-to-face encounter with an even more dangerous man and a plot to overthrow the Meiji government! Quickly enmeshed in the affairs of the legendary assassin Hitokiri Battosai, now known as Kenshin Himura, wielder of the reverse-blade sword, Misao finds herself pulled into the middle of a deadly intrigue against Makoto Shishio, who is orchestrating the conquest of all Japan - beginning with Kyoto!
Rurouni Kenshin: Requiem for the Ishin Patriots
Comic Book
The war against the Tokugawa Shogunate ended years ago. But there are some who are not happy with the outcome. Shigure Takimi watched his friends and family get slashed down in the name of freedom and prosperity. Now he and a band of desparate rebels have sworn to settle one final score. Only one man stands in their way: Rurouni Kenshin. Will the former assassin take up his sword to fight again? When Shigure discovers Kenshin's true identity and his fight becomes a personal vendetta, the young hero will have no choice.