Yoshikazu Yasuhiko

An animator turned mangaka Yasuhiko was born in Hokkaido in December 1947 he dropped out of Hirosaki University in 1970 to work for MushiPro as an animator. In the 70s he became a freelancer and worked on TV anime. Some of his most famous work as a character designer or director are Space Battleship Yamato Brave Raideen Combattler V and Mobile Suit Gundam. In 1979 he made his debut as a mangaka with Arion serialized in the newly founded magazine Ryu. Following this Yasuhiko alternated between the Anime and Manga worlds with works like Kiba The Legend of White Fang Crusher Joe and Giant Gorg and Star of the Kurds CCourt and Venus Wars. These worlds would overlap when his manga Arion would get adapted into an anime film in 1986 with the title Neo Heroic Fantasia: Arion. Following this he would adapt his SF Military Chronicle Venus Wars into an anime film in 1989. The anime film adaptation for Venus Wars came at an unfortunate point for Yasuhiko and the film was sealed preventing it from being made readily available on home video formats in Japan though still made accessible overseas. He turned to manga completely and had gained a respectable reputation as a history mangaka with works focusing on both Japanese history with Jinmu Namuji Yamato Takeru and European history with Alexandros Joan and Theology with Jesus. In 2001 he adapted the First Gundam anime into a manga with Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin and was colossally popular being serialized for 24 Tankoban volumes. With over 50 years worth of experience across multiple mediums of entertainment and showing no signs of stopping Yasuhikos terrific worldview continues to touch the hearts of many around the world. In 1981 he won the Seiun Award in the Art category. In 1992 he received the Japan Cartoonists Association Award for his work Namuji. From 1979 to 1982 he ranked first in the Anime Grand Prix for Character Design. In 2000 he won the Japan Media Arts Festival Excellence Prize in the Manga category for d no Inu. In 2012 he won the Seiun Award in the Best Comic category for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. In 2015 he received the Animation Kobe Special Award. mangaupdates.com