Naoki Urasawa at the Angouleme International Comics Festival 2018

As we’ve been posting about our first time at Angoulême’s annual Festival International de la Bande Dessinée. You’ll find all the links below. There were exhibits dedicated to two Kings of mangaka – Osamu Tezuka and Naoki Urasawa. We wandered around for ages soaking in all of the original art from these two masters. What an honor just to see their work.

We were truly fortunate because Naoki Urasawa was there for a Master Class!

Naoki Urasawa

Naoki Urasawa is a Japanese manga artist, creator and musician. Born on January 2, 1960 in Tokyo, Japan, his extraordinary ability to develop captivating characters who are often thrown into gripping or larger than life conspiracies that keep you on the edge of your seat. Pick up any of his books and you’re lost in a world, unable to escape until you get to the very end. Some of his titles include:

Asadora! (連続漫画小説あさドラ!, Renzoku Manga Shōsetsu Asadora!; “Serial Manga Novel Asadora!”, 2018–present)
Pineapple Army (パイナップルARMY; 1985–1988) – written by Kazuya Kudo
Yawara! (ヤワラ, Yawara; 1986–1993)
Master Keaton (MASTERキートン, Masutā Kīton; 1988–1994) – written with Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki
Happy! (1993–1999)
Monster (モンスター, Monsutā; 1994–2001)
20th Century Boys (20世紀少年) / 21st Century Boys (21世紀少年) (1999–2006, 2007)
Pluto (プルートウ, Purūtō; 2003–2009) – written with Takashi Nagasaki, based on a work by Osamu Tezuka
Billy Bat (ビリーバット, Birī Batto; 2008–2016) – written with Takashi Nagasaki
Master Keaton Remaster (MASTERキートン Reマスター, Masutā Kīton Rimasutā; 2012–2014) – written with Takashi Nagasaki
Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams (夢印-MUJIRUSHI-; 2017–2018)

Masterclass de Naoki Urasawa à Angoulême

Naoki Urasawa is one of the most influential creators in contemporary manga. He was the guest of honor at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in January 2018. We were able to drool over a carefully crafted art exhibition, he gave a master class and an in-depth interview (click here). We were in creative heaven!