Hitoshi Iwaaki

Hitoshi Iwaaki (岩明 均, Iwaaki Hitoshi, Born July 28, 1960) is the creator of Parasyte -the maxim-. He was born in Tokyo and dropped out of Wako University, where his father, Masao Iwaaki, works. He is also known for the manga Historie, which is currently serialized in Monthly Afternoon.

Background
He grew up without reading manga until his third year of high school. He was embarrassed to buy a manga in public until he bought a manga by Osamu Tezuka. While he was a student, he provided illustrations for his father’s books. In 1984, he began being Kazuo Kamimura’s assistant. In 1985, he wrote the one-shot The Sea of Garbage, which was published in Morning Open Zōkan and won an award. From 1985 to 1988, he serialized the 4 volume series Fūko in the Cafe in Weekly Morning. He then began the manga Kiseijū in Morning Open Zōkan after Fūko in the Cafe’s completion. It moved to Monthly Afternoon after 3 chapters in 1990, and ended in 1995. Kiseijū won the 17th Kodansha Award in 1993 and the 27th Seiun Awars in the manga category in 1996. Tokyopop published the series flipped as Parasyte from 1998 to 2002. A kanzenban release was published in Japan in 2003 and in North America from 2007-2009/2011-2012 by Del Rey Manga/Kodansha Comics. From 2014 to 2015, two live action movies, Parasyte Part One and Parasyte Part Two were released. Alongside the duo of live action movies, an anime television series titled Parasyte -the maxim- aired for 24 episodes and was produced by Madhouse. Funimation released the live action movies in North America, with Sentai Filmworks releasing the anime. Iwaaki then began The Country of Tanabana in Big Comic Spirits in 1996 and it ended after 4 volumes in 1999. He then did two short-term serializations, the first being Snow Ridge in Morning Shin-Magnum Special in 1999, and the second and final being Sword Dance in Young Champion in 2000. From 2001 to 2002, he serialized Heureka in Young Animal Arashi. Ever since 2003, he has been working on Historie in Monthly Afternoon. 11 volumes have been published so far, and it has won both the Grand Prize in the Manga Division at the 14th Cultural Agency Media Arts Festival and the 16th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award Manga Award.

Iwaaki’s art style is very simple, and he cites Osamu Tezuka as an inspiration.

Works

 * 1) Fūko in the Cafe (1985-1988, Weekly Morning) [4 Volumes]
 * 2) Parasyte (1988-1995, Morning Open Zōkan/Monthly Afternoon) [10 Volumes/8 Volumes; Published in English by Tokyopop, Del Rey Manga and Kodansha Comics]
 * 3) Sound of Bones (1990) [1 Volume; Collection of one-shots]
 * 4) The Country of Tanabana (1996-1999, Big Comic Spirits) [4 Volumes]
 * 5) Snow Ridge/Sword Dance (1999-2000, Morning Shin-Magnum Special/Young Champion) [1 Volume]
 * 6) Heureka (2001-2002, Young Animal Arashi) [1 Volume]
 * 7) Historie (2003-, Monthly Afternoon) [11+ Volumes]
 * 8) Black Jack ~Blue Future~ (2011-2012, Weekly Shōnen Champion) [1 Volume; Illustrated by Masaaki Nakayama]
 * 9) Reiri (2015-2018, Bessatsu Shōnen Champion) [6 Volumes; Illustrated by Daisuke Muroi]

Parasyte was adapted into two live action movies an an anime series. There aren’t many works due to many of them being suspended. Iwaaki is aware of this.