Masami Kurumada facts for kids

Masami Kurumada (車田 正美, Kurumada Masami, born December 6, 1953) is a famous Japanese manga artist and writer. He is well-known for creating exciting fighting manga, often featuring handsome and heroic young characters.

He started his own manga studio, Kurumada Productions (or Kurumadapro for short). He became very popular as the creator of manga like Ring ni Kakero, Fūma no Kojirō, Saint Seiya, and B't X. The male characters in his stories often show strong qualities like courage, selflessness, and true heroism. He won the "Best Success" award for Saint Seiya and the "Best Inspiration" award for Ring ni Kakero.

About Masami Kurumada

Kurumada's first work was called Otoko Raku. It won him an award in a manga contest for new artists. After that, he became an assistant to other professional manga artists.

He officially started his career as a manga artist in 1974 with his manga Sukeban Arashi. Three years later, he had his first big hit with Ring ni Kakero. This manga made him a very popular author and lasted for five years. He still considers it his favorite creation. When he was younger, Kurumada practiced martial arts, and this has greatly influenced his many works.

His Unique Drawing Style

Like many manga artists, Kurumada uses a technique called the Osamu Tezuka's Star System. This means he often uses a group of characters who keep the same look and personality across different stories. Sometimes, he gives them new names and different roles. Because of this, the main characters in his works often look like Takane Ryūji, the hero of Ring ni Kakero. Characters like Seiya from Saint Seiya and Teppei Takamiya from B't X share a similar appearance and personality.

Other famous manga artists like Leiji Matsumoto and Clamp also use this technique. Clamp was very influenced by Kurumada's works and even started their careers by creating fan comics based on his characters.

Kurumada's drawing style is classic, similar to manga and anime from the 1960s and 1970s. He often draws his characters as if you are looking up at them from below. His drawings can sometimes seem a bit rough, but his artistic skills have clearly improved over time. He usually uses realistic colors, unlike many manga artists who use bright, unnatural colors for hair or eyes. However, in Saint Seiya Next Dimension, he has started adding characters with non-natural hair colors.

His fight scenes have special graphic elements that fans recognize. For example, "Kurumada-ochi" means characters falling head-first, and "Kurumada-futtobi" means characters being launched high into the air by opponents.

Themes in His Stories

Kurumada's stories often explore themes like friendship, courage, redemption, and sacrifice. His characters frequently show masculine virtues, honesty, and honor. Female characters usually have smaller roles, but some, like Kiku Takane in Ring ni Kakero and Saori Kido in Saint Seiya, are very important.

Kurumada has said that he gets ideas from older manga masters like Hiroshi Motomiya. He feels that Motomiya's works had a strong impact on him. He also finds inspiration in world knowledge and old stories, such as Greek mythology, Japanese and Chinese mythology, and classic books like The Divine Comedy.

He is very interested in boxing, wrestling, and martial arts. He also enjoys drinking with friends and taking photos while jogging.

Challenges and Successes

Some of Kurumada's works, like Otoko Zaka and Silent Knight Shō, were canceled because they didn't attract enough fans. B't X and Saint Seiya also saw a drop in popularity. In the case of Saint Seiya, his publisher, Shueisha, asked him to finish the manga after the Hades Arc in 1991. He paused the manga but brought it back in 2006 with Saint Seiya Next Dimension.

The Saint Seiya anime adaptation also faced challenges. Its popularity decreased during the "Asgard" arc (which was only in the anime). Because of this, the project to adapt the Hades arc was stopped in 1989. It didn't start again until 2003, and the final episodes adapting the manga were aired between May and August 2008.

In 2004, Kurumada celebrated 30 years as a professional manga artist. That same year, two of his older works became popular again. The original Ring ni Kakero was made into an anime, 27 years after its manga debut. The Saint Seiya anime was also restarted in 2003. A movie called Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter − Overture was released in 2004, meant to continue the story. However, due to disagreements, the project was stopped. Kurumada still plans to publish the "Zeus Chapter" in manga form.

Kurumada's works have influenced many other manga artists and video games. For example, Kinnikuman and Magic Knight Rayearth show his influence. His works are also referenced in popular manga like BLEACH and in video games like the World Heroes series.

French director Louis Leterrier has said that Kurumada's Saint Seiya had a big impact on him. In 2010, Warner Brothers asked Kurumada to help with the movie Clash of the Titans. Kurumada drew special pictures to promote the film.

There are countless products like action figures, T-shirts, and video games based on Kurumada's works, sold successfully worldwide. His fans are often called "Masamists."

In 2016, to celebrate 30 years since the original Saint Seiya manga, two special exhibitions were held in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Many special products related to Saint Seiya were sold there. In 2017, Masami Kurumada even designed a shirt for the Japanese baseball team "Hiroshima Toyo Carp."

In 2019, a new CGI animated version of Kurumada's original Saint Seiya manga was released worldwide on Netflix. A live-action film based on Saint Seiya was released in cinemas worldwide in 2023.

Masami Kurumada's Works

Manga Series

Masami Kurumada, as he appeared in the first episode of the Ring ni Kakero 1 anime adaptation. His character's design was based on the protagonist of his manga Jitsuroku! Shinwakai, who shares his name, and the kanji in his clothes read Shinwakai, as a reference to it. He also voiced the character in the episode.

Here are some of his manga works listed by when they were published:

Other Manga Works

• Mikeneko Rock (1975)
• Mabudachi Jingi (1979)
• Shiro-Obi Taishō (1979)
• Blue Myth (1992)
• Seiya ni Kane wa Naru (2021)

Books and Artbooks

• Cosmo Special (1988)
• Burning Blood (1996, an artbook)
• Honō no Tamashī (2000, a data collection)
• Saint Seiya Encyclopedia (2001, an artbook and character data collection)
• Saint Seiya Sora Kurumada Masami Illustrations (2004, an artbook)
• Raimei-ni Kike (2006)
• Masami Kurumada best bout! 2 vol. (2014)
• Saint Seiya 30 Shunen Kinen Gashu, Seiiki - Sanctuary Artbook (2016)

Anime and Movie Adaptations

Many of Kurumada's works have been turned into anime TV shows and movies:

• Saint Seiya (1986 - 1989, 114 episodes)
• Fūma no Kojirō (1989 - 1990, 12 OVA episodes)
• B't X (1996, 25 episodes)
• Ring ni Kakero 1 (2004 - 2011, 36 episodes)
• Saint Seiya - The Hades Arc (2002 - 2008, 31 OVA episodes)
• Saint Seiya Omega (2012 - 2014, an original anime story, 97 episodes)
• Knights of the Zodiac (2019, a reboot/remake, 36 episodes)

His manga have also inspired several anime movies:

• Saint Seiya: Evil Goddess Eris (1987)
• Saint Seiya: The Heated Battle of the Gods (1988)
• Saint Seiya: Legend of the Crimson Youth (1989)
• Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter − Overture (2004)
• Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary (CGI movie, 2014)

Live-Action Adaptations

Some of his works have also been adapted into live-action:

• Fūma no Kojirō (a TV drama with 13 episodes)
• Saint Seiya Musical (1991, a short musical theater adaptation)
• Saint Seiya - Super Musical (2011, a musical adaptation of the first Saint Seiya film)
• Knights of the Zodiac: The Beginning (2023, a Japanese/American live-action film)

Spin-off Works (Supervised by Kurumada)

Masami Kurumada has also allowed other authors to create spin-off stories based on his manga, especially Saint Seiya. He supervises these works, but they are usually considered separate from his main story.

• Saint Seiya Episode G (2002 - 2013, by Megumu Okada)
• Saint Seiya Lost Canvas (2006 - 2011, by Shiori Teshirogi)
• Saint Seiya - Saintia Shō (2013–2021, by Chimaki Kuori)
• Kurumada Suikoden - Hero of Heroes (2014–present, by Yun Kōga, a series celebrating Kurumada's 40th anniversary)

Saint Seiya is his most famous work in many parts of the world. In Japan, Ring ni Kakero (1 and 2) is also very successful and is his longest work, with 51 collected volumes. Saint Seiya has 28 volumes, and with Saint Seiya Next Dimension, which continues the original story, it now has a total of 44 volumes.

Many video games have been made based on Saint Seiya for consoles like Famicom/NES, Game Boy, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4. Ring ni Kakero and Saint Seiya have also been featured in Pachinko game machines.

The Saint Seiya Myth Cloth is a very popular line of action figures based on the characters from Saint Seiya, which started in 2003 and is still being produced.

Kurumada has worked on Saint Seiya Next Dimension, which is a prequel and continuation of his classic manga. This series is considered an official part of the Saint Seiya story. He also finished Ring ni Kakero 2 in 2009.

Most of Kurumada's works were published by Shueisha in the famous Shūkan Shōnen Jump magazine. He later published with Kadokawa Shoten and then returned to Shueisha. Some of his more recent works are published by Akita Shoten.

In 2012, Kurumada announced a new anime TV series called Saint Seiya Omega. This was an original anime story, separate from Kurumada's manga, and took place 25 years after his Saint Seiya manga. The series aired from April 2012 to April 2014.

Songs Written by Masami Kurumada

Masami Kurumada has written the lyrics for many songs used in the anime adaptations of his manga series. A CD called Kurumada: The Complete Works was released in December 2005, collecting many of these songs.

Some of the songs he wrote include:

• いかなる星の下に〜We're fearless warriors〜
• 星よ流れるな〜Stop the fate〜
• 少年記 I〜Burning Blood〜
• 少年記 II〜Leave my heart〜
• 風の戦士
• あの日風の中で・・・
• 君を守りたい
• 信じる心
• 光を探して
• いつか聞いた風の歌
• 風に向かって走れ〜standing & fight〜
• 名も無き野の花〜fulfill your dream〜
• 純情ケンカチャンピオン〜one way boy〜
• いばらの旋律〜Melody〜
• 覇道のディスタンス〜Distance〜
• ｢明日への闘志｣
• 男坂

After this CD, Kurumada also wrote the lyrics for the opening and ending songs of the "Inferno" stage of the Hades arc in the Saint Seiya anime:

• "Megami no Senshi, Pegasus Forever"
• "Takusu mono he ~ My Dear"

He also wrote the ending theme for the second season of the Ring ni Kakero 1 anime in 2006:

• Shining like Gold 〜思い出の欠片〜 (Omoide no kakera)

For the final episodes that completed the Hades arc of his Saint Seiya manga in anime form (aired in mid-2008), a new ending song was composed with Kurumada writing the lyrics:

• "Kami no Sono - Del Regno"

Kurumada even had a small role as a voice actor in the first episode of the Ring ni Kakero anime, playing himself and a character from his manga Jitsuroku! Shinwakai.

He also wrote the lyrics for the ending theme of the first and second seasons of the Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas anime:

• "Hana no Kusari"

Another CD, "Kurumada: The Complete Works 2," was released in 2013, including more songs with lyrics by Kurumada for his anime adaptations.

See also

In Spanish: Masami Kurumada para niños