Yusuke Murata facts for kids

Yusuke Murata (Japanese: 村田 雄介, Hepburn: Murata Yūsuke, born July 4, 1978) is a famous Japanese artist. He is well-known for drawing manga (Japanese comics) and working on animated shows. His most famous works include the American football manga Eyeshield 21 and the superhero series One-Punch Man. Both of these popular manga have also been turned into anime TV shows.

About Yusuke Murata

Early Life and First Steps in Manga

Yusuke Murata was born in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, in 1978. Even when he was young, he showed a lot of talent for drawing. When he was just twelve years old, he entered a contest to design bad guys for the video game Mega Man. He actually won the contest twice! His ideas for characters like Dust Man from Mega Man 4 and Crystal Man from Mega Man 5 were used in the games.

Murata became a professional manga artist in 1995. His very first work was a short comic called Partner. It was published in a special edition of Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. For this work, he received the Hop Step Award, which is a big deal for new artists. Later, in 1998, he published another short story called Samui Hanashi in Weekly Shōnen Jump, which won him the Akatsuka Award. In 2002, he published Kaitō Colt in the same magazine.

Creating Famous Manga Series

One of Murata's biggest projects started in 2002. The editors at Weekly Shōnen Jump wanted to create a new manga about American football called Eyeshield 21. They asked Riichiro Inagaki to write the story. Inagaki then asked Murata to be the artist because he felt he was "so rookie" at drawing.

Before the main series began, they published two short preview comics in March 2002. The Eyeshield 21 series then started regular publication in July 2002. It became very popular and ran for 333 chapters, ending in 2009. The story was collected into 37 manga books. An anime TV show based on Eyeshield 21 aired from 2005 to 2008.

From 2008 to 2010, Murata also worked on a remake of a famous manga drawing guide called Hetappi Manga Kenkyūjo R. This series was about an editor who wanted Murata to teach him how to draw manga. Murata even posted a short story on Twitter that showed off his unique drawing style. He used folded paper and cutouts to make his comic look three-dimensional!

Murata also created several other short comics (called one-shots). These included Madofuki Park (about a futuristic window washer) and Blust! (about a boy with special powers from eating curry). He also drew posters for Weekly Shōnen Jump's 40th anniversary, featuring many popular manga characters.

The Success of One-Punch Man

In 2012, Murata began a very exciting collaboration with a webcomic artist known as "One". They first worked on two short comics together. Then, they started remaking One's popular webcomic, One-Punch Man. Murata's amazing artwork brought the story of a superhero who can defeat any enemy with just one punch to life.

The One-Punch Man manga began being published online in June 2012. It quickly became a huge hit around the world. An anime adaptation of One-Punch Man was released in 2015 and was also very successful.

In 2013, Murata was chosen to design characters for the Majin Bone anime show. He also drew the illustrations for One's short story Gokiburi Buster in 2015. In 2016, Murata started a digital comic series called Mangaka Yashoku Benkyuusho, which showed a fictional version of himself preparing late-night snacks.

Murata is a family man. He has a son, born in 2007, and a daughter, born in 2010. He has even used his children as inspiration for characters in One-Punch Man. For example, his daughter, who plays the piano, inspired the character Zenko.

Murata's Drawing Style

Yusuke Murata is a big fan of Kinu Nishimura, who designs characters for many Capcom video games. He also loves Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, especially the battles between Goku and characters like Piccolo and Frieza.

Murata's art is highly praised by critics and fans alike. People often compare his detailed drawings to those of Akira Toriyama. His art is known for being full of tiny details, making every part of the drawing interesting. He's also great at adding funny details that make the comics even better.

Experts say that Murata's art isn't just pretty; it's also amazing at telling a story. He can draw characters with strong, realistic designs, but also add some funny, exaggerated features. This mix makes his characters unique and memorable. Murata is also known for his ability to draw scenes from many different angles and perspectives. This makes the action in his manga feel very exciting and dynamic. Some even say that his manga might be better than the anime because his art captures movement so well!

Works

• Partner (パートナー, Pātonā) (1995)
• Samui Hanashi (さむいはなし) (1998)
• Kaitō Colt (怪盗COLT) (2002)
• Eyeshield 21 (アイシールド21, Aishīrudo Nijūichi) (one-shot with Riichiro Inagaki; 2002)
• Eyeshield 21 (series with Riichiro Inagaki ; 2002–2009)
• Madofuki Park (窓ふきパルク, Madofuki Paruku) (2008)
• Hetappi Manga Kenkyūjo R (ヘタッピマンガ研究所R) (2008–2010)
• Blust! (2009)
• Minds (マインズ, Mainzu) (2010)
• Donten Prism Solar Car (曇天・プリズム・ソーラーカー, Donten Purizumu Sōrā Kā) (with Yasuo Ōtagaki; 2010–2011)
• Dotō no Yūshatachi (怒涛の勇者達) (with One; 2012)
• Dangan Tenshi Fan Club (弾丸天使ファンクラブ, Dangan Tenshi Fan Kurabu) (with One; 2012)
• One-Punch Man (ワンパンマン, Wanpanman) (with One; 2012–ongoing)
• Monster of Earth (地球の怪獣, Chikyū no Kaijū) (one-shot with One and Kinu Nishimura; 2013)
• Gokiburi Buster (ゴキブリバスター, Gokiburi Basutā) (2015)
• Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #4 (manga variant cover; 2015)
• Spider-Island #3 (manga variant cover; 2015)
• Spider-Verse (Japanese Edition cover; 2016)