TOP FIVE GREATEST MANGA ARTISTS OF ALL TIME

Did you know that a huge percentage of Anime that we have watched were all adapted from Manga? Thanks to all those creative Manga artists or better known as the Mangaka [Manga (comics) + Ka ( degree of expertise and traditional authorship)]. As of 2006, about 3000 professional mangaka were working in Japan. Did you know that the success of The Walt Disney Company's 1937 feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs profoundly influenced many Japanese animators. The concept of adapting manga into anime started through the works of Osamu Tezuka (known as the God of Manga) who is also one of the pioneers of the Mecha genre in anime. Listed below are five of the greatest Manga artists of all time.

TOP FIVE GREATEST MANGA ARTISTS OF ALL TIME

Author's Note : This Entry is listed and ranked subjectively.

TOP 5 GREATEST MANGA ARTIST OF ALL TIME
"GOSHO AOYOMA"
(CASE CLOSED / DETECTIVE CONAN)

Creating one of the longest running manga in history doesn't just make Gosho Aoyama a great artists but establishing different mind breaking mysteries for almost every chapter makes him even more impressive. Gosho Aoyama is best known as the creator of the manga series Detective Conan (known in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom as Case Closed). Aoyama made his debut as a manga artist with the work Chotto Mattete which was published in the weekly magazine Shōnen Sunday on winter of 1987. Prior to his highly successful manga Detective Conan, Aoyama also worked with other notable manga series including Magic Kaito and Yaiba (all of them were adapted into anime series as well).

TOP 4 GREATEST MANGA ARTIST OF ALL TIME
"NORIAKI "TITE" KUBO"
(BLEACH)

Noriaki Kubo or more popularly known for his pen name as Tite Kubo is the creative artist behind the highly successful Bleach Manga series. Thanks to Saint Seiya which became his major inspiration to become a manga artist. His first manga was entitled Zombiepowder which gained moderate success in the US but was cancelled due to unremarkable sales performance in Japan. It was actually Bleach that established his much more wonderful career in this industry. It was well embraced by many and was recognized both domestically and internationally. Interestingly, Kubo is expecting the series to last only for five years but due to its high impact, it was prolonged. The manga was critically acclaimed and was named a winner of the Shogakukan Manga Award for its category in 2004. It was later adapted into an anime movie and tv series. 

TOP 3 GREATEST MANGA ARTIST OF ALL TIME
"MASASHI KISHIMOTO"
(NARUTO)

Masashi Kishimoto is the one behind the massively successful Naruto manga series. A reader of manga ever since a young age, Kishimoto showed a desire to write his own manga.  In fact, he even went to an art college just to make his dreams come true. Kishimoto's first work as a manga artist was Karakuri which was later serialized but was cancelled due to its poor performance in the market. He also created a one shot of Naruto in 1997 but in September 1999, a serialized version of Naruto was created and quickly became a hit. Naruto is still ongoing, with over 60 volumes published, and has sold over 113 million copies in Japan and over 95 million copies in the US, followed by over 93 million copies worldwide (outside Japan and United States) as of volume 36, also being adapted into two successful anime series.

TOP 2 GREATEST MANGA ARTIST OF ALL TIME
"EIICHIRO ODA"
(ONE PIECE)

Creating such a huge and seemingly infinite manga universe made Eiichiro Oda one of the greatest manga artists of all time. He is the creative person behind One Piece, the best-selling manga series of all time. The series' popularity resulted in him being named one of the manga artists that changed the history of manga. For the avid readers of One Piece, I'm sure you encountered his signature character Pandaman. Well, it is actually his first credited work. He submitted the character for a wrestling manga ~ Kinnikuman. Interestingly, Oda started his career as an assistant to some well known manga artists like Shinobu Kaitani (Suizan Police Gang), Masaya Tokuhiro (Jungle King Tar-Chan) and Nobuhiro Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin). He began working with a Pirate-themed manga through Romance Dawn which features Monkey D Luffy which later become his main character in One Piece. One Piece became not only one of the most popular manga in Japan, but the best-selling manga series of all time. It was also adapted to a successful anime series. 

THE GREATEST MANGA ARTIST OF ALL TIME
"AKIRA TORIYMA"
(DRAGON BALL)

Actually, without Akira Toriyama we do not have the four other manga artists listed above. Toriyama was cited as one of the major influences of almost all manga artists. Toriyama is best known for his work in series like Dr Slump and of course Dragon Ball. Toriyama is regarded as one of the artists that changed the history of manga.He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen or shōjo manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended. His next series, Dragon Ball, would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world. Having sold more than 230 million copies worldwide, it is the second best-selling manga of all time and is considered to be one of the main reasons for the "Golden Age of Jump," the period between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s when manga circulation was at its highest. Overseas, Dragon Ball's anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting Japanese animation's popularity in the Western world. A legend indeed. 

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Other notable Manga Artists who deserve to be mentioned include Hiromu Arakawa (image above; creator of Fullmetal Alchemist), Hiro Mashima (Rave and Fairy Tail), Naoko Takeuchi (Sailor Moon), Takeshi Obata (Death Note and Bakuman), Yoshihiro Togashi (Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter), and Rumiko Takahashi (InuYasha and Ranma 1/2)

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