Yasuhiro Nightow

Yasuhiro Nightow 内藤 泰弘
Yasuhiro Nightow at Japan Expo 2011
Born	April 8, 1967 Yokohama, Japan
Area(s)	Manga artist
Notable works	Trigun, Blood Blockade Battlefront

Yasuhiro Nightow (内藤 泰弘 Naitō Yasuhiro, born April 8, 1967 in Yokohama, Japan) is a Japanese manga artist.^[1] His major work Trigun was adopted into an anime series and film. He also designed the characters for the video game and anime series Gungrave, and has been working on the manga Blood Blockade Battlefront.

Biography

Nightow was born in Yokohama, and moved to Yokosuka when he was in elementary school, and spent his junior high and high school years in Shizuoka. His first exposure to comics was through Fujio Akatsuka's Tensai Bakabon, and he was also influenced by the comics of Leiji Matsumoto such as Yamato, Harlock and 999. He also was drawn to the work done in Shonen Sunday which included artists Rumiko Takahashi and Fujihiko Hosono. Regarding "new wave" artists, he liked Katsuhiro Otomo from Sayonara Nippon, and Fumiko Takano.^[1]

He studied social science and then majored in media studies at Housei University. While there, he drew manga as a hobby, and made some dojinshi. After graduation, he worked Sekisui House where he sold apartments. After three and a half years, he quit his job to draw full-time. His first one-shot manga was based on the popular video game franchise Samurai Spirits. He had also developed a story titled Call XXXX which was published in Super Jump magazine.^[1]

With the help of a publisher friend, he submitted a Trigun story for the February 1995 issue of the Tokuma Shoten magazine Shōnen Captain, and began regular serialization two months later in April. However, Shōnen Captain was canceled early in 1997, and when Nightow was approached by the magazine Young King Ours, published by Shōnen Gahōsha, they were interested in him beginning a new work. Nightow though, was troubled by the idea of leaving Trigun incomplete, and requested to be allowed to finish the series.^[2] The publishers were sympathetic, and the manga resumed in 1998 as Trigun Maximum (トライガンマキシマム Toraigan Makishimamu). The story jumps forward two years with the start of Maximum. Despite this, Nightow has stated^[3] that the new title was purely down to the change of publishers.^[1] Trigun Maximum ran until 2007 and generated 14 tankobon volumes. The Trigun series was adapted into an anime series by Sunrise and had a limited broadcast run in 1998. It received an English adaptation which aired on Cartoon Network. Its popularity in the United States resulted in creation of a feature film Trigun: Badlands Rumble in 2010.

Nightow created the characters and story for the Sega/Red Entertainment third-person shooter video game series Gungrave.^[4] The series also received an anime adaptation.

In 2009, Nightow started a new manga series Blood Blockade Battlefront, which was serialized in Jump Square various magazines from Jump Sq.19 to Jump Sq. Crown. The series follows the adventures of a photographer who acquires supernatural visions and gets involved in an organization to fight monsters and terrorists.

Works

Title	Year	Notes	Refs[5]
Trigun	1995–97	Serialized in Monthly Shōnen Captain Published by Tokuma Shoten in 3 volumes
Trigun Maximum	1997–2007	Serialized in Young King Ours Published by Shōnen Gahōsha in 14 volumes
Gungrave	2002	Character design and story, video game
Gungrave: Overdose	2004	Character design and story, video game
Pen & Ink	2006	Published by Digital Manga. A guide to penning and inking manga Book, with Satoshi Shiki and Oh! Great	[6]
Blood Blockade Battlefront	2009–present	Serialized in Jump Sq.19, Jump Sq. Crown Published by Shueisha in 10 volumes

References

1. sumirechan (1999–2000). "Yasuhiro Nightow: Profile, Manga no Mori Interview, Puff Interview". Geocities. Archived from the original on 2009-10-25.
2. "When Young King Ours invited me to do some work for them, they were hoping for a new piece, but I was troubled by leaving Trigun unfinished. I told them I wouldn't feel like I had done my work unless I finished it, plus I was attached to it, and I asked them if they'd let me finish it." interview with Nightow in the September 2000 Manga no Mori newsletter, translated by sumire.
3. "Nightow stated that there is no difference in the story between the two titles, and the only reason for the change is because of the switch of publishing house." summary of discussion panel with Nightow at Anime Expo 2000, in Anaheim, California.
4. Yap, Victor (25 June 2006). "Grave danger". Malaysia Star. Archived from the original on 2012-10-29. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
5. "著者：内藤泰弘" [Author: Yasuhiro Nightow]. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Japan: Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
6. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-07-13/new-books-from-digital-manga

External links

• Yasuhiro Nightow at the Internet Movie Database