Hirohiko Araki

Hirohiko Araki

Araki in 2013
Born (1960-06-07) June 7, 1960
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Occupation Manga artist, artist
Nationality Japanese
Period 1980–present
Genre Action, adventure, supernatural
Subject Shōnen manga, seinen manga
Spouse Asami Araki
Children 2

Hirohiko Araki (Japanese: 荒木 飛呂彦 Hepburn: Araki Hirohiko, born June 7, 1960 in Sendai, Miyagi) is a Japanese manga artist. He made his debut under the name Toshiyuki Araki (荒木 利之 Araki Toshiyuki) in 1980 with his one-shot Poker Under Arms, and began his professional career with the short series Cool Shock B.T., Baoh, and The Gorgeous Irene. Araki is best known for his long-running series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1986 and which to date has sold over 80 million copies in Japan alone. The story frequently references rock music and Italy, both of which Araki is reportedly very fond of.[1]

History

Early life

Araki grew up in Sendai, Japan with his parents and younger identical twin sisters. He cites his sisters' annoyances as the reason he spent time alone in his room reading manga, naming Ai to Makoto as the most important one to him,[1] and his father's art books, he supposes this was his motive for drawing manga.[2] He was particularly influenced by the work of French artist Paul Gauguin.[3] After a school friend praised his manga, he began secretly drawing manga behind his parent's backs. He submitted his first work to a magazine in his first year of high school.[2] All his submissions were rejected while other artists his age or younger were making successful debuts. He decided to go to the publishers' offices in Tokyo to find out why in person, taking a manga he stayed up all-night to finish.[2] The Shueisha editor he met highly criticized the work, but said it had potential and to clean it up for the upcoming Tezuka Awards.[2] The manga was Poker Under Arms.

Debut and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

Araki left Miyagi University of Education before graduating, and made his debut in 1980 with the wild west one-shot Poker Under Arms,[4] which was a "Selected Work" at that year's Tezuka Award.[2][4] His first serialization was Cool Shock B.T. in 1983, about a young magician who solves mysteries.[4] But the first series to display his signature amount of gore was 1984's Baoh.[4] It tells the story of a man who is implanted with a parasite by an evil organization, giving him superhuman powers, and follows as he fights against them. It was adapted into an OVA in 1989, the manga was released in the US by Viz Media in 1990 (in tankōbon form in 1995), but the OVA didn't get a stateside release until 2002. It wasn't until The Gorgeous Irene in 1985, that he really developed his signature art style of buff, muscular characters (it would later become more flamboyant).[4]

His next series would become his magnum opus, 1986's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The series takes place in 1880's England and follows Jonathan Joestar (JoJo) and his adopted brother Dio Brando, the latter eventually trying to kill their father to get the inheritance.[4] When confronted, Dio puts on an ancient mask that turns him into a vampire. JoJo then learns a martial arts technique called hamon (or ripple), and travels to Dio's castle to kill him. Subsequent arcs of JoJo follow different descendants of the Joestar family, and many are set in different parts of the world. Part 3, which would become the most popular, drops the vampire story and ripple technique and instead introduces the power of Stands, which continues in the series today.[4]

Recent work

The September 2007 issue of Cell had a cover drawn by Araki with a ligase represented as one of his Stands.[5][6] In 2008, Araki drew the cover art for a collection featuring Yasunari Kawabata's short story "The Dancing Girl of Izu".[7] He drew the cover for the limited edition of Base Ball Bear's "Breeeeze Girl" single, which actually takes an image from the JoJo manga.[8]

Also in 2009, Hirohiko Araki was one of five artists selected by the Musée du Louvre to create original works set at the famous museum. His piece Rohan at the Louvre starred JoJo's Rohan Kishibe and was shown at the exhibit titled Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée ("The Louvre Invites Comic-Strip Art"), which was created to show the diversity of comics, from January 19 to April 13.[9] The following year, Rohan at the Louvre was published in France and ran in Japan's Ultra Jump. It was released in the US by NBM Publishing in February 2012.[10]

From September 17 to October 6, 2011, the Gucci store in Shinjuku hosted the Gucci x Hirohiko Araki x Spur "Rohan Kishibe Goes to Gucci" Exhibition, a collaboration between the luxury Italian clothing brand, JoJo's creator and the fashion magazine Spur.[11] The exhibit celebrated the 90th anniversary of Gucci and featured a life-size figure of Rohan Kishibe, as well as numerous illustrations by Araki; including actual pieces of the brand's own 2011-2012 fall/winter collection and his own original fashion designs. For Spur, Araki drew Kishibe Rohan meets Gucci., a full-color one-shot featuring Rohan Kishibe that ran in its October 2011 issue.[12] Spur once again ran a JoJo spinoff by Araki, Jolyne, Fly High with Gucci starring Jolyne Cujoh from Part 6, in their February 2013 issue.[13] A free English translation is available on Gucci's Facebook page.

To raise awareness of the ongoing reconstruction efforts of the Hiraizumi ruins, that were damaged by the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June, Araki drew artwork depicting the ruins.[14] A "Hirohiko Araki JoJo Exhibition" opened in Araki's native Sendai at the end of July 2012 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, it then moved to Tokyo in October.[15]

He drew the album cover for Sayuri Ishikawa's 2012 album X-Cross, where she performs one of the series' iconic poses and is drawn wearing jewelry from the manga, the cover of the 2012 reprint of Tamaki Saitō's Lacan for Surviving,[16][17] and the cover of the 2015 compilation album for composer Akira Senju.[18]

A book explaining Araki's methodology on creating manga, titled Araki Hirohiko no Manga Jutsu, was released on April 17, 2015.[19] A stage adaptation of Araki's 1994 one-shot Under Execution, Under Jailbreak will run from November 20 to November 29, 2015, at the Galaxy Theatre before touring the country in December. The play will also include elements of his 1996 one-shot Dolce, and His Master..[20]

Works

A cover of Weekly Shōnen Jump featuring Araki's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Manga

Other

References

  1. 1 2 "Hirohiko Araki Lecture Part 3: Questions and Answers with Araki-Sensei". comipress.com. 2007-04-29. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Hirohiko Araki Lecture Part 1: His Past & Motives". comipress.com. 2006-06-30. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  3. ↑ "Hirohiko Araki Lecture Part 2: Drawing Manga, Araki-Style". comipress.com. 2006-07-25. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-04-15.
  5. ↑ "asahi.com：人気漫画「ジョジョ」の荒木さん 米生物学誌の表紙描く - 文化一般 - 文化・芸能". Asahi.com. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
  6. ↑ "Jojo's Araki Draws Cover for U.S. Biological Journal Cell". Anime News Network. 2007-09-07. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  7. ↑ ""不朽の名作"×"人気漫画家"今度は『ジョジョ』作者が『伊豆の踊子』の表紙を描き下ろし ニュース-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
  8. ↑ "Jojo's Araki Illustrates Base Ball Bear's 'Breeeeze Girl'". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  9. ↑ "Jojo's Araki Creates Manga for France's Louvre Museum". Anime News Network. 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  10. ↑ "NBM to Release Hirohiko Araki's Rohan at the Louvre Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  11. ↑ "Gucci Store to Host Exhibit of Jojo Manga's Araki". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  12. ↑ "Jojo's Spinoff Runs in Women's Fashion Mag". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  13. ↑ "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 1-Shot Runs in Women's Fashion Mag". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  14. ↑ "JoJo's Araki Draws Art for Quake-Affected Historical Ruins". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  15. ↑ "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Exhibit Goes to Sendai, Tokyo". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  16. ↑ "コミックナタリー - 石川さゆりジョジョ立ち！荒木飛呂彦がジャケ描き下ろし". Natalie.mu. 2012-09-19. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
  17. ↑ "コミックナタリー - 荒木飛呂彦、フランスの精神分析家ジャック・ラカンを描く". Natalie.mu. 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
  18. ↑ "Jojo Creator Draws Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Composer Giorno-Style for CD Cover". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  19. ↑ "Jojo Creator Draws Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Composer Giorno-Style for CD Cover". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  20. ↑ "JoJo's Creator's 'Prison Break' Stage Play Casts Eriko Hatsune". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
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