Those of us who appreciate the anime and manga industry owe a lot to the brains behind it all, from the publishers, editors, translators and all the other people working behind the scenes. We, however, need to be especially thankful for the creative and talented people who thought of the stories, characters and the worlds we love, the mangaka.
1 Eiichiro Oda
Eiichiro Oda is the brilliant mind and creator behind the one and only, ONE PIECE. Yes, without him we would never have had the wonderful journey across the seas, we would never have explored all those amazing lands and of course, we would never have come to know the crew or any of the other memorable characters.
2 Akira Toriyama
Can you imagine a world without the Kamehameha in it? I shudder at the thought. We all have Akira Toriyama to thank for the wonderful and imaginative world of DRAGONBALL!
3 Masashi Kishimoto
A long-running series that pulled out so much emotion from its fans, from beloved characters dying to shocking revelations, Masashi Kishimoto was a master storyteller with his bestseller NARUTO. I don’t want to picture a world without Kakashi in it – or any of the other beloved characters for that matter!
4 Tite Kubo
BANKAI! You instantly know which world he created just from that one single word that holds so much feeling. Yes, Tite Kubo created the wonderful world of BLEACH and us die-hard fans are so happy that the final arc is going to be animated.
5 Hiro Mashima
Hiro Mashima brought the world of FAIRY TAIL to life and gave us such wonderful and memorable characters and adventures.
6 Yūki Tabata
A somewhat ‘new’ and exciting world, Yūki Tabata has given us a world where books give you powers and without one you are powerless, the one and only BLACK CLOVER. Now that I have it, I don’t want to go back to a world without it.
7 Kohei Horikoshi
Who has not heard of MY HERO ACADEMIA? We all have Kohei Horikoshi to thank for bringing this quirky world to life and making it such a ride with interesting heroes and just as interesting villains.
8 Hiromu Arakawa
Hiromu Arakawa made many of us cry with her series, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST. So many memorable and tragic moments in Fullmetal Alchemist with such beautiful story writing and character development.
9 Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi is known for many works that many of us know, or will at least recognise the name of. She is responsible for INUYASHA and RANMA ½ as well as many more. She truly is an iconic name and figure in the Shoujo world of manga.
10 Tsugumi Ohba (writer) and Takeshi Obata (illustrator)
These two came together and gave us a world where with just a pen, a name and a book you had control over one’s life. Yes, they were the two geniuses behind the world of DEATH NOTE!
11 Naoko Takeuchi
In the name of the Moon, I’ll punish you! Such an iconic phrase by a truly iconic character. We have Naoko Takeuchi to thank for SAILOR MOON. She created a world where teenage girls could dream.
12 Hajime Isayama
Hajime Isayama brought us the high impact, drama-filled ATTACK ON TITAN. I can not picture an anime community now without the titan memes or the cleaning Levi. Even if you have not watched or read Attack on Titan, you at least know of it.
13 Hirohiko Araki
Hirohiko Araki truly gave us a bizarre world and bizarre characters with JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE. No matter how bizarre the adventure, it has left a massive impact on the otaku community and has given laugh after laugh – even if the story can be quite twisted and dark at times.
14 Takehiko Inoue
When recommending a sports manga or anime, Takehiko Inoue’s series is almost always included. He came up with the basketball series SLAM DUNK as well as his samurai manga, VAGABOND.
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