| Naoshi Arakawa 新川 直司 | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Area(s) | Manga artist |
Notable works | Your Lie in April |
| Awards | 37thKodansha Manga Award for BestShōnen Manga withYour Lie in April |
Naoshi Arakawa (Japanese:新川 直司,Hepburn:Arakawa Naoshi) is a Japanesemanga artist, known for his workYour Lie in April.
Naoshi Arakawa grew up in thecountryside of Japan with an older brother.[1] They used to get manga magazines likeWeekly Shōnen Jump andMonthly Shōnen Magazine often, so he was exposed to manga from a young age.[1] That, along with his love forFist of the North Star andKinnikuman was what ultimately made him decide to become amanga author.[2]However, he elected not to tell anyone due to theconservative nature of his hometown and hisshy personality.[1]
After getting advice from a friend at college, Naoshi Arakawa decided to enter for the Monthly Shōnen Magazine Grand Challenge. Theone-shot he submitted would become the basis forYour Lie in April.[2] Afterwards, he then worked as an assistant before making his serial debut with the manga adaptation ofA School Frozen in Time.[2] It ran inMonthly Shōnen Magazine from December 2007 to April 2009, and was published in four volumes.[3] At the time, he was also working on a one-shot manga prototype, which would eventually become his second serial,Sayonara, Football.[2] It ran inMagazine E-no from June 20, 2009, to August 20, 2010,[4][5] and was published in two volumes.[6][7]
After finishingSayonara, Football, he wanted to try something new.[1] He eventually decided on doing a music-focused anime, however, his first attempt was turned down.[8] To find inspiration, he decided to go back to the original one-shot he entered in the contest.[2] He eventually createdYour Lie in April. It ran inMonthly Shōnen Magazine from April 6, 2011, to February 6, 2015,[9][10] and was published in eleven volumes.[11] It won the award for BestShōnen manga at the 37thKodansha Manga Awards.[12] He also made a spinoff manga for the Japaneseblu-ray release of the anime adaptation and was later published intankōbon format.[13] He also did the illustrations for the light novel spinoff.[14] Around this time, he also did an illustration for the endcard (the drawing at the end of the episode) for the fifth episode ofOccultic;Nine.[15]
For his next series, he decided to make a sequel toSayonara, Football in the form ofFarewell, My Dear Cramer. It ran inMonthly Shōnen Magazine from May 6, 2016, to December 4, 2020,[16][17] and is being published in volumes, with fourteen having been released as of August 2022 (last release April 2021).[18] A volume zero toFarewell, My Dear Cramer was also given out to people who saw the movie adaptation ofSayonara, Football in theaters.[19]
On September 21, 2022, Arakawa released a preview for his new manga series, titledAtwight Game, inKodansha'sWeekly Shōnen Magazine.[20] It was serialized from September 28, 2022,[21] to April 12, 2023.[22]
Arakawa's next series,Orion's Board, began serialization inWeekly Shōnen Magazine on January 10, 2024.[23]
