Kia Asamiya
Encyclopedia
is the pen-name of Japanese manga artist Michitaka Kikuchi whose work spans multiple genres and appeals to diverse audiences.
He is well known for using influences from American comics
, television
, and film
s in his work, and describes himself as a big fan of both Batman
and Star Wars
. One of the most widely-published Japanese manga artist
, nearly all of his stories have been translated into other languages, including English. His two most successful and popular manga series to-date are Martian Successor Nadesico
and Silent Möbius
.
Prior to becoming a manga artist, Asamiya graduated from the Tokyo Designer School, and then worked as a character designer for a number of anime series, and even designed models for some of the later Godzilla
films (1980s). For this career, he used his real name, , and maintained the two professional identities separately for many years. Several of the anime series that he worked on were very popular both inside and outside of Japan, most notably including Sonic Soldier Borgman
and Project A-ko
. Even after focusing primarily on his manga career, Asamiya continued to do character designs and creative consultation on anime series based on his stories, occasionally under the Kikuchi name.
In the early 2000s, Asamiya has shifted his focus from teenage and young-adult stories to stories designed for children and for an American audience. In the former case, he credits his young children as a motivation, but in the latter case, he points to a long-standing desire to work with his favorite American characters. To that end, he has worked on projects with Image Comics
, Marvel Comics
, and DC Comics
, as well as developing a manga adaptation of the film, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
.
While many Japanese artists (and artists in general) are quite reclusive, Asamiya often makes an effort to be available to his fans. He maintains a website with news and information about his studio, TRON (named after the Disney
film Tron
). He also aids and assists his Official Fan Club by sending them regular announcements and limited-edition merchandise. Despite these actions, he shunned all public photography, and had the often-hilarious habit of depicting himself with a placeholder sign for a face. It has become a trademark feature of his books that instead of a picture of the artist, there is an elaborately decorated rectangle sporting the words "Now Printing".
He is well known for using influences from American comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s in his work, and describes himself as a big fan of both Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
. One of the most widely-published Japanese manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
, nearly all of his stories have been translated into other languages, including English. His two most successful and popular manga series to-date are Martian Successor Nadesico
Martian Successor Nadesico
, is a science fiction comedy anime TV series, and a later manga series created by Kia Asamiya. The manga, published in English by CPM Manga, is significantly different from the anime....
and Silent Möbius
Silent Möbius
is a twelve-volume manga, a 26-episode anime series, and a pair of motion pictures, created by manga artist Kia Asamiya. Both anime versions have been licensed by Bandai Entertainment...
.
Prior to becoming a manga artist, Asamiya graduated from the Tokyo Designer School, and then worked as a character designer for a number of anime series, and even designed models for some of the later Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
films (1980s). For this career, he used his real name, , and maintained the two professional identities separately for many years. Several of the anime series that he worked on were very popular both inside and outside of Japan, most notably including Sonic Soldier Borgman
Sonic Soldier Borgman
is a science fiction anime. It features a Super Sentai-like three member team that fight an organization known as Youma. Featuring three main characters: Chuck, Ryo and Anise. Ryo is the leader, while Chuck and Anise are teachers at a public school. Sometimes, the students help or make troubles to...
and Project A-ko
Project A-ko
is an animated movie that led to later releases set in the same series, and spinoff release as well. This parody series references a number of other works of anime from the 1970s and 1980s...
. Even after focusing primarily on his manga career, Asamiya continued to do character designs and creative consultation on anime series based on his stories, occasionally under the Kikuchi name.
In the early 2000s, Asamiya has shifted his focus from teenage and young-adult stories to stories designed for children and for an American audience. In the former case, he credits his young children as a motivation, but in the latter case, he points to a long-standing desire to work with his favorite American characters. To that end, he has worked on projects with Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, and DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, as well as developing a manga adaptation of the film, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms...
.
While many Japanese artists (and artists in general) are quite reclusive, Asamiya often makes an effort to be available to his fans. He maintains a website with news and information about his studio, TRON (named after the Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
film Tron
Tron
-Film:*Tron , a franchise that began in 1982 with the Walt Disney Pictures film Tron** Tron , a 1982 science fiction film by Disney, starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan, Dan Shor and David Warner...
). He also aids and assists his Official Fan Club by sending them regular announcements and limited-edition merchandise. Despite these actions, he shunned all public photography, and had the often-hilarious habit of depicting himself with a placeholder sign for a face. It has become a trademark feature of his books that instead of a picture of the artist, there is an elaborately decorated rectangle sporting the words "Now Printing".
Works
- Assembler 0X
- Batman: Child of DreamsBatman: Child of DreamsBatman: Child of Dreams is a manga series written and illustrated by Kia Asamiya, published in Kodansha's Magazine Z. The series follows Batman as he travels to Tokyo on the trail of a lethal drug that allows the person who ingests it to shapeshift into anyone they desire.Child of Dreams was...
- Compiler (anime)Compiler (anime)is a two part anime original video animation.Compiler is an anime based on the manga by Kia Asamiya which features two girls, Compiler and Assembler, who arrived on earth from 2-D cyberspace to play a "game" in which they will delete the real world and reform it...
and Compiler - Corrector YuiCorrector Yuiis a magical girl anime series created by Kia Asamiya. The anime series was produced by Nippon Animation and Studio Pierrot. Broadcast on NHK from 1999 to 2000. It was licensed for North American release by Viz Media...
- Dark Angel
- Dark Angel: Phoenix Resurrection
- Detonator OrgunDetonator Orgunis a Japanese original video animation series by AIC and Artmic, directed by Masami Ōbari. It was released on DVD by Central Park Media in the United States in 2001.-Part 1:...
- Duplex Divine (game).
- Ebiru-kun
- Funpaira
- GunhedGunhed (film)is a 1989 Japanese live-action mecha film. It is an adaptation of the manga "Gunhed" by Kia Asamiya.-Plot:In 2038, a gang of scavengers infiltrate an industrial complex on a island within a prohibited zone. They are looking for the element Texmexium, which is rare and very valuable...
(1990) - Hades Project ZeorymerHades Project ZeorymerHades Project Zeorymer, known in Japan as , is a manga by Yoshiki Takaya, written under the pen name Chimi Morio, and published in the adult manga magazine Lemon People from October 1983 to November 1984. A three-part finale was serialized in Monthly Comic Ryū in 2007...
- HellboyHellboyHellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
- Hikari no DensetsuHikari no Densetsuis originally a manga series by Izumi Aso about a girl named Hikari Kamijou who dreams of becoming a national rhythmic gymnastics champion. The manga series title translates into English as "Legend of Light"...
- Junk - Record of Last HeroJunk - Record of Last HeroJunk: Record of the Last Hero is a manga series written and drawn by Kia Asamiya. The series was originally published in Japan in 2004 by the Akita Publishing. It was brought to the United States in 2006 by DrMaster.- Plot :...
- Kamen Rider FourzeKamen Rider Fourzeis a Japanese tokusatsu drama in Toei Company's Kamen Rider Series, being the thirteenth series in the Heisei period run and the twenty-second overall. It began airing on September 4, 2011, the week following the conclusion of Kamen Rider OOO, joining Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger in the Super Hero Time...
- !Karapuri!
- My Favorite CarreraMy Favorite Carrerais a manga by Kia Asamiya currently serialized on Weekly Playboy since 2004....
- Martian Successor NadesicoMartian Successor Nadesico, is a science fiction comedy anime TV series, and a later manga series created by Kia Asamiya. The manga, published in English by CPM Manga, is significantly different from the anime....
(Meteor Schlachtschiff Nadesico). - Möbius Klein (prequel to Silent Möbius)
- Shin Seiki Vagrants
- Silent MöbiusSilent Möbiusis a twelve-volume manga, a 26-episode anime series, and a pair of motion pictures, created by manga artist Kia Asamiya. Both anime versions have been licensed by Bandai Entertainment...
- Sonic Soldier BorgmanSonic Soldier Borgmanis a science fiction anime. It features a Super Sentai-like three member team that fight an organization known as Youma. Featuring three main characters: Chuck, Ryo and Anise. Ryo is the leader, while Chuck and Anise are teachers at a public school. Sometimes, the students help or make troubles to...
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom MenaceStar Wars Episode I: The Phantom MenaceStar Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms...
manga adaptation. - Steam DetectivesSteam Detectivesis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kia Asamiya. The manga was originally serialized in Ultra Jump. It was later adapted into a 26-episode anime TV series which ran from October 1998 to March 1999 on TV Tokyo...
- White Diamond(game).
- Uncanny X-MenUncanny X-MenUncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...