is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese graphic artist who works predominantly in anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 and manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

. He received his Master of Fine Arts from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music

Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music

or is one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju, Adachi, Tokyo...

. His works have an edgy style due to, among other things, his not using a ruler while drawing as is usual for most anime-style art. He first gained fame in his work on the avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

 anime Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain is an anime series directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe, screenplay written by Chiaki J. Konaka, and produced by Yasuyuki Ueda for Triangle Staff. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to September 1998...

. He is also responsible for the concept and character design for the series NieA under 7

NieA under 7

, also known as NieA under 7, is a 13 episode anime series about Mayuko, a poor, introverted student who lives above a Japanese bathhouse, and NieA, a freeloading, freewheeling alien who lives in her closet and eats her food...

. He is the creator of the doujinshi Haibane Renmei

Haibane Renmei

is a 13-episode anime series based on the work of Yoshitoshi ABe. It began as an original dōjinshi comic series, , but this was quickly superseded by the anime and was never completed...

, which was then adapted into an anime.

He is a colleague and friend of Chiaki J. Konaka

Chiaki J. Konaka

, born April 4, 1961) is a Japanese writer and scenarist best known for Serial Experiments Lain, and later for the Digimon season, Digimon Tamers....

, with whom he collaborated on the series Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain is an anime series directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe, screenplay written by Chiaki J. Konaka, and produced by Yasuyuki Ueda for Triangle Staff. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to September 1998...

and Texhnolyze

Texhnolyze

is a Japanese animated television series directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki, from a screenplay by Chiaki Konaka, and produced by Yasuyuki Ueda, with original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe....

. He usually uses the Romaji

Romanization of Japanese

The romanization of Japanese is the application of the Latin alphabet to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is known as , less strictly romaji, literally "Roman letters", sometimes incorrectly transliterated as romanji or rōmanji. There are several different romanization systems...

 form of his name instead of the kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

, with the "B" in "ABe" capitalized, as a reminder of his early works, for which he used the pen name "AB".

Abe Yoshitoshi first began his career as a teen in Tokyo who was first recognized as a graffiti artist, who regularly got into legal problems with his art. His concepts for all his later works are said to be inspired by this time of his life and has projected a dark theme into his anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 character designs

He is known to be a fairly tech-savvy manga artist, drawing a sketch with just his finger and an application on an iPad

IPad

The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...

. He released self-published dōjinshi

Dojinshi

is the Japanese term for self-published works, usually magazines, manga or novels. Dōjinshi are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. The term dōjinshi is derived from and . Dōjinshi are part of a wider...

on digital support bypassing the traditional print publishers with Pochiyama at the Pharmacy in 2008 aimed at iPhone

IPhone

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

 and iPod Touch

IPod Touch

The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...

 and I am an Alien, I have a Question in 2010 for Kindle

Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader developed by Amazon.com subsidiary Lab126 which uses wireless connectivity to enable users to shop for, download, browse, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and other digital media...

.

Anime

• Serial Experiments Lain
  Serial Experiments Lain
  Serial Experiments Lain is an anime series directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe, screenplay written by Chiaki J. Konaka, and produced by Yasuyuki Ueda for Triangle Staff. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to September 1998...
  
  (1998) (character design)
• NieA 7 (2000) (character design, scenario)
• Haibane Renmei
  Haibane Renmei
  is a 13-episode anime series based on the work of Yoshitoshi ABe. It began as an original dōjinshi comic series, , but this was quickly superseded by the anime and was never completed...
  
  (2002) (most of the production elements, particularly original story, character design and scenario)
• Texhnolyze
  Texhnolyze
  is a Japanese animated television series directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki, from a screenplay by Chiaki Konaka, and produced by Yasuyuki Ueda, with original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe....
  
  (2003) (character design)
• Welcome to the N.H.K.
  Welcome to the N.H.K.
  is a Japanese novel written by Tatsuhiko Takimoto, with a cover illustration by Yoshitoshi ABe, and was published by Kadokawa Shoten in Japan on January 28, 2002. The novel was first published in English by Tokyopop on October 9, 2007...
  
  (2006) (illustrations for the original novel)
• Despera
  Despera
  is an upcoming anime series, directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura, written by Chiaki J. Konaka and featuring character designs by Yoshitoshi ABe. This is the second time all the three main creators of psychological thriller anime Serial Experiments Lain will be collaborating once again for the new project,...
  
  (2009) (character design)

Printed works

• Dōjinshi
  Dojinshi
  is the Japanese term for self-published works, usually magazines, manga or novels. Dōjinshi are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. The term dōjinshi is derived from and . Dōjinshi are part of a wider...
  
  
  • Furumachi (August, 1996)
  • Shooting Star (December, 1996)
  • White Rain (July, 1997)
  • Sui-Rin (August, 1998)
  • Charcoal Feather Federation (Haibane Renmei) (December, 1998)
  • T.Prevue Version 0.9 (August, 1999)
  • Faces (December, 1999)
  • K.S.M.E (July, 2000)
  • Sketches (December, 2000)
  • NieA Under 7 - Under (August, 2001)
  • Haibane Renmei - The Haibanes of Old Home (Ch.1) (August, 2001)
  • Haibane Renmei - The Haibanes of Old Home (Ch.2) (December, 2001)
  • Haibane Renmei - Haibane Lifestyle Diary (August, 2002)
  • Haibane Renmei - The Haibanes of Old Home (Extra) (December, 2002)
  • Ryuu Tai (July, 2003)
  • Not Found (December, 2003)
  • Haibane Renmei - Kyakuhonshuu - Volume 1 (August, 2004)
  • Haibane Renmei - Kyakuhonshuu - Volume 2 (December, 2004)
  • Haibane Renmei - Kyakuhonshuu - Volume 3 (December, 2004)
  • Miscellaneous (December, 2004)
  • GRID. (August, 2005)
  • Haibane Renmei - Kyakuhonshuu - Volume 4 (December, 2005)
  • Haibane Renmei - Kyakuhonshuu - Volume 5 (December, 2005)
  • Yakkyoku no Pochiyamasan (December, 2005)
  • Haibane Renmei - Kyakuhonshuu - Volume 6 (August, 2006)
  • Yakkyoku no Pochiyamasan 2.0 (August, 2006)
  • Yakkyoku no Pochiyamasan 3.0 (August 19, 2007)
  • f.p.o. (Fixed Point Observation) (August 17, 2008)
  • Ryuhshika (August 17, 2008)
  • Yakkyoku no Pochiyamasan 4.0 (December 30, 2008)

• Artbooks
  • Serial Experiments Lain - An Omnipresence in the Wired (May, 1999)
  • Visual Experiments Lain
  • Essence (May, 2001) *Released in the US*
  • NieA Under 7 - Scrap (July, 2001)
  • Haibane Renmei - In the Town of Guri, in the Garden of Charcoal Feathers (December, 2003)
  • yoshitoshi ABe lain illustrations - ab# rebuild an omnipresence in the wired (Japan: December 2005; US: April 2006)
  • Gaisokyu (August, 2007)

• Manga
  Manga
  Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
  
  
  • Ame no Furu Basho (debut) Afternoon
    Afternoon (magazine)
    is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha. It is a monthly anthology, and each issue typically has around thirty ongoing stories by various authors and runs about 800 pages...
    
    (April 1994)
  • NieA Under 7 (Vol. 1) (June, 2001)
  • NieA Under 7 (Vol. 2) (August, 2001)
  • Ryushika Ryushika (2009)

• Contributions
  • Mutekei Fire - Tarame Paradise Doujins
  • Mutekei Fire - Great Pictorial Guide of Uki-Uki in the World Doujins
  • Mutekei Fire - Tokimeki Shitsumon Bako Doujins
  • Range Murata - Flat
  • Range Murata - Rule - Fa Documenta 003
  • Range Murata - Robot
    Robot (manga)
    Robot is a series of books containing the art of various Asian artists, created by Range Murata. Volume 1 was released on October 21, 2004, and ten volumes have currently been released....
    
     - Volume 01
  • Range Murata - Robot - Volume 02
  • Range Murata - Robot - Volume 03
  • Range Murata - Robot - Volume 04
  • Range Murata - Robot - Volume 05
  • Range Murata - Robot - Volume 06
  • Range Murata - Robot - Volume 07
  • Range Murata - Robot - Volume 08
  • Range Murata - Robot - Volume 09
  • Range Murata - Robot - Volume 10 with "U.C.O."
  • Foo Swee Chin - Muzz Doujins 1-2
  • Akai Kiba (Red Fang) - Volumes 1-4
  • Hell Girl, episode 13 - sketches and wallpaint

• Cover Illustrations
  • Kami no Keifu Novels 1-3
  • Welcome to the N.H.K.
    Welcome to the N.H.K.
    is a Japanese novel written by Tatsuhiko Takimoto, with a cover illustration by Yoshitoshi ABe, and was published by Kadokawa Shoten in Japan on January 28, 2002. The novel was first published in English by Tokyopop on October 9, 2007...
    
    
  • Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge
  • Chojin Keikaku (bunko edition only)
  • Slip Manga Collection
  • All You Need is Kill

• Misc.
  • "AB Note" yoshitoshi ABe Sketchbook (GoFa 2003)
  • "GoFa Portfolio Collection A" 20 A4 Prints (sold by GoFa at AX2003 - 100 made)
  • "GoFa Portfolio Collection B" 20 A4 Prints (Sold by GoFa at AX2003 - 100 made)
  • "Kaira" Wani Magazine Comics Special (July, 2008)

External links

• ABe's homepage (Japanese)
• ABe's blog (Japanese)
• ABe oekaki on drawr.net