is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 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...

. He is best known for the 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...

 Those Who Hunt Elves

Those Who Hunt Elves

is a manga series and an anime television series by Yu Yagami, released in North America on VHS and DVD by ADV Films. The plot revolves around three travellers, the eponymous "Elf Hunters", and the elven sorceress Mistress Celcia.-Plot:...

, which was adapted as an 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....

 series. His works Those Who Hunt Elves, Dokkoida?!, Go West!, and Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify

Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify

is a Japanese shōnen science fiction comedy manga by , the author of Those Who Hunt Elves. It was published in Japan by MediaWorks in the monthly manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! from May 27, 2005 to May 27, 2006 and collected in three bound volumes...

have been licensed in English.

Yagami’s works are predominantly comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 shōnen

Shonen

The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...

 manga with science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 or high fantasy

High fantasy

High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...

 settings—for example, Dokkoida?! is a superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 parody series and Go West! a western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 parody. Many feature protagonists that use martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

, usually some form of karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

, such as Junpei in Those Who Hunt Elves and Shota in Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify). Yagami himself is a karate aficionado, and is a member of the Karate-do. Most of his works are published by MediaWorks

MediaWorks (publisher)

was a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group known for their brand magazines and book labels. These included such well-known magazines as Dengeki Daioh, and Dengeki G's Magazine, along with MediaWorks' main light novel publishing imprint Dengeki Bunko. The company was merged with ASCII...

 and serialized in their Dengeki Comic Gao!

Dengeki Comic Gao!

, also known as Dengeki Gao! as was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine that primarily contained manga and information about series featuring bishōjo characters. It was published from December 1992 to February 2008 by MediaWorks. The Gao in the magazine's title is a childish form of the sound Grr...

magazine.

Manga

Title	Serialized in	# Volumes	Years	Notes
Those Who Hunt Elves Those Who Hunt Elves is a manga series and an anime television series by Yu Yagami, released in North America on VHS and DVD by ADV Films. The plot revolves around three travellers, the eponymous "Elf Hunters", and the elven sorceress Mistress Celcia.-Plot:... (Erufu wo karumono-tachi)	Dengeki Comic Gao! Dengeki Comic Gao! , also known as Dengeki Gao! as was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine that primarily contained manga and information about series featuring bishōjo characters. It was published from December 1992 to February 2008 by MediaWorks. The Gao in the magazine's title is a childish form of the sound Grr...	21	1994–2002	Adapted as an anime by Group TAC Group TAC Group TAC was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968. They have worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and have contributed to all stages of the process, including planning, production, sound effects, and so on... . Published in English by ADV Manga.
Concerning That Adventurer Kiken (Sono bōkensha Kiken ni tsuki)	Dengeki Comic Gao!	1	1997	Short story collection
Yagamiland Daily Special (Higawari Yagami-rando)	Dengeki Comic Gao!	1	1998	Short story collection
Dokkoida?! (Sumeba miyako no kosomoso-sō · suttoko taisen dokkoidā)	Dengeki AniMaga (2000–2001) Dengeki Comic Gao! (2001–2004)	4	2000–2004	Written by Taro Achi, adapting the light novels. Adapted as an anime by Ufotable Ufotable is a Japanese animation studio founded in October 2000 and located in Nakano, Tokyo Prefecture. A unique hallmark seen in many of their works is a claymation sequence.-TV series:*Weiß Kreuz Glühen *Mobile Suit Gundam SEED... . Published in English by CMX CMX (comics) CMX was a division of Wildstorm Productions, an imprint of DC Comics which in turn is owned by Time Warner. It was DC's line of manga translations.... .
Go West!	Dengeki Comic Gao!	4	2002–2004	Published in English by CMX CMX (comics) CMX was a division of Wildstorm Productions, an imprint of DC Comics which in turn is owned by Time Warner. It was DC's line of manga translations.... .
Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify is a Japanese shōnen science fiction comedy manga by , the author of Those Who Hunt Elves. It was published in Japan by MediaWorks in the monthly manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! from May 27, 2005 to May 27, 2006 and collected in three bound volumes... (Hikkatsu!)	Dengeki Comic Gao!	3	2005–2006	Published in English by Go! Comi Go! Comi Go! Comi was an imprint of the American manga publishing company, Go! Media Entertainment, LLC. They published such series as After School Nightmare, Cantarella, Her Majesty's Dog, Tenshi Ja Nai!! and Crossroad... .
Red Lightning (Akai inazuma)	Weekly Shōnen Champion Weekly Shonen Champion is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published by Akita Shoten.- History :Shōnen Champion was first published 15 July 1969. It has had numerous popular series by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, Shinji Mizushima, and Keisuke Itagaki...		2007	Short run
Those Who Hunt Elves Returns (Erufu wo karumono-tachi ritānzu)	Dengeki Comic Gao!	1	2007–2008
Those Who Chase the Butterfly (Ageha o Ou Monotachi)	Young Ace (Kadokawa Shoten)	4 (Ongoing)	2009-

Illustrations

Yagami did the illustrations for , a series of six light novels by Taro Achi published by MediaWorks

MediaWorks (publisher)

was a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group known for their brand magazines and book labels. These included such well-known magazines as Dengeki Daioh, and Dengeki G's Magazine, along with MediaWorks' main light novel publishing imprint Dengeki Bunko. The company was merged with ASCII...

 in the Dengeki Bunko

Dengeki Bunko

is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works . It was established in June 1993 with the publication of Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania volume one, and is a light novel imprint aimed at a male audience...

 imprint between 1999 and 2003.

Style

Yagami’s work in Those Who Hunt Elves is featured prominently in Volume 2 of the popular manga drawing instructional series How to Draw Manga

How to Draw Manga

How to Draw Manga is a series of instructional books on drawing manga published by Graphic-sha, by a variety of authors. Originally in Japanese for the Japanese market, many volumes have been translated into English and published in the US...

, “Compiling Techniques”.
Several frames from the manga are held up as examples of good use of screentone

Screentone

Screentone is a technique for applying textures and shades to drawings, used as an alternative to hatching. In the conventional process, patterns are transferred to paper from preprinted sheets, but the technique is also simulated in computer graphics...

s.