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Usamaru Furuya

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Usamaru Furuya
Usamaru Furuya at Lucca Comics & Games 2015
Usamaru Furuya at Lucca Comics & Games 2015
BornFuruya Usamaru
古屋 兎丸
(1968-01-25) January 25, 1968 (age 56)
Tokyo, Japan
OccupationManga artist, illustrator
NationalityJapanese
Notable worksPalepoli
Short Cuts
Lychee Light Club

Usamaru Furuya (古屋 兎丸, Furuya Usamaru, born January 25, 1968) is a Japanese manga artist.

Biography

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During elementary school, Furuya enrolled in the Osamu Tezuka Manga Correspondence Course and by the time he reached high school he had discovered a darker, more underground style.

He graduated from Tama Art University, where he majored in oil painting and developed an interest in sculpting and Butoh dance.[1] During college his work evolved from figurative to eventually dealing more with abstract shapes.

In 1994, Furuya published his debut series Palepoli in the renowned alternative manga magazine Garo. After graduating from college, he initially planned to work as a full-time artist while doing illustrations on the side, but his success in manga shifted his focus. Soon after, he published the gag manga Short Cuts in the mainstream seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Sunday.

He was a regular contributor to the alternative manga magazine Manga Erotics F from its beginnings in 2001 on. For this magazine he created the manga Lychee Light Club, based on a stage play, about a group of middle school boys aiming to build an AI with cruel tactics has been adapted into a TV anime series.

Otherwise, since the 2000s, he has published in mainstream seinen and shōnen manga magazines of different publishers like Kodansha, Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shinchosha, but also drew a yonkoma series for the daily newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun and made a manga biography about Emperor Akihito's life for the weekly magazine Shūkan Post.

Style and themes

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Furuya works across different manga genres and has a broad variety of art styles, ranging from photorealistic drawing to mascot-like cute characters. His work has been published in major manga magazines as well as more underground magazines and cultural magazines. Masanao Amano describes that Furuya is known for "taking ordinary everyday situations, and adding instantaneous humor or transforming them into a mysterious world that showcases his surrealistic sense."[2]

His work is influenced by the New Wave movement in manga in the 1980s.[3]

Christianity is a recurring theme of his work. According to Sean Patrick Webb, christianity is found "most often in the context of Japanese children and adolescents struggling against childish impulses and making the transition to adulthood."[4]

Reception

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Furuya's manga have been translated, among others, into English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

While Furuya has not won any major manga awards so far, he was nominated or selected several times:

Award Year Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
American Library Association 2012 Great Graphic Novels for Teens Genkaku Picasso Nominated [5]
Japan Media Arts Festival 2011 Manga Award No Longer Human Jury selection [6]
2015 Manga Award Joshikōsei ni Korosaretai Jury selection [7]

Works

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Manga

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Title Year Notes Refs
Palepoli (パレポリ) 1994–1995 Serialized in Garo
Published in 1 vol.
Excerpted in Viz's defunct Pulp magazine and in Secret Comics Japan, also from Viz.
Short Cuts (ショートカッツ) 1996–1999 Serialized in Weekly Young Sunday
Published in 2 vol.
Published in English by Viz
[8]
Wsamarus 2001 1998–1999 Serialied in Studio Voice
Published in 1 vol.
[9]
Garden 2000 Short story collection with stories previously published in Comic Cue, Manga Erotics and Garo [10]
Plastic Girl 2000 Short story collection
The Music of Marie (Marieの奏でる音楽, Marie no kanaderu ongaku) 2000–2001 Serialized in Comic Birz
Published in 2 vol.
Published in English by One Peace books
[11][12]
Suicide Circle (自殺サークル, Jisatsu Sākuru) 2002 Serialized in Manga Erotics F
Published by Ohta Publishing in 1 vol.
Published in French by Casterman as Le Cercle du Suicide
π (パイ) 2002–2005 Serialized in Big Comic Spirits
Published in 9 vol.
Donki kōrin (鈍器降臨) 2004 Serialized in Da Vinci
Published by Media Factory in 1 vol.
Happiness (ハピネス) 2006 Short story collection
Lychee Light Club (ライチ☆光クラブ, Litchi☆Hikari Club) 2005–2006 Written by Norimizu Ameya
Serialized in Manga Erotics F
Published in 1 vol.
Published in English by Vertical Inc as Lychee Light Club
[13]
Shōnen Shōjo Hyōryōki (少年少女漂流記) 2006 Written by Otsuichi
Published by Shueisha in 1 vol.
51 Ways to Save Her (彼女を守る51の方法, Kanojo wo Mamoru 51 no Hōhō) 2006–2007 Serialized in Weekly Comic Bunch
Published in 5 vol.
Licensed in English by CMX but never published
Loosely adapted into the anime series Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Innocents Shōnen Jūjigun [ja] (インノサン少年十字軍) 2008–2011 Serialized in Manga Erotics F
Published by Ohta Publishing in 3 vol.
[14]
Genkaku Picasso (幻覚ピカソ) 2008–2010 Serialized in Jump Square
Published in 3 vol.
Published in English by Viz as Genkaku Picasso
POP-kun (POPくん) 2008–2012 Serialized in Yomiuri Shimbun
No Longer Human (人間失格, Ningen Shikkaku) 2009–2011 Adaptation of No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
Serialized in Weekly Comic Bunch
Published by Shinchosha in 3 vol.
Published in English by Vertical Inc
Teiichi no Kuni (帝一の國) 2010–2016 Serialized in Jump SQ.19 and Jump Square
Published in 14 vol.
[15]
Bokura no☆Hikari Club (ぼくらの☆ひかりクラブ) 2011–2012 Prequel to Lychee Light Club
Serialized in Pocopoco
Published by Ohta Publishing in 2 vol.
Joshikōsei ni Korosaretai (女子高生に殺されたい) 2013–2016 Serialized in Go Go Bunch
Published by Shinchosha in 2 vol.
[13]
Shōnen-tachi no Iru Tokoro (少年たちのいるところ) 2016–2017 Serialized in Go Go Bunch
Published by Shinchosha in 1 vol.
[16]
Amane†Gymnasium (アマネ†ギムナジウム) 2017–2020 Serialized in Morning Two
Published by Kodansha in 7 vol.
[17]
Akihito Tennō Monogatari (明仁天皇物語) 2019 Based on a script by Issei Eifuku
Serialized in Shūkan Post
Published by Shogakukan in 1 vol.
[18]
Lunatic Circus (ルナティックサーカス) 2020–Present Serialized in Monthly Comic Bunch
Published by Shinchosha in 3 vol. (as of January 2023)
[17]
Tosho Lin Kai (図書委員界) 2021–2022 Written by Rina Ikoma
Serialized in Monthly Comic Bunch
Published by Shinchosha in 1 vol.

Illustrations

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  • Flowers

Films/plays

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  • ZOO (Screenplay, storyboards, character design)
  • Noriko's Dinner Table (紀子の食卓) (Man in coffee shop)
  • Ichiban kireina mizu (いちばんきれいな水) (Original work)
  • Short Cuts (ショートカッツ) (Original work)
  • Love Exposure (愛のむきだし) (Miyanishi)

References

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  1. ^ "Usamaru Furuya". Lambiek.net. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  2. ^ Amano, Masanao (2004). Wiedemann, Julius (ed.). Manga Design. Köln: Taschen. p. 438. ISBN 978-3-8228-2591-4.
  3. ^ Mizumoto, Kentarō. "「ニューウェイブ」という時代". Sora Tobu Kikai. Archived from the original on January 23, 2003. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  4. ^ Webb, Sean Patrick (2021). "NEETs versus nuns. Visualizing the moral panic of Japanese conservatives". In Rosenbaum, Roman (ed.). The Representation of Japanese Politics in Manga. The Visual Literacy of Statecraft. Routledge. pp. 97–99. ISBN 978-0-367-43996-5.
  5. ^ "4 More Manga Nominated for YALSA Teens' Graphic Novels". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  6. ^ "NINGEN SHIKKAKU | Jury Selections | Manga Division | 2011 [15th]". Japan Media Arts Festival Archive. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  7. ^ "Joshikousei ni korosaretai | Jury Selections | Manga Division | 2015 [19th]". Japan Media Arts Festival Archive. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  8. ^ "ショートカッツ / Short Cuts". 古屋兎丸 非公式 Web サイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-23.
  9. ^ "プラスチックガール / Plastic Girl". 古屋兎丸 非公式 Web サイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-23.
  10. ^ "Garden". 古屋兎丸 非公式 Web サイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-23.
  11. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (March 23, 2022). "One Peace Books Licenses Captain Corinth, Usotoki Rhetoric Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  12. ^ "Marieの奏でる音楽 / The music of Marie". 古屋兎丸 非公式 Web サイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-23.
  13. ^ a b "Usumaru Furuya's Joshikōsei ni Korosaretai Manga Gets Live-Action Film". Anime News Network. December 24, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  14. ^ "Usamaru Furuya to End Innosan Shōnen Jūji-gun Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  15. ^ "Usamaru Furuya to End Teiichi no Kuni Manga This Year". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  16. ^ "Usamaru Furuya's Shōnen-tachi no Iru Tokoro Manga Ends '1st Year' Arc". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  17. ^ a b Loo, Egan (23 January 2021). "Usamaru Furuya's Lunatic Circus Manga Ends 1st Part". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  18. ^ "明仁天皇物語 | 書籍". 小学館 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-23.
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