is a Japanese

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

. He is best known for his sci-fi series ''

Alien Nine is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hitoshi Tomizawa. The manga was serialized in Akita Shoten's ''Young Champion'' magazine from June 1998 to August 1999, spanning 3 ''tankōbon'' volumes. In 2003, Tomizawa released a 1-v ...

.''

Career

Tomizawa worked as an assistant to ''

Baki the Grappler is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Keisuke Itagaki. It was originally serialized in the ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Champion'' from 1991 to 1999 and collected into 42 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Akit ...

'' author

Keisuke Itagaki is a Japanese manga artist. He is known for his martial arts series ''Grappler Baki'' (1991–1999) and its four sequels, which have sold over 100 million volumes. In 1996, he began working on '' Garōden'', an original work by Baku Yumemakura. ...

, before publishing his first work as a professional manga artist with the series ''Uchū Jūbe'' in the magazine ''Shōnen Champion''.

Style and themes

His

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

tend to be short, with sci-fi stories involving children and insects. His art was a fairly standard style for his first series, but starting with ''Alien 9'' it became very distinctive, but with very large eyes and unnatural proportions, and has since been featured in exhibitions including

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial media (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between High art, high and low arts. His wo ...

superflat Superflat is a postmodern art movement, founded by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, which is influenced by manga and anime. However, superflat does not have an explicit definition because Takashi Murakami does not want to limit ...

.''Superflat''
by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, at

Artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex ...

In a short interview included within Alien 9's English translation

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

, he has cited

Yoshiyuki Tomino is a Japanese anime director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the ''Gundam'' anime franchise. Early life and family Tomino was born on November 5, 1941, in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, to an old family of regio ...

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including ''Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer'' (1984), ''Angel's Egg'' (1985), '' ...

Katsuhiro Otomo is a Japanese Mangaka, manga artist, screenwriter, animator, and film director. He first rose to prominence as a pioneer founder of the New Wave (manga), New Wave in the 1970s. He is best known as the creator of ''Akira (franchise), Akira'', bo ...

, and science fiction authors

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His 1970 novel ''Ringworld'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus, Ditmar Award, Ditmar, and Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula award ...

and

Robert Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

as influences of his.

Works

* ''Treasure Hunter'' (肥前屋兵衛 ''Uchū Jūbe'', serialized in ''Shōnen Champion'', 1994–1995) * ''

'' (エイリアン9, serialized in ''

Young Champion is a Japanese seinen manga magazine. The magazine was established in 1988. It is published by Akita Shoten, and has its headquarters in Tokyo. History The original chief editor was Kabemura. Young Champion Retsu, launched in 2006, and Bessatsu ...

'', 1998–1999) * ''

Milk Closet Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Milk contains many nutrie ...

'' (ミルククローゼット, serialized in ''Afternoon'', 2000–2001) * ''Propeller Heaven'' (プロペラ天国 ''Propeller Tengoku'', serialized in ''

Ultra Jump is a Japanese monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Originally, the magazine was a special issue of ''Weekly Young Jump'' which was first issued in 1995. On October 19, 1999, the special issue bec ...

'', 2000–2001) * '' Alien Nine Emulators'' (エイリアン9 エミュレイターズ, serialized in ''

Champion Red is a monthly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published on the 19th of each month by Akita Shoten since August 19, 2002 (cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the ...

'', 2002) * ''Radio Depart'' (ラジオデパート, one-shot in '' Afternoon Season Zōkan'', 2002) * '' Battle Royale II: Blitz Royale'' (BR2/ブリッツ・ロワイアル, serialized in ''Young Champion'', 2003–2004, based on

Koushun Takami is a Japanese author and journalist. He is best known for his 1999 in literature, 1999 novel ''Battle Royale (novel), Battle Royale'', which was later adapted into two Battle Royale (film), live-action films, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, and fo ...

) * ''Tokumu Hōkōkan Yumihari'' (特務咆哮艦ユミハリ, serialized in ''Genzo'', 2004–2007) * ''

Yume Nikki is a 2004 surrealist adventure game created by the pseudonymous Japanese developer Kikiyama. The player controls a girl named Madotsuki and explores her dreams, collecting 24 effects that change her appearance and equipment. Random events als ...

'' (ゆめにっき, serialized in ''

Manga Life Win are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics an ...

'', 2013–2014) *''Alien 9 Next'' (エイリアン9ネクスト, self-published, 2015–2016)

References

External links

*
FrogStarShip
, Tomizawa's official website (Japanese). {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomizawa, Hitoshi Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Manga artists