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 fantasy series '' The Seven Deadly Sins'' (2012–2020), which has over 55 million copies in circulation making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. He began a sequel, '' Four Knights of the Apocalypse'', in 2021.

Life and career

The first manga series Suzuki ever bought was '' Dr. Slump'' by

Akira Toriyama was a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He came to be regarded as one of the most influential and important authors in the history of manga, authoring highly influential and popular series, particularly Dragon Ball (manga), ''Dra ...

. In elementary and junior high school, he was a fan of ''

Kinnikuman is a Japanese manga series created by the duo Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, known as Yudetamago. It follows Suguru Kinniku, a superhero who must win a wrestling tournament to retain the title of prince of Planet Kinniku. ...

'', ''

Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 volumes ...

'', and ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 indi ...

''. Suzuki moved from

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

when he was a teenager. He made his professional debut in 1994 with the story "Revenge", which was an honorable mention for

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's Hop Step Award. His first series, '' Rising Impact'', was serialized in Shueisha's ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

'' from 1998 to 2002. From 2007 to 2010, he serialized '' Kongō Banchō'' in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, making it ...

''. Suzuki serialized '' The Seven Deadly Sins'' in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...

'' from 2012 to 2020. It won the 39th

Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...

for Best Shōnen Manga alongside '' Yowamushi Pedal'', and had over 55 million copies in circulation as of September 2023. The series has spawned a large media franchise including several spin-off manga, novels, an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series, and video games. Suzuki provided original stories to serve as the basis to four animated film adaptations, '' Prisoners of the Sky'', '' Cursed by Light'', and the two-part '' Grudge of Edinburgh''. Kodansha published ''The Seven Stories - Nakaba Suzuki Short Stories'' on October 17, 2014, which compiles seven short stories that the author originally published in various magazines between 2004 and 2014. In January 2021, Suzuki began '' Four Knights of the Apocalypse'' as a sequel to ''The Seven Deadly Sins''.

Style

Suzuki draws his manuscripts with pen and paper, stating that it does not feel like drawing manga without them. Although, in 2021, he noted that the tones and Copic markers that he uses are being discontinued one after another. The artist also refuses to use assistants due to his contrary personality. He has done this since he began his career, when an early editor told him he could not do it without one, and he wanted to prove him wrong. Suzuki said that drawing by himself allows him to take breaks to play games while working, and drink alcohol. Suzuki strongly prefers physical books and often visits bookstores, where he buys large books such as picture books and dictionaries to use as references. He even asked that the digital editions of the collected volumes of ''The Seven Deadly Sins'' be released one month after the print version.

Works

* (1998–2002) (''

'') * ''Ultra Red'' (2002–2003) (''Weekly Shōnen Jump'') * (2004–2006) (''

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 ...

'') * (2005–2007) (''

'') * (2007–2010) (''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'') * (2011–2012) (''

Weekly Shōnen Champion is a Japanese Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Akita Shoten. History ''Shōnen Champion'' was first published on July 15, 1969. It has had numerous popular series by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, Shinji Miz ...

'') * (2012–2020) (''

'') * (2014) * (2021–present) (''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'')

References

External links

Nakaba Suzuki's blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Nakaba 1977 births Living people Manga artists from Fukushima Prefecture Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōnen) The Seven Deadly Sins People from Sukagawa