George Akiyama
{{Short description|Japanese manga artist (1943–2020)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| image = George Akiyama.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Yūji Akiyama
| birth_date = {{birth date|1943|4|27}}
| birth_place = Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan
| death_date = {{date of death and age|mf=yes|2020|5|12|1943|4|27}}
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| nationality =
| known_for = {{ubl|Zeni Geba (1970–1971)|Haguregumo (1973–2017)}}
| occupation = Manga artist
| website = [http://www.george-akiyama.com/ www.george-akiyama.com]
}}
{{nihongo|Yūji Akiyama|秋山 勇二|Akiyama Yūji|April 27, 1943 – May 12, 2020|lead=yes}}, better known as {{nihongo|George Akiyama|ジョージ秋山|Jōji Akiyama}}, was a Japanese manga artist known for dealing with controversial and incendiary topics in many of his works.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/19/international/asia/19comics.html | title=Ugly Images of Asian Rivals Become Best Sellers in Japan | author=Norimitsu Onishi | work=New York Times | date=November 19, 2005 | access-date=January 1, 2008}} He was born the second boy of five siblings. He had an older brother and older sister, as well as a younger brother and younger sister. His father was Korean and an artificial flower craftsman.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}
Biography
Akiyama quit high school and moved to Tokyo to become a manga artist. After working briefly as a book wholesaler, he became an assistant for manga artist Kenji Morita.{{cite web|url=http://comipress.com/book/export/html/2935 |title=George Akiyama |publisher=comipress.com |access-date=July 30, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106074035/http://comipress.com/book/export/html/2935 |archive-date=January 6, 2009 }} He made his major debut in 1966 with the gag-manga Gaikotsu-kun, which was published in Bekkan Shōnen Magazine, and shocked readers in 1970 with Asura, which contained numerous unsettling depictions of human life. The first chapter of Asura contains a scene where a woman commits cannibalism to prevent herself from dying of starvation, and later attempts to eat her own child as well.{{cite web | url=http://www.du9.org/Ashura,992 | title=L'autre Bande Dessinee - Ashura by George Akiyama| publisher= du9.org | access-date=July 30, 2008}} The August 2, 1970, edition of Weekly Shōnen Magazine, which first published this chapter, was banned in several regions as a result of this scene, propelling Akiyama to infamy within the manga industry. Asura was adapted into an anime film by Toei Animation in 2012.
Akiyama continued his career with Kokuhaku ({{lit|Confessions}}), which began serialization in the 11th edition of Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1971. This manga took on an unprecedented format where Akiyama would make a confession each week (for instance, in one chapter he confesses that he is a murderer), only to admit that his confession was a lie in the following week's chapter. After repeating this for the duration of the manga, Akiyama suddenly announced his retirement, cutting off all of the serializations he held on various magazines to embark on a solo journey across Japan.
Akiyama came out of retirement only three months later with Bara no Sakamichi, which began serialization in the 34th edition of Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1971. He started his longest work, Haguregumo, on Big Comic Original, which won him the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1979.{{cite web|url=http://comics.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/rist.html |script-title=ja:小学館漫画賞: 歴代受賞者 |publisher=Shogakukan |language=ja |access-date=August 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109115811/http://comics.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/rist.html |archive-date=January 9, 2010 |url-status=dead }} The series ended in 2017, and spanned 112 volumes since its inception in 1973. The series was also adapted into an anime film by Toei Animation and Madhouse in 1982.
Akiyama died on May 12, 2020, at the age of 77 of unspecified causes.{{cite web |title=「浮浪雲」「銭ゲバ」漫画家ジョージ秋山さん死去 |url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/culture/20200601-OYT1T50117/ |website=Yomiuri Shinbun |access-date=1 June 2020}}
Notable works
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: left; width: 80%; margin: auto;" | |
| Title
! Year ! Collected | |
|---|---|
| {{nihongo|Patman X|パットマンX|Pattoman X}}
| 1967–1968 | 5 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Kodansha | |
| {{nihongo|Derorinman|デロリンマン}}
| 1969–1970 | 2 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Jump, Shueisha | |
| {{nihongo|Braggart Dondon|ほらふきドンドン|Horafuki Dondon}}
| 1969–1970 | 5 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Kodansha | |
| {{nihongo|Ashura|アシュラ}}
| 1970–1971 | 3 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Kodansha | |
| {{nihongo|Zeni Geba|銭ゲバ}}
| 1970–1971 | 5 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Sunday, Shogakukan | |
| {{nihongo|Kokuhaku|告白}}
| 1971 | 1 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Sunday, Shogakukan | |
| {{nihongo|Bara no Sakamichi|ばらの坂道}}
| 1971–1972 | 3 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Jump, Shueisha | |
| {{nihongo|The Moon|ザ・ムーン}}
| 1972–1973 | 4 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Sunday, Shogakukan | |
| {{nihongo | 浮浪雲|Haguregumo}}
| 1973–2017 | 112 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Big Comic Original, Shogakukan |
| Hana no Yotarō
| 1974–1979 | 15 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Champion | |
| Derorinman
| 1975–1976 | 3 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Kodansha | |
| Bonkura Dōshin
| 1976–1977 | 4 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Kodansha | |
| Gyara
| 1979–1981 | 8 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Shōnen King | |
| Pink no Curtain
| 1980–1984 | Part 1: 15 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Part 2: 6 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Manga Goraku | |
| Chōjin Haruko
| 1982–1984 | 3 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Morning | |
| Kaijin Gonzui
| 1984 | 1 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Shōnen Jump | |
| Koiko no Mainichi
| 1985–1992 | 32 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Weekly Manga Action | |
| Kudoki-ya Joe
| 1986–1987 | 4 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Big Comic Superior | |
| Lovelin Monroe
| 1989–1993 | 13 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Young Magazine | |
| Onnagata Kisaburō
| 1993–2002 | 7 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Big Comic Original Sōkan | |
| Hakuai no Hito
| 1993–1996 | 8 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Big Gold | |
| Dobugero-sama
| 1995–1996 | 1 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Monthly Shōnen Gangan | |
| Sutegataki Hitobito''
| 1996–1999 | 5 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Big Gold | |
| Ikinasai Kiki
| 2001–2002 | 4 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}} | |
| Who Are You
| 2002 | 1 {{transl|ja|tankōbon}}, Big Comic Original Sōkan | |
| Manga Chūgoku Nyūmon: Yakkai na Rinjin no Kenkyū
| 2005 | Published by Asukashinsha. |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.george-akiyama.com/ Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221043628/http://www.george-akiyama.com/ |date=2009-02-21 }} {{in lang|ja}}
- {{anime News Network|people|6693}}
{{Shogakukan Manga Award - General}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akiyama, George}}