Tatsuki Fujimoto


Tatsuki Fujimoto is a Japanese manga artist, known for his works Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man.

Early life

Fujimoto was born on October 10, 1992, or 1993, in Nikaho, Akita Prefecture, Japan. He started drawing at an early age. He had no preparatory schools available near his home, so he went to painting classes in which his grandparents attended and practiced oil painting. He graduated in Western painting from Tohoku University of Art and Design in Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture in 2014.

Career

In 2011, Fujimoto drew his first submitted one-shot work, A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin' in the Schoolyard, which was nominated for the December Jump SQ. Monthly Award. Fujimoto's one-shot,, was an entry work for the 10th Supreme Comic Grand Prize season II in 2013. His next one-shot work was, for which he won a Jury Special Award at the 3rd Shueisha's Crown Newcomers' Awards in 2013. Fujimoto's next one-shot work was Sasaki Stopped a Bullet, for which he won his second Jury Special Award at the 5th Shueisha's Crown Newcomers' Awards in 2013.
Fujimoto's next work was Love is Blind, for which he won an Honorable Mention Award at the November 2013 Shueisha's Crown Newcomers' Awards, and was his first published work, being launched in Jump SQ.19 vol. 13 on April 19, 2014. His next one-shot works were Shikaku, published in Jump SQ.19 vol. 14 on June 19, 2014; Mermaid Rhapsody, published in Jump SQ.19 vol. 17 on December 19, 2014; and Nayuta of the Prophecy, published in Jump Square on July 4, 2015.
Fujimoto published his first major and serialized work, Fire Punch, on Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ online magazine, where it ran from April 18, 2016, to January 1, 2018. The series spawned eight tankōbon volumes. Fujimoto also published on Shōnen Jump+ the one-shot Woke-Up-as-a-Girl Syndrome on April 24, 2017, and the one-shot Sisters in the June 2018 issue of Jump Square on May 2, 2018.
Fujimoto's second major serialized work, Chainsaw Man, was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 3, 2018, to December 14, 2020. A second part started in Shōnen Jump+ on July 13, 2022. Chainsaw Man topped Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2021 for male readers, and earned Fujimoto the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award for Best Shōnen Manga. In 2021, the manga won the Harvey Awards for Best Manga; it won the award for the second time in 2022; and for the third time in 2023.
Fujimoto illustrated the cover of the novels anthology 5-Minute Stories: An Unexpected End, released on April 2, 2021. Fujimoto participated as a guest judge at Shonen Jump+s Million Tag online reality show in July 2021.
Fujimoto published the one-shot Look Back on Shōnen Jump+ on July 19, 2021. The chapter was collected by Shueisha in a single tankōbon volume, released on September 3, 2021. Look Back topped the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2022 list of best manga for male readers.
A two-volume collection of Fujimoto's previous one-shots, Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man, subtitled 17–21 and 22–26, were released on October 4 and November 4, 2021, respectively. He illustrated the novel Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories, published on November 4, 2021. Fujimoto illustrated a version of one of the forty-two volumes of the Dragon Ball manga for the Dragon Ball Super Gallery Project, celebrating the series' 40th anniversary, which was published in Saikyō Jump on December 3, 2021.
Fujimoto published Goodbye, Eri, a 200-page one-shot, on Shōnen Jump+ on April 11, 2022. The chapter was collected by Shueisha in a single tankōbon volume, released on July 4, 2022.
Along with illustrator Oto Tōda, Fujimoto published the one-shot Just Listen to the Song on Shōnen Jump+'' on July 4, 2022.

Influences

Fujimoto commented that he wanted to "draw manga like Korean films", citing the 2008 South Korean film The Chaser as example, stating: "the main character chases after the villain, but thirty minutes into the movie, he catches him. This is supposed to happen at the end of the movie, so you keep wondering what will happen next. A lot of people say that in Korean movies they cannot tell what the director is thinking, but actually, if you watch until the end, you will get it. I wanted to make something like that." He also mentioned the 2016 Japanese film Sadako vs. Kayako, Kōji Shiraishi's film series , the 2011 Indonesian film The Raid and Takeshi Kitano's work. He was also influenced by manga authors Hiroaki Samura, Hideki Arai, and Tsutomu Nihei. Fujimoto was inspired by the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to create Chainsaw Man.

Works

Serialized manga

  • Fire Punch — Serialized in Shōnen Jump+ and published by Shueisha in eight volumes
  • Chainsaw Man — Serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump and Shōnen Jump+ ; published by Shueisha in 22 volumes

    One-shots

  • ; unpublished
  • ; unpublished
  • Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man ; two collected volumes of Fujimoto's earliest one-shots
  • * A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin' in the Schoolyard
  • * Sasaki Stopped a Bullet
  • * Love is Blind ; later published in Jump SQ.19
  • * Shikaku ; published in Jump SQ.19
  • * Mermaid Rhapsody ; published in Jump SQ.19
  • * Nayuta of the Prophecy ; published in Jump Square
  • * Woke-Up-as-a-Girl Syndrome ; published in Shōnen Jump+
  • * Sisters ; published in Jump Square
  • Look Back ; published in Shōnen Jump+ and collected in one volume
  • Goodbye, Eri ; published in Shōnen Jump+ and collected in one volume
  • Just Listen to the Song ; illustrated by Oto Tōda; published in Shōnen Jump+''

    Assistants

  • Yuji Kaku
  • Tatsuya Endo
  • Yukinobu Tatsu
  • Tohru Kuramori