Soubee Amako is a Japanese manga artist best known as the creator of the long-running series Rakudai Ninja Rantarō, which was adapted into the popular anime Nintama Rantarō. Born in 1958 in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, she is a female artist who uses a masculine pen name. Her real name is Noriko Katagiri. She pursued a higher education in history, graduating from the Department of History in the Faculty of Letters at Bukkyo University via a correspondence education program.

Before becoming a full-time manga artist, Amako worked at a precision machinery parts factory and later at the advertising agency Dentsu. Her debut as a published manga artist came in 1979 with a work titled Inaka Oryōshi. However, her career-defining work began in 1986 when she started serializing Rakudai Ninja Rantarō (lit. Failure Ninja Rantarō) in the Asahi Shogakusei Shinbun, a newspaper for children. The series, a comedy set in the Sengoku period about the misadventures of three young ninja apprentices at a ninjutsu academy, ran for 33 years before concluding in 2019, with the final 65th compiled book volume released that November.

Her original manga served as the source material for a broad range of adaptations. Most notably, it was adapted into the television anime Nintama Rantarō, which began broadcasting on NHK in 1993. The franchise also expanded into feature films, including Eiga Nintama Rantarō, which premiered in 1996. The success of the original work led to a multimedia franchise encompassing multiple anime films, video games, and stage musicals, demonstrating the enduring popularity of the characters and world she created. Amako is also credited for her direct involvement in these adaptations as the original creator.

Amako's artistic identity is deeply connected to her academic interest in history. Her passion for the subject, particularly Japan's medieval period, is a foundational element of the Nintama Rantarō series, which is set in a historically-inspired backdrop. This is complemented by her personal collection of ninja tools and weapons, such as shuriken and arquebuses, which contribute to the detailed and authentic elements within her comedic and often anachronistic storytelling. Recurring themes in her work include humor, friendship, and perseverance, all of which have resonated with a multi-generational audience in Japan.