Kia Asamiya
Description
Kia Asamiya is the professional pen name of Michitaka Kikuchi, a Japanese manga artist, character designer, and anime creator born on March 9, 1963, in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Before establishing himself as a manga author, Asamiya graduated from the Tokyo Designer School and worked as a character designer for several notable anime series using his real name. His early animation work includes contributions to popular titles such as Sonic Soldier Borgman and Project A-ko, as well as model design for Godzilla films in the 1980s. He maintains two professional identities, continuing to do character design and creative consultation under the Kikuchi name even after his manga career took precedence.
As an original creator, Asamiya is credited with developing several major manga and anime franchises. His most commercially successful and widely recognized original manga series are Silent Möbius, which ran from 1989 to 1999, and Martian Successor Nadesico, serialized from 1996 to 1999. Both series were adapted into anime and gained significant popularity both in Japan and internationally. Beyond these flagship works, his original manga credits include Compiler (1991-1993), Dark Angel (1992-1997), Steam Detectives (1994-2000), and Junk: Record of the Last Hero (2004-2007).
The Corrector Yui franchise stands as a notable example of Asamiya's original creation work. He is credited as the creator of Corrector Yui, a magical girl series that blends technology themes with traditional transformation narratives. The franchise originated as an anime television series produced by Nippon Animation and broadcast on NHK Educational TV from April 1999 to October 2000, spanning 52 episodes. Asamiya personally wrote a two-volume manga adaptation of Corrector Yui, which was published by Shogakukan in the magazine Ciao from March to November 1999. The specific work Corrector Yui Ver.2 is a continuation of the original story, published as a four-volume manga series written by Keiko Okamoto based on Asamiya's original concept, with English publication by Tokyopop beginning in 2002.
The adaptation history of Asamiya's works shows a pattern of cross-media development. Many of his original manga have been adapted into anime television series, including Silent Möbius, Martian Successor Nadesico, Steam Detectives, and Corrector Yui. He has also worked extensively with American comic publishers, creating Batman: Child of Dreams for DC Comics and contributing to Marvel Comics titles including Uncanny X-Men and various cover works. His manga adaptation of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, published in 1999, demonstrates his range across licensed properties.
A recurring element of Asamiya's artistic identity is his pronounced influence from American comics, television, and films, particularly Batman and Star Wars, which he has cited as major personal interests. His artistic style often blends Japanese manga sensibilities with the heroic aesthetics of American superhero comics. He is also known for his use of computer processing techniques in his artwork. Asamiya maintains a distinctive public persona, shunning photography and replacing his image in books with an elaborately decorated rectangle bearing the words "Now Printing".
Within the industry, Asamiya holds significance as one of the most widely published Japanese manga artists internationally, with nearly all of his stories translated into multiple languages including English. He has worked across nearly every major Japanese publishing house as well as American comics publishers Image Comics, Marvel, and DC. His career has continued into the 2020s, with recent work including character design for the video game Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and cover art for Marvel and DC titles. He operates his own studio, Studio TRON, named after the Disney film.
As an original creator, Asamiya is credited with developing several major manga and anime franchises. His most commercially successful and widely recognized original manga series are Silent Möbius, which ran from 1989 to 1999, and Martian Successor Nadesico, serialized from 1996 to 1999. Both series were adapted into anime and gained significant popularity both in Japan and internationally. Beyond these flagship works, his original manga credits include Compiler (1991-1993), Dark Angel (1992-1997), Steam Detectives (1994-2000), and Junk: Record of the Last Hero (2004-2007).
The Corrector Yui franchise stands as a notable example of Asamiya's original creation work. He is credited as the creator of Corrector Yui, a magical girl series that blends technology themes with traditional transformation narratives. The franchise originated as an anime television series produced by Nippon Animation and broadcast on NHK Educational TV from April 1999 to October 2000, spanning 52 episodes. Asamiya personally wrote a two-volume manga adaptation of Corrector Yui, which was published by Shogakukan in the magazine Ciao from March to November 1999. The specific work Corrector Yui Ver.2 is a continuation of the original story, published as a four-volume manga series written by Keiko Okamoto based on Asamiya's original concept, with English publication by Tokyopop beginning in 2002.
The adaptation history of Asamiya's works shows a pattern of cross-media development. Many of his original manga have been adapted into anime television series, including Silent Möbius, Martian Successor Nadesico, Steam Detectives, and Corrector Yui. He has also worked extensively with American comic publishers, creating Batman: Child of Dreams for DC Comics and contributing to Marvel Comics titles including Uncanny X-Men and various cover works. His manga adaptation of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, published in 1999, demonstrates his range across licensed properties.
A recurring element of Asamiya's artistic identity is his pronounced influence from American comics, television, and films, particularly Batman and Star Wars, which he has cited as major personal interests. His artistic style often blends Japanese manga sensibilities with the heroic aesthetics of American superhero comics. He is also known for his use of computer processing techniques in his artwork. Asamiya maintains a distinctive public persona, shunning photography and replacing his image in books with an elaborately decorated rectangle bearing the words "Now Printing".
Within the industry, Asamiya holds significance as one of the most widely published Japanese manga artists internationally, with nearly all of his stories translated into multiple languages including English. He has worked across nearly every major Japanese publishing house as well as American comics publishers Image Comics, Marvel, and DC. His career has continued into the 2020s, with recent work including character design for the video game Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and cover art for Marvel and DC titles. He operates his own studio, Studio TRON, named after the Disney film.
Works
- Topics: Manga overview