Yūsuke Nomura is a Japanese manga artist best known as the illustrator of the popular sports series Blue Lock. Born on March 2, 1987, in Kyoto Prefecture, Nomura began his career in the manga industry as an assistant to several established artists, including Hajime Isayama, the creator of Attack on Titan, and Takeshi Hinata, the author of Ahiru no Sora. He made his official debut as a creator in 2013 with a one-shot titled Isago no Ou, which was published in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine.

Nomura’s first serialized work was Dolly Kill Kill, a dark fantasy series written by Yukiaki Kurando that ran in the Manga Box app from 2014 to 2017. However, his most significant and well-known work began in 2018 when he teamed up with writer Muneyuki Kaneshiro to launch Blue Lock. The series has been serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine since August 1, 2018, and remains ongoing. In this collaboration, Nomura is solely responsible for the artwork and illustration, while Kaneshiro handles the story.

Nomura's artistic style has been a critical factor in the success of Blue Lock. The work is noted for its dynamic, high-energy action sequences and sharp, expressive lines. Reviewers have highlighted how Nomura’s illustrations often transcend typical sports manga visuals, using exaggerated facial expressions, monstrous auras, and metaphorical imagery to represent the characters’ psychological states, ego, and intense competitive pressure, making the matches feel like battle royale scenarios.

The popularity of the manga directly led to a major multimedia franchise. Nomura is credited as the original creator for the various anime adaptations of his work. This includes the first season of the Blue Lock anime which aired from October 2022 to March 2023, the second season titled Blue Lock vs. U-20 Japan which aired from October to December 2024, and the theatrical film Blue Lock: Episode Nagi, which was released in April 2024. While Nomura is the original creator and illustrator of the source material, the anime productions themselves are handled by studio Eight Bit with different staff, including director Tetsuaki Watanabe and writer Taku Kishimoto. A live-action film adaptation of the manga has also been announced for release in 2026.

Beyond his work on the main series, Nomura’s health has occasionally impacted its publication. The manga was placed on a temporary hiatus in 2021 due to his sudden illness, resuming after several weeks. His industry significance is underscored by the commercial and critical success of Blue Lock. The manga won the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category, and as of September 2025, the series had over 50 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga of all time.