Jin Kobayashi is a Japanese manga artist born on May 25, 1977, best known as the creator of the popular series School Rumble and Natsu no Arashi!. He began drawing manga seriously during his university years and received an honorable mention at the 65th Weekly Shōnen Magazine Rookie Award in 2000, a recognition that helped lead to the serialization of his first major work.

Kobayashi first gained widespread recognition with School Rumble, a romantic comedy manga serialized in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine from October 2002 to July 2008, later collected in 22 tankōbon volumes. A sequel series, School Rumble Z, was published in Magazine Special from August 2008 to May 2009. The series follows a love triangle among high school students and is noted for its comedic emphasis on misunderstandings. Kobayashi has stated that he intentionally centers his story arcs on misunderstandings, believing that “if there’s no misunderstanding then there’s no funny story”. He has also noted that many characters are based on memories of former high school classmates, and that while the character Kenji Harima reflects about thirty percent of himself, a minor supporting character is the most autobiographical.

Following School Rumble, Kobayashi created Natsu no Arashi!, a manga with supernatural and time-travel elements that was serialized in Square Enix’s Monthly Gangan Wing and later Monthly Gangan Joker from August 2006 to September 2010. The series was adapted into two anime television productions. The first anime season, also titled Natsu no Arashi!, aired from April to June 2009, while the second, Natsu no Arashi! Akinai-chū, aired from October to December 2009. Both anime adaptations were produced by the studio Shaft under the direction of Akiyuki Shinbo. For the second season, Kobayashi himself contributed to the script and storyboards for episode twelve.

Beyond these major works, Kobayashi serialized the manga Ichiro Heian! from 2011 to 2012. He also served as the artist for Hōkago Mashimashi Club and its sequel Seiyū Mashimashi Club, both written by Hibari Meguro. In addition to his manga series, Kobayashi has contributed end card illustrations for numerous anime productions, including Pani Poni Dash!, Bakemonogatari, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. He has also provided illustrations for the visual novel Dai 24 Tokyo Ku and published an artbook titled Kyōto, Haru. in collaboration with artist Takashi Takeuchi.

Kobayashi has made occasional cameo appearances in anime adaptations of his own work, providing voice roles in the School Rumble anime series, including as Sailor F and as a narrator for an original video animation. Regarding his creative choices, he has explained that he concluded School Rumble because he wished to pursue other projects, while expressing continued interest in depicting the characters’ adult lives in a seinen magazine.