Yuhki Kamatani
Description
Yuhki Kamatani is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator born on June 22, 1983, in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan. Kamatani made their professional debut with the manga series Nabari no Ou, which began serialization in 2004. This modern ninja story centers on a seemingly ordinary teenage boy who harbors an omnipotent ninja power that hidden clans seek to control. The series became a finalist in the Story Manga division at the ninth Japan Media Arts Festival in 2005 and received a recommendation from the festival committee. Nabari no Ou was adapted into a twenty-six episode anime television series produced by J.C.Staff, directed by Kunihisa Sugishima, and broadcast on TV Tokyo in 2008. The manga concluded with fourteen volumes published in Japan by Square Enix in 2011, with an English release by Yen Press completing in 2013.
Following Nabari no Ou, Kamatani created Shonen Note: Days of Evanescence, a coming-of-age story serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Morning Two magazine from 2011 to 2014. The narrative follows a middle school boy with a soprano voice navigating the changes of puberty within his school choir. This work was selected as a Jury Selection for the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2013. Kodansha USA later licensed the series for North American release under the title Shonen Note: Boy Soprano beginning in 2022. Kamatani also produced Busshi no Busshin: Kamakura Hanbun Busshiroku, a historical fantasy manga serialized in Square Enix's digital magazine Gangan Online, with its first volume published in 2014.
In 2015, Kamatani began serializing Our Dreams at Dusk, also known as Shimanami Tasogare, published by Shogakukan across four volumes released between December 2015 and July 2018. Set in Onomichi, Hiroshima, this work depicts queer characters exploring their identities and features representation including a gay protagonist, as well as lesbian, asexual, transmasculine, genderqueer, and cross-dressing characters. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the manga for North American release beginning in May 2019. In 2020, Kamatani returned to Kodansha's Monthly Morning Two with Hiraeth: The End of the Journey, a story about a god, an immortal man, and a girl who wishes to die to reunite with a friend. Kodansha USA licensed this series for digital North American release.
Kamatani has also produced short story collections including Liberamente, published by Square Enix in 2005. In 2017, Kamatani collaborated with screenwriter Yasuko Kobayashi on a three-chapter manga titled Unlock. In 2024, Hayacomic began publishing Kamatani's manga adaptation of Tōma Aisaka's novel Dōshi Shōjo yo, Teki o Ute, about a female Red Army sniper during World War II.
In 2012, Kamatani publicly came out on Twitter as asexual and X-gender, a non-binary identity, and has also identified as aromantic. Kamatani describes their gender as toX, a designation that conceals their sex assigned at birth. These personal experiences with identity struggles during adolescence have informed their creative work, particularly Our Dreams at Dusk, which has been noted as a rare example of a manga where an actual transgender creator portrays transgender experiences outside the essay manga format.
Kamatani's manga frequently centers on characters in transitional life stages and addresses themes of identity and marginalization. They have cited influential manga artist Moto Hagio as a major inspiration, and like Hagio, Kamatani often explores gender and uses visual metaphor in their storytelling.
Following Nabari no Ou, Kamatani created Shonen Note: Days of Evanescence, a coming-of-age story serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Morning Two magazine from 2011 to 2014. The narrative follows a middle school boy with a soprano voice navigating the changes of puberty within his school choir. This work was selected as a Jury Selection for the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2013. Kodansha USA later licensed the series for North American release under the title Shonen Note: Boy Soprano beginning in 2022. Kamatani also produced Busshi no Busshin: Kamakura Hanbun Busshiroku, a historical fantasy manga serialized in Square Enix's digital magazine Gangan Online, with its first volume published in 2014.
In 2015, Kamatani began serializing Our Dreams at Dusk, also known as Shimanami Tasogare, published by Shogakukan across four volumes released between December 2015 and July 2018. Set in Onomichi, Hiroshima, this work depicts queer characters exploring their identities and features representation including a gay protagonist, as well as lesbian, asexual, transmasculine, genderqueer, and cross-dressing characters. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the manga for North American release beginning in May 2019. In 2020, Kamatani returned to Kodansha's Monthly Morning Two with Hiraeth: The End of the Journey, a story about a god, an immortal man, and a girl who wishes to die to reunite with a friend. Kodansha USA licensed this series for digital North American release.
Kamatani has also produced short story collections including Liberamente, published by Square Enix in 2005. In 2017, Kamatani collaborated with screenwriter Yasuko Kobayashi on a three-chapter manga titled Unlock. In 2024, Hayacomic began publishing Kamatani's manga adaptation of Tōma Aisaka's novel Dōshi Shōjo yo, Teki o Ute, about a female Red Army sniper during World War II.
In 2012, Kamatani publicly came out on Twitter as asexual and X-gender, a non-binary identity, and has also identified as aromantic. Kamatani describes their gender as toX, a designation that conceals their sex assigned at birth. These personal experiences with identity struggles during adolescence have informed their creative work, particularly Our Dreams at Dusk, which has been noted as a rare example of a manga where an actual transgender creator portrays transgender experiences outside the essay manga format.
Kamatani's manga frequently centers on characters in transitional life stages and addresses themes of identity and marginalization. They have cited influential manga artist Moto Hagio as a major inspiration, and like Hagio, Kamatani often explores gender and uses visual metaphor in their storytelling.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview