Tomoki Izumi is a Japanese manga artist known for creating the horror comedy series Mieruko-chan. Born on October 31, 1985, his professional career is defined almost entirely by the success of this single work, which began as a webcomic before becoming a major multimedia franchise.

Izumi launched Mieruko-chan in November 2018 on the publishing platform Twitter, a decision made with the specific intention of pursuing serialization outside the traditional magazine competition model. The series, which follows a high school girl who can see terrifying ghosts but must pretend she cannot, was soon picked up for formal serialization on Kadokawa’s ComicWalker website. It has since been compiled into multiple tankōbon volumes and published in print by Kadokawa Shoten, with an English-language release by Yen Press.

In developing the series, Izumi has described his artistic identity as that of a self-proclaimed coward, a trait he finds humorous given the horror-centric nature of his work. His creative influences are broad, drawing not only from horror films and manga but also from the detailed creature designs found in video games. This interest is reflected in the monsters of Mieruko-chan, which he intentionally designs with ambiguous origins, leaving room for reader interpretation to heighten the sense of the unknown. He has also stated that while the story blends horror with comedy and daily life, his approach is to draw what he finds interesting rather than strictly adhering to a single genre.

Beyond the original manga, Izumi’s creation has expanded significantly. In 2021, the series was adapted into an anime television series produced by the studio Passione. His role as the original creator also led to the publication of the Mieruko-chan Official Comic Anthology, a collection of stories featuring his characters as interpreted by various guest artists, which was released in English by Yen Press in 2023. The franchise is set to continue expanding with a live-action film adaptation scheduled for release in 2025.