cloba.U
Description
Cloba.U is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and game developer best known as the creator of the four-panel manga series Magic of Stella, which received an anime television adaptation in 2016. His professional career began in 2007, when he initially worked under the pen name Cloba before changing it to Cloba.U in the summer of 2011. He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo, where he was also a member of the university's game development club Nonlinear, contributing to projects as an illustrator, pixel artist, game designer, and programmer.
As a manga artist, Cloba.U specializes in the four-panel comic format and yuri, or girl's love, themes. His major work, Magic of Stella, was serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Max from October 2012 to February 2022 and was compiled into ten collected volumes. The story follows a high school girl who joins her school's doujin game development circle, reflecting Cloba.U's own background in game creation. In October 2016, an anime television adaptation of Magic of Stella produced by the studio Silver Link premiered in Japan.
Beyond his original series, Cloba.U has contributed illustration work and manga to official anthologies for several prominent franchises, including The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, K-ON!, Is the Order a Rabbit?, and Magical Girl Madoka Magica. He has also authored instructional books on illustration and character design. His artistic style and thematic focus have been influenced by a range of manga artists, including Namori, Medoro, and Takeda Hinata.
A distinctive aspect of Cloba.U's creative identity is his integration of digital and programming skills into his artistic practice. He began programming in elementary school and developed an interest in pixel art in middle school. He has developed and publicly released his own independent games, handling everything from design and programming to pixel art and illustration. His expertise in pixel art was also featured in the opening sequence and promotional materials for the Magic of Stella anime. Cloba.U maintains his own doujin circle, known as Zenpou Fuchuui, and continues to be active as a multifaceted creator in both commercial and independent spheres.
As a manga artist, Cloba.U specializes in the four-panel comic format and yuri, or girl's love, themes. His major work, Magic of Stella, was serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Max from October 2012 to February 2022 and was compiled into ten collected volumes. The story follows a high school girl who joins her school's doujin game development circle, reflecting Cloba.U's own background in game creation. In October 2016, an anime television adaptation of Magic of Stella produced by the studio Silver Link premiered in Japan.
Beyond his original series, Cloba.U has contributed illustration work and manga to official anthologies for several prominent franchises, including The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, K-ON!, Is the Order a Rabbit?, and Magical Girl Madoka Magica. He has also authored instructional books on illustration and character design. His artistic style and thematic focus have been influenced by a range of manga artists, including Namori, Medoro, and Takeda Hinata.
A distinctive aspect of Cloba.U's creative identity is his integration of digital and programming skills into his artistic practice. He began programming in elementary school and developed an interest in pixel art in middle school. He has developed and publicly released his own independent games, handling everything from design and programming to pixel art and illustration. His expertise in pixel art was also featured in the opening sequence and promotional materials for the Magic of Stella anime. Cloba.U maintains his own doujin circle, known as Zenpou Fuchuui, and continues to be active as a multifaceted creator in both commercial and independent spheres.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview