Tsujitomo
Description
Tsujitomo is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator, born on July 13, 1977, in Hokkaido and raised in Tokyo. His real name is Tomohito Tsujita. He developed an early interest in drawing manga, winning awards in contests while still in high school. Influenced by director Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction, he pursued film studies, enrolling in the scriptwriting course at the Department of Film Studies of the Nihon University College of Art. After graduating, he began working as an illustrator.
Tsujitomo's professional manga career began in the early 2000s through Kodansha's Morning magazine. In 2002, his submissions "RIGHT HAND AND GOOD INTENTIONS" and "my little brother" both received Excellence Awards in the magazine's MANGA OPEN competition. He repeated this achievement the following year with "GHOST," marking three consecutive wins. This success led to his debut as a manga artist with a one-shot version of "GHOST" published in early Morning.
Despite this early recognition, Tsujitomo continued working primarily as an illustrator for several years, including contributing to the Kawasaki Frontale support program "Fight! Kawasaki Frontale" on TV Kanagawa. In 2008, he also created poster illustrations for the Tamagawa Classic soccer match between Kawasaki Frontale and FC Tokyo.
Tsujitomo is best known as the illustrator of the long-running sports manga Giant Killing, which began serialization in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Morning on January 11, 2007. The series is written by Masaya Tsunamoto, with Tsujitomo solely responsible for the artwork. The story follows Takeshi Tatsumi, a former star player who returns as the unconventional coach of the struggling professional soccer club East Tokyo United (ETU), aiming to orchestrate dramatic upsets against stronger opponents. In 2010, Giant Killing received the Kodansha Manga Award in the general category. The series remained ongoing as of November 2025, with the 67th volume released in Japan.
The success of Giant Killing led to an anime adaptation. A twenty-six episode television series produced by Studio Deen aired on NHK General TV from April to September 2010. The adaptation was also simulcast internationally by streaming services.
Beyond Giant Killing, Tsujitomo has worked on other soccer-related projects. He illustrated "Soma no Hoshi," a corner segment featuring illustrations of former professional player Naoki Soma, for the Kawasaki Frontale support program. The connection came about because Soma was a reader of Giant Killing. Tsujitomo continues to work as an illustrator alongside his manga career. His artistic style emphasizes dynamic movement, particularly in depicting football sequences and team interactions, which has become a defining characteristic of the Giant Killing manga.
Tsujitomo's professional manga career began in the early 2000s through Kodansha's Morning magazine. In 2002, his submissions "RIGHT HAND AND GOOD INTENTIONS" and "my little brother" both received Excellence Awards in the magazine's MANGA OPEN competition. He repeated this achievement the following year with "GHOST," marking three consecutive wins. This success led to his debut as a manga artist with a one-shot version of "GHOST" published in early Morning.
Despite this early recognition, Tsujitomo continued working primarily as an illustrator for several years, including contributing to the Kawasaki Frontale support program "Fight! Kawasaki Frontale" on TV Kanagawa. In 2008, he also created poster illustrations for the Tamagawa Classic soccer match between Kawasaki Frontale and FC Tokyo.
Tsujitomo is best known as the illustrator of the long-running sports manga Giant Killing, which began serialization in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Morning on January 11, 2007. The series is written by Masaya Tsunamoto, with Tsujitomo solely responsible for the artwork. The story follows Takeshi Tatsumi, a former star player who returns as the unconventional coach of the struggling professional soccer club East Tokyo United (ETU), aiming to orchestrate dramatic upsets against stronger opponents. In 2010, Giant Killing received the Kodansha Manga Award in the general category. The series remained ongoing as of November 2025, with the 67th volume released in Japan.
The success of Giant Killing led to an anime adaptation. A twenty-six episode television series produced by Studio Deen aired on NHK General TV from April to September 2010. The adaptation was also simulcast internationally by streaming services.
Beyond Giant Killing, Tsujitomo has worked on other soccer-related projects. He illustrated "Soma no Hoshi," a corner segment featuring illustrations of former professional player Naoki Soma, for the Kawasaki Frontale support program. The connection came about because Soma was a reader of Giant Killing. Tsujitomo continues to work as an illustrator alongside his manga career. His artistic style emphasizes dynamic movement, particularly in depicting football sequences and team interactions, which has become a defining characteristic of the Giant Killing manga.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview