Yura Urushibara is a Japanese manga artist best known as the creator of the supernatural action series Tougen Anki: Legend of the Cursed Blood. Urushibara’s path to becoming a professional creator began after high school, when he initially worked as a hairdresser. At around the age of twenty-one, he read a manga in a salon staff room and was so inspired that he quit his job the next day to pursue a career in drawing. He submitted his first work to a publisher a month later; although it was rejected, he persisted and eventually secured an opportunity to serialize a series under a different name.

Urushibara has cited several influences on his artistic style and storytelling. Around the age of twenty-three or twenty-four, he discovered the work of manga artist Asumiko Nakamura, which he credits with shaping his approach to drawing, particularly the rendering of characters’ eyes, and fostering his appreciation for the boys’ love genre. He is also a noted fan of yankee (delinquent) manga such as Crows, Worst, and Clover, a preference that has informed the aesthetic and characterization in his own work. According to Urushibara, a significant motivation for becoming a manga artist was the desire to create a cast full of attractive male characters.

Urushibara’s debut and primary work is Tougen Anki, which began serialization in Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine on June 11, 2020. The series reimagines the Japanese folktale of Momotaro from the perspective of the oni (demons), who are portrayed as the protagonists hunted by the descendants of Momotaro. Urushibara has explained that he initially considered writing a story from the Momotaro side but found the demons easier to write and more fitting for his interests after being influenced by the manga Saiyuki. As of early 2025, the manga had been compiled into over twenty-three tankōbon volumes and had sold more than three million copies.

The success of the manga has led to a variety of adaptations and multimedia expansions. A stage play adaptation ran in Tokyo and Osaka from February to March 2024. An anime television series adaptation, produced by Studio Hibari, is scheduled to premiere in July 2025. At Anime Expo 2025, Urushibara made his first public appearance to discuss the anime, expressing his gratitude for its international reception after it became a top-five non-English show on Netflix. The franchise has also expanded to include a mobile game, music video collaborations, and spin-off manga series.

Urushibara’s artistic identity is characterized by dynamic, over-the-top action sequences, violent imagery, and a focus on emotional bonds between characters. The power system in Tougen Anki, known as Blood Release, involves characters shaping their blood into weapons that reflect their personality, allowing for diverse and visually striking fights. Recurring themes in his work include a reexamination of morality by blurring the lines between good and evil, the forging of found family among outcasts, and the struggle for identity within a cycle of historical conflict. Through the rapid rise of Tougen Anki, which has been noted as a sleeper hit gaining significant traction through social media, Urushibara has established himself as a notable voice in modern shōnen manga, known for blending folklore, stylish visuals, and a focus on male aesthetics.