Haruhisa Nakata
Description
Haruhisa Nakata is a Japanese manga artist who began his professional career in 2010 with a one-shot titled Maureca no Ki, published in the monthly magazine Monthly Ikki by Shogakukan. This debut marked the start of a career primarily defined by a single, evolving series that has become his signature work.
Nakata is best known as the creator of the manga series Levius. The original Levius series began serialization in Monthly Ikki in January 2013 and concluded in September 2014, spanning three collected volumes. Following the discontinuation of Monthly Ikki, Nakata continued the story with a sequel series, Levius/est, which launched in Shueishas Monthly Ultra Jump in May 2015. The sequel series ran until 2021 and was compiled into ten volumes.
The Levius series is set in a 19th-century steampunk world during an Era of Rebirth following a devastating war. The narrative centers on a sport called Mechanical Martial Arts, where cybernetically augmented fighters battle in an arena, turning their blood into steam and their bodies into brutal fighting machines. The story follows the young fighter Levius as he competes in this dangerous sport to survive, and the series is noted for its dynamic and nervous artwork that balances spectacular action sequences with character development and political intrigue.
The global reach of Nakatas work was confirmed when the Levius manga inspired a Netflix original anime adaptation, which was released worldwide in 2019. In recognition of his artistic achievement, Levius/est received the Daruma Illustration Award in the manga category at the Japan Expo Awards in 2018.
Beyond the world of Levius, Nakata has contributed his artistic talents to other media. He worked as a character designer for the video game Anonymous;Code, which was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. He also provided the original character designs and fairy concepts for the original television anime Fairy Gone, produced by P.A. Works. In 2023, he worked as a character designer for the Amazon Original anime film Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye. Nakata has also illustrated several novel covers, including for the books Spring Scatters, The Substitute, and the Blood and Fog series.
After completing Levius/est, Nakata began a new series titled Night Light Hounds, which started serialization on the Shonen Jump+ platform in 2024. He has described his working method as drawing with mechanical pencils on copy paper, and he currently creates his manga together with his wife.
Nakata is best known as the creator of the manga series Levius. The original Levius series began serialization in Monthly Ikki in January 2013 and concluded in September 2014, spanning three collected volumes. Following the discontinuation of Monthly Ikki, Nakata continued the story with a sequel series, Levius/est, which launched in Shueishas Monthly Ultra Jump in May 2015. The sequel series ran until 2021 and was compiled into ten volumes.
The Levius series is set in a 19th-century steampunk world during an Era of Rebirth following a devastating war. The narrative centers on a sport called Mechanical Martial Arts, where cybernetically augmented fighters battle in an arena, turning their blood into steam and their bodies into brutal fighting machines. The story follows the young fighter Levius as he competes in this dangerous sport to survive, and the series is noted for its dynamic and nervous artwork that balances spectacular action sequences with character development and political intrigue.
The global reach of Nakatas work was confirmed when the Levius manga inspired a Netflix original anime adaptation, which was released worldwide in 2019. In recognition of his artistic achievement, Levius/est received the Daruma Illustration Award in the manga category at the Japan Expo Awards in 2018.
Beyond the world of Levius, Nakata has contributed his artistic talents to other media. He worked as a character designer for the video game Anonymous;Code, which was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. He also provided the original character designs and fairy concepts for the original television anime Fairy Gone, produced by P.A. Works. In 2023, he worked as a character designer for the Amazon Original anime film Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye. Nakata has also illustrated several novel covers, including for the books Spring Scatters, The Substitute, and the Blood and Fog series.
After completing Levius/est, Nakata began a new series titled Night Light Hounds, which started serialization on the Shonen Jump+ platform in 2024. He has described his working method as drawing with mechanical pencils on copy paper, and he currently creates his manga together with his wife.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview