George Morikawa
Description
George Morikawa is a Japanese manga artist born on January 17, 1966, in Tokyo. He is best known as the sole creator of the long-running boxing manga Hajime no Ippo. His early aspiration to become a manga artist was inspired by reading Tetsuya Chiba's Harris no Kaze during elementary school.
Morikawa made his professional debut in 1983 at the age of 17 with the one-shot Silhouette Night. In the mid-1980s, he created two short-lived serialized works: the soccer manga Kazuya Now (1986) and the Formula One racing manga Signal Blue (1987). Both series were cancelled due to low readership. During this period, he worked as an assistant to Shuichi Shigeno, the creator of the racing manga Baribari Densetsu.
His breakthrough and life's major work, Hajime no Ippo, began serialization in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine on October 11, 1989. The story follows Makunouchi Ippo, a shy high school student who discovers a talent for boxing and rises through the ranks of the sport. As of the most recent data, the manga has been compiled into over 140 tankobon volumes and has sold more than 100 million copies. For this work, Morikawa received the Kodansha Manga Award in the shonen category in 1991.
The success of Hajime no Ippo led to multiple anime adaptations. The first anime series, produced by Madhouse, aired in 2000 and consisted of 76 episodes. This was followed by a second series titled Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger, which aired in 2009 and contains 26 episodes. The third series, Hajime no Ippo: Rising, was produced in 2013 and contains 25 episodes. The original manga has also inspired several animated films and original video animations.
Beyond his work on Hajime no Ippo, Morikawa has created other manga. In 2012, he published I'll Be Seeing You (Ai ni Ikuyo), a five-chapter story inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. He is also the owner of the JB Sports Gym in Tokyo, where he has served as a boxing coach, demonstrating a deep personal involvement with the sport that forms the core of his fictional work.
Morikawa has notable connections within the manga industry. He was formerly an assistant to Shuichi Shigeno. In turn, several renowned artists served as his assistants, including Kentaro Miura, the creator of Berserk, and Kaori Saki.
Morikawa made his professional debut in 1983 at the age of 17 with the one-shot Silhouette Night. In the mid-1980s, he created two short-lived serialized works: the soccer manga Kazuya Now (1986) and the Formula One racing manga Signal Blue (1987). Both series were cancelled due to low readership. During this period, he worked as an assistant to Shuichi Shigeno, the creator of the racing manga Baribari Densetsu.
His breakthrough and life's major work, Hajime no Ippo, began serialization in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine on October 11, 1989. The story follows Makunouchi Ippo, a shy high school student who discovers a talent for boxing and rises through the ranks of the sport. As of the most recent data, the manga has been compiled into over 140 tankobon volumes and has sold more than 100 million copies. For this work, Morikawa received the Kodansha Manga Award in the shonen category in 1991.
The success of Hajime no Ippo led to multiple anime adaptations. The first anime series, produced by Madhouse, aired in 2000 and consisted of 76 episodes. This was followed by a second series titled Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger, which aired in 2009 and contains 26 episodes. The third series, Hajime no Ippo: Rising, was produced in 2013 and contains 25 episodes. The original manga has also inspired several animated films and original video animations.
Beyond his work on Hajime no Ippo, Morikawa has created other manga. In 2012, he published I'll Be Seeing You (Ai ni Ikuyo), a five-chapter story inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. He is also the owner of the JB Sports Gym in Tokyo, where he has served as a boxing coach, demonstrating a deep personal involvement with the sport that forms the core of his fictional work.
Morikawa has notable connections within the manga industry. He was formerly an assistant to Shuichi Shigeno. In turn, several renowned artists served as his assistants, including Kentaro Miura, the creator of Berserk, and Kaori Saki.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview
- Topics: Anime overview