Do you know the hugely popular manga series "BEASTARS"? The anime ended its run with great success, and as of 2021, the second season of the anime has already begun, making it one of the most popular works. The original author of "BEASTARS" is Itagaki Paru. What kind of person is Itagaki Paru? In this article, we will introduce the original author, Itagaki Paru!
What kind of person is the original author, Itagaki Paru?
Itagaki Paru is a female manga artist born on September 9, 1993 in Tokyo. She is left-handed. Her most famous work is "BEASTARS", which is serialized in Weekly Shonen Champion. Her father is also a manga artist, Itagaki Keisuke.
About Itagaki Paru's background
"BEASTARS" is a manga series featuring anthropomorphized animals, but since childhood, Itagaki Paru has had the hobby of drawing illustrations and paintings with animal motifs. Since she had a unique personality, she hated the way the children around her pointed out inconsistencies in her illustrations and teased her when she was in elementary school, so she began to draw pictures after deciding on detailed settings for each character. By the way, at that time, her father, Itagaki Keisuke, was rarely at home due to work, and she spent most of her time with her mother. By the way, it seems that she read her father's works at the same time as the shojo manga (such as Ciao) that she liked to read.
About Itagaki Paru as a student
After that, Paru Kaki went on to study filmmaking at Musashino Art University's School of Art and Design, Department of Film and Media (now School of Art and Design, Department of Film and Media). There, she keenly felt the difficulties of filmmaking, but she found common ground between filmmaking and manga artists, and decided to aspire to become a manga artist. Later, during her time at university, she created a doujinshi based on the illustrations she had drawn and sold it at a school festival. The fun she had at the time made her want to become a professional manga artist while also searching for a job at university. By the way, the doujinshi she wrote at this time already contained characters that could be considered the prototypes of Legoshi and Haru, who would later appear in "BEASTARS".
Job Hunting and Debut as a Manga Artist
Also, following advice from her father, Paru Itagaki had planned to pursue a career as a professional manga artist after graduating from university and finding a job, but she failed in her job hunt. She was troubled by a series of failures in her part-time jobs, but her father was impressed when he read the doujinshi she had written during her university days, and showed it to her former editor, who asked to meet her.
Debut as a Manga Artist
After that, the editor recognized the draft he brought in and it was decided to publish it in "Weekly Shonen Champion", and in 2016, the first episode of "BEAST COMPLEX", "The Lion and the Bat", was published, marking his debut as a manga artist. This work was a short-running serialization, but he then finally began serializing "BEASTARS", which won multiple awards.
Mr. Itagaki Paru, who does not show his face
By the way, Mr. Itagaki Paru usually does not show his face, and when he appears in public he wears a headgear of "Regom", a character from "BEASTARS". He also appeared on stage at the 11th Manga Award ceremony wearing this outfit.
About Mr. Itagaki Paru's award history
Mr. Itagaki Paru has won various awards for his representative work "BEASTARS". His awards include the 2nd place in the 2017 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2018 (Takarajimasha) Men's Edition, the Newcomer Award in the Manga Division of the 21st Japan Media Arts Festival of the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2018, the Grand Prize in the 11th Manga Taisho Award in 2018, the New Artist Award in the 22nd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2018, and the 42nd Kodansha Manga Award in the Boys' Division in 2018.
List of works by Paru Itagaki
A list of works by Paru Itagaki includes "BEAST COMPLEX" (including "The Lion and the Bat," "The Tiger and the Beaver," "The Camel and the Wolf," "The Kangaroo and the Black Panther," "The Crocodile and the Gazelle," "The Fox and the Chameleon," and "The Chipmunk and (Snow Hare)"), "BEASTARS," and "Palnographie." His other one-off works include "White Beard and Boin" and "Manga Noodles."
The story of how Itagaki Paru's masterpiece "BEASTARS" was born
When it comes to Itagaki Paru's masterpiece, it's undoubtedly "BEASTARS". "BEASTARS" is one of the works that began to be serialized in earnest after the popularity of "Beast Complex", a short-term intensive series drawn by Itagaki Paru with a similar theme. "Legoshi", one of the characters from a doujinshi that I wrote in college, is made into a high school student, and the setting is a high school. The series starts with a shounen manga-like finish while keeping the world view the same.
What kind of story is it?
"BEASTARS" is a story that uses anthropomorphized animals as its motif. Although animals are the main characters, it is far from a typical heartwarming story, depicting a human drama hidden in a seemingly peaceful high school life. By replacing the parts of human nature that humans usually hide with animals, it has been praised for its realistic depiction of love, friendship, and conflict that transcend species.
Winner of the Kodansha Manga Award in the Boys' Category
"BEASTARS" is the third work to win the "Kodansha Manga Award in the Boys' Category in Weekly Shonen Champion. This is a great achievement following "Black Jack" and "Yowamushi Pedal", and it also won the Grand Prize at the 11th Manga Taisho Awards. It is the first manga published by Akita Shoten to win the Grand Prize. Furthermore, the sales of the book are also quite good, and as of August 2019, the total number of copies published has exceeded 3 million. Furthermore, in October 2019, the anime was broadcast on Fuji TV's "+Ultra" slot and was also exclusively distributed on Netflix. Furthermore, in 2021, the long-awaited second season of the anime will begin broadcasting.
An essay written by Paru Itagaki is now on sale!
Paru Itagaki also writes essay manga. "Palnographie" is a work that describes her family environment and her student days. Itagaki Paru's father, Itagaki Keisuke, is the author of the "Baki" series, a monumental fighting manga. You can get a glimpse of the days she spent with her father, mother, two sisters, and grandfather and grandmother. This work gives you a glimpse into the daily life of Itagaki Paru, which is rarely seen in manga works, and will be a fresh work for fans.
The trigger was a manga she wrote in college
By the way, this essay was also inspired by a manga she wrote in college. During her college years, Itagaki Paru posted an essay manga on her blog once a week for a year. An editor who read it approached her about serializing the essay manga. For Itagaki Paru, this essay work was a way of analyzing fragments of memories in her own mind.
The original author of "BEASTARS"! Summary of introduction about Itagaki Paru
The above is a summary of the introduction about Itagaki Paru, the original author of "BEASTARS". What did you think? We also introduced the background, awards, and other works of Itagaki Paru, the original author of the popular manga work. It's surprising that his father is also a manga artist. It's also surprising that the character that was the basis for Legoshi has existed for quite some time. It was based on a doujinshi that he wrote during his university days. If you are interested in more about Itagaki Paru, please check out his other works.
