Awareness Post Q1: Hirohiko Araki

Toshiyuki Araki, better known by his pen name Hirohiko Araki, is a Japanese manga artist. He made his debut in 1980 with his one-shot manga Poker Under Arms. He is known for his manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure(JJBA), which began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1987 and has over 120 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history. JJBA also has its own anime, which Araki doesn't animate directly for, but gives input and approval for decisions such as color palettes and music.

Jojo/Araki website(english version): https://jojo-portal.com/en/

Section on Araki on Shueisha Manga Art Heritage website: https://mangaart.jp/artists/hirohiko-araki

Gallery Representation

• Manga-Art Heritage (Shueisha, Japan): Represents Araki’s original manga drawings and fine-art prints

• Exhibition at the Louvre(Paris)

• Exhibition at the National Art Center(Tokyo)

CV Highlights

• Runner-up for Tezuka Award for Poker Under Arms in 1980

• Creator of well renowned JJBA since 1987

• Selected artist for Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée, exhibiting original work at the Louvre Museum, Paris in 2009

• International collaboration with Gucci and SPUR magazine, producing original fashion-based illustrations and comics 2011-2013

• Major solo exhibition(JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Ripples of Adventure) at the National Art Center, Tokyo in 2018

• International exhibitions of original drawings, lithographs, and lenticular prints in Japan and the United States

• Published artbooks and exhibition catalogs

  

  

  

  

  As a watcher of anime, Araki's art style stands out a lot to me. Although he may not draw for the JJBA anime himself, the show's visuals directly take inspiration from the manga pages where Araki's dynamic posing and stark shading is drawn. He's also known for referencing other media in JJBA, such as real model poses, celebrities' poses, or snippets of scenes from other manga/anime. I am most interested in these poses, as they are very dynamic, and dynamic poses/perspectives are both difficult and impressive to do. Making something of fiction also allows for such bright colors and poses to not feel too out of place while still holding distinct uniqueness. I can see why his work is well-known, even outside of the manga/anime community.