Masashi Kishimoto

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Image:Masashi kishimoto.jpg Masashi Kishimoto (岸本斉史, Kishimoto Masashi^?, born November 8, 1974) is the creator and author of the popular manga Naruto. He debuted as a mangaka (Japanese cartoonist) with his work Karakuri, which was submitted to Shueisha in 1996. Beginning in 1999, his next work Naruto was serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump manga magazine. Kishimoto had received the Hop Step Award, which is given to new artists once a month by Shonen Jump.

His twin brother Seishi Kishimoto is also a mangaka and the creator of 666 Satan. Their art has been remarked on as being very similar and accusations of plagiarism were made, either that Seishi had copied his brother or vice versa. However, Seishi notes in one of the his manga volumes that the similarities are not intentional and that the occurrence would have been likely because both he and Masashi have been influenced by many of the same things. After several accusations, Masashi Kishimoto has asked that fans stop calling his brother a "copycat".

[edit] Early life

Born in the Japanese prefecture of Okayama, Masashi Kishimoto started drawing from early pre-school age. He aspired in his elementary years to become a mangaka. One of the first anime/manga series he took an interest in was Doraemon. Kishimoto is a big fan of the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z series and their creator, Akira Toriyama. He has also said that he is a fan of One Piece, Ghost in the Shell, and Akira. Kishimoto has stated that he was inspired by Toriyama's work, which continues to be a big influence on his popular manga Naruto.