Kumakura, Yuuichi

Yuichi Kumakura is a Japanese manga artist, he is from Niigata prefecture and is also know by his pen name "U-1 Kumakura". Yuichi Kumakura dropped out from high school in the first semester, then began publishing manga while working as a part-time job, and made his debut in 1994 with the one-shot "Soukenden" (双剣伝) on Comic BomBom manga magazine. After that he published another one-shot called "Paradise Boy PUNK" (楽園少年PUNK), and then started "Ou Dorobou Jing" (王ドロボウJING), which become his major work. Tamori wa Taru was his only assistant during that time. Yuichi Kumakura is a big fan of Western culture, with his greatest inspiration being the filmmaker Tim Burton, and he loves the films: "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "James and the Giant Peach," "Beetlejuice," "Batman (1989)," and "Batman Returns". He also loves animated films, with his favorites being Disney's "Pinocchio" and "The Sword in the Stone". Yuichi Kumakura also likes the works of the late director and filmmaker David Lynch, especially the TV series "Twin Peaks". He also likes to reference fairy tales and fables in his stories. His art style was shaped by the Capcom's illustration team (especially for their works on Darkstalkers and Street Fighter), the comic book artist Mike Mignola, and the late comic book artist Juan Giménez. His favorite manga artist is Katsuhiro Otomo. He is a heavy smoker and therefore had to retire in 2006 due to some health issues, where "KING OF BANDIT JING" (キング・オブ・バンディット・ジン) went on an indefinite hiatus. Kumakura was also working on a new series titled "Q & A" or "Queen and Amaretto", which unfortunately remained unfinished with only one chapter published, later compiled into a small artbook called "LOVE-CHILDREN". "Ou Dorobou Jing", in addition to the anime and OVAs, also received artbooks and two games for the Game Boy Color titled "Angel" and "Devil". There is also a collection of playing cards illustrated on the front and back by the author himself titled "Jingc@rds".