5 of the best manga artists

Not too long ago I fell back in love with reading manga again. If I’m completely honest, I’m a shadow of my former self when it comes to watching anime — maybe I’ve just become jaded, but a lot of stuff nowadays just feels like a derivative of something I have already seen. This along with the fact that there are so many different series every single season, and it becomes extremely difficult to even contemplate giving everything a try. 

Manga though — it’s always consistent, can be read at your own pace, and the art almost never fails you. So, today I want to celebrate some of my favourite manga artists — the old and the new! There are too many amazing artists to list all at once, so here are five of my current favourites.

Eiichiro Oda (One Piece)

I remember when I first started getting into One Piece and I had some strong opinions on the art style — to put it nicely, I wasn’t the biggest fan of it. However, as almost every One Piece fan you’ll ever speak to will tell you, Oda’s style continuously grows on you — to the point where I would now consider it one of my favourites!

I think that one of the joys of Oda’s art is that we have watched it develop over the course of the series. So for the last 20+ years that One Piece has been running, we have seen the way that Oda has refined his style while still maintaining the core parts of it that make it what it is. 

Oda has become a master when it comes to creating unique and memorable character designs, even if it’s only a character that appears for an arc or two. Oda is an author who has been giving fans a new chapter of One Piece almost every single week since the story first began, and even though he has assistants, he is still responsible for drawing every character that appears in every panel. 

Tite Kubo (Bleach)

I know what you’re going to say, “but Conor, Kubo never draws any backgrounds” and I get it — but I don’t think that takes anything away from how incredible this man’s art is. When I think of characters that overflow with style and just leave me thinking “that’s cool”, Bleach is the series that comes to mind. 

To reference a banger of a song, Kubo’s art style is simple and clean. He has created some of the most amazing-looking characters that I can still perfectly remember to this day — the captains and Espada are standout examples. 

Kubo’s level of detail is astounding! His incredible understanding of the human anatomy is demonstrated through the way he draws each muscle moving with each motion. The expressive facial details perfectly emphasise the scenes in which they are happening. And finally, he has created some of my absolute favourite women in anime and manga — my queen Yoruichi and, of course, Rangiku Matsumoto.

Kentaro Miura (Berserk)

When I was at my most peak levels of weeaboo, I would watch absolutely anything and everything, and it was here that I first encountered the legendary Berserk. Don’t worry, it’s not the 3D adaptation from 2016, I’m talking about the 1997 series that was a genuinely well-done adaptation of the series that managed to at least capture some of what Miura was capable of. 

After I finished the series, I must admit that I was hesitant to pick up the manga from where the anime left off — it was probably the first anime I came across that had some seriously dark themes. However, I eventually took the leap and got into the series, and it was definitely not a mistake. 

Miura managed to create scenes of absolute beauty that made the feeling and atmosphere of the series change. He could bring such incredible levels of detail to characters, backgrounds, scenery, and monsters that you are left baffled thinking how long it must have taken him to draw something like that. Finally, he could use all of these skills to create some of the most uncomfortable and terrifying scenes that leave you speechless. He was truly one of a kind and I don’t think we’ll ever see his like again — my fellow writer Trent has done an excellent piece on Berserk and why you should read it, so please do!

Yusuke Murata (One Punch Man)

Now if you have read some of my pieces here on Rice Digital, you may know that I am quite a big fan of sports manga, and it’s in Murata’s EyeShield 21 that I first discovered him. The levels of detail, unique style, and absolutely godlike double-page spreads that he would include through the series were something that always stood out to me. 

Since then Murata became the artist of the ever-popular One Punch Man series, and my God, does the man go above and beyond in every single chapter. Every single panel, every single character looks like something he spent an entire day on to capture every detail. 

The thing I love the most about Murata, however, is all of the extra artwork that he does as a fan of the things he enjoys. He has done artwork of the Street Fighter cast that makes me wish for a game using his style. Art of the Power Rangers makes me want an anime that mimics his work. And finally, his art of my favourite superhero of all time, Spider-Man, made me grin so much my face was hurting. 

Yukinobu Tatsu (Dandadan)

Finally, we come to the last artist on the list — Yukinobu Tatsu. This is the author of the newly published Shounen Jump manga Dandadan, a series that has very quickly become one of my favourites, and my current favourite series to read each week.

I’ve written a piece here about why I love Dandadan and to put it simply, the story is both gripping and the writing is hilarious. All the great and unique parts of his storytelling are perfectly reflected in the artwork as well, which is also amazing. Dandadan is certainly an odd series and the atmosphere can change rather suddenly. One moment the characters are all happy and laughing at one another, the next moment the spirit of an old lady who wants to steal men’s genitals is filling a double-page spread.

Similar to the way that Miura manages to create this feeling of unease and discomfort in his art, Yukinobu Tatsu can do the same. He is also a master of creating really facially expressive characters that help to emphasize the scene — especially when it comes to the comedy aspects of Dandadan.

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So those are some of our top picks from the world of manga — what are yours? Let us know down in the comments or via the usual social channels — or pen us a letter for the Rice Digital Friday Letters Page!

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