HINATA Takeshi

Japanese Name: 日向武史

Place of Birth: Ibaraki, Japan

Gender: Male

Information for Authors: He was born in 1972. At first he went to Tokyo from Ibaraki to pursue a career as a movie director. Around the age of 25 he aspired to become a manga artist. He later applied for being an assistant to FUJISAWA Tohru who was serializing GTO at that time, when he was interviewed by Fujisawa’s chief assistant Hinata was overwhelmed by the work content and gave up after an internal conflict. Later on he became an assistant (alongside SOUDA Go & ASAKURA Maru) of ASAKI Masashi who was publishing Psychometrer Eiji at that time. He couldn't work efficiently that he even tried to refuse to receive his first salary. He has also been an assistant of IZUMI Makoto. (source:bonus pages of Volume 23 of Ahiru no Sora) He resigned after one year worked as an assistant. He worked on his own stories while living on part time jobs before finally becoming full-time mangaka few years later. He debuted quite late at the age 26 in the manga world with the oneshot, "Three Out Change" in 1998 which was selected for the 61st Weekly Shonen Magazine Newcomer Manga Award. SASUGA Kei (GE - Good Ending, Domestic na Kanojo) & MURAKAMI Yoshiyuki worked as his assistants on few volumes of Ahiru no Sora. SAKO Toshio studied as his assistant for free. Miura Kouji (Ao no Hako) also worked as assistants on Ahiru no Sora. Kamijyo Akimine, Terajima Yuji & him were once under the same editor on Shuukan Shounen Magazine. He likes to joke about his slowness to draw and to deliver his chapters on time for the magazine. In the volume 24 of Ahiru no Sora, he revealed that he suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome since the volume 22. He practiced kendo during his middle school days.