Takehiko Inoue

Takehiko Inoue (井上雄彦, Inoue Takehiko, born 12 January 1967 in Okuchi, Kagoshima) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for the basketball manga Slam Dunk and samurai manga Vagabond, which has become a success both in Japan and overseas. Many of his works are about basketball, Inoue himself being a huge fan of the sport.

Inoue's manga features mainly in male-oriented magazines. His name is ordered as Takehiko Inoue on his books sold in North America through Viz Media (Vagabond, Slam Dunk, and Real), although Gutsoon! Entertainment's earlier Slam Dunk translations in North America used Inoue Takehiko.

Works

Before his debut, Inoue was an assistant of Tsukasa Hojo in City Hunter. His debut in manga magazines was in 1988, and Purple Kaede appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. His manga tankōbon debut, Chameleon Jail, for which he was the illustrator, was first published in 1989.

However, his first real fame came with his second manga, Slam Dunk, about a basketball team from Shohoku (Shōhoku) High School. It was first published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan from 1990–1996 and has sold over 120 million copies in Japan alone. In 1995, it received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen and in 2007 was declared Japan's favorite manga.Slam Dunk was adapted into a 101 episode anime TV series and four movies.