Tsutomu Nihei is a Japanese manga artist. Nihei has been drawing comics professionally since the mid-1990s. In 1995 he was awarded the Jiro Taniguchi Special Prize in that year's AfternoonFour Seasons Award for his submission, Blame. After working as an assistant to veteran comic artistTsutomu Takahashi, Nihei went on to launch his debut series Blame! in Monthly Afternoon in 1997. Following the success of Blame!, he next penned and Biomega. In 2009, Nihei returned to Afternoon to launch what would become his most successful series, Knights of Sidonia. An architectural student, Nihei's early work were mainly wordless, relying on visuals and backgrounds to tell their stories. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following overseas.
Career
Nihei worked in construction but quit to work on becoming a manga artist. He went to New York and studied at the Parsons School of Design. His experience in construction and design has shown up in his manga in his depiction of huge structures which are a strong theme in his manga works. Nihei was a guest at San Diego Comic Con International 2016.
Works
Serialized works
Blame! – Nihei's first work, detailing the adventures of Killy as he searches through a massive city for a human with special genes that could save the world. Originally published in Afternoon, it also gained a 6 episode ONA. Movie released 19 May 2017.
NOiSE – A prequel to Blame!, in which a police officer investigates the murder of a gang. Originally publishing in Afternoon.
Abara – Published in Ultra Jump, Abara follows Denji Kudou, a man able to transform into a Gauna – a creature with bone-like armor and weaponry.
Biomega – Zouichi Kanoe and the AI in his motorbike set out to find humans resistant to N5S, a virus that turns people into zombie-like "Drones". Originally appeared in Young Magazine.
Knights of Sidonia – An original story set in the far future about a human colony ship's war against an elusive alien race known as the "Gauna". It was published in Afternoon and is the first of Nihei's works to be adapted into a TV series. In 2015, Knights of Sidonia won the "General" category of the prestigious Kodansha Manga Awards.
APOSIMZ – Also known as Ningyō no Kuni. Set on an artificial planet where people on the surface face harsh conditions such as extreme cold and "Frame Disease," which slowly transforms people into biomechanical creatures, while people in the core live in luxury. It is licensed by Kodansha Comics, which releases chapters digitally, and Vertical Comics, which releases print volumes.
One-shots and additional works
Abba / Parcel – A short one-shot about a man looking for his brother.
Blame – A one-shot prototype for Blame!, collected in NOiSE.
Blame!² – A full color, 16 page one-shot published in Kodansha's Mandala Vol.2, following up on the story of Blame! with one of Pcell's future incarnations.
Blame! Academy – A comedy featuring the characters from Blame! as students in a school. Published infrequently.
Dead Heads – First issue of a canceled series; collected, as thumbnails, in Blame! and So on.
Digimortal – A two part one-shot about a mercenary hired to assassinate a leader of a new Inquisition. Originally appeared in Ultra Jump, published in Vol.2 of Abara.
Halo: Breaking Quarantine – Set in the Halo universe, the untold story of Sergeant Avery J. Johnson and his escape from the bowels of Halo and the Flood.
Negative Corridor – A short one-shot, collected in NOiSE.
Ningyō no Kuni – A short one-shot set on a frozen planet about an encounter between a young man and a mechanical being.
– A one-shot sequel to Blame!, about the Net Sphere.
Numa no Kami – A short one-shot about a man encountering a lake Goddess.
Pump – A short one-shot about the last Humans reproduction process.
Sabrina – A short one-shot about a man coming across a girl whose arm is stuck in a hole.
Winged Armor Suzumega / Sphingidae – A short one-shot about a battle between alien beings.
Zeb-Noid – A short one-shot about a hostile encounter between two different species that takes an unexpected turn.
Idaho - A one-shot published in volume 2 of Akai Kiba doujinshi anthology.
Artbooks
Bitch's Life – An erotic illustrations book, featuring contributions from over twenty manga artists; four of which come from Nihei.
Blame! and So On – Published in 2003, Blame! and So On contains artwork and sketches for Blame!, Noise, and Wolverine: Snikt!, amongst others; it also contains the illustrations Nihei provided for Bitch's Life and the aborted Dead Heads as thumbnails.
