Makoto Raiku
Makoto Raiku (雷句誠 Raiku Makoto, born August 24, 1974 in Gifu, Japan) is the creator and mangaka of the Konjiki no Gash!! manga, later known outside of Japan as Zatch Bell!. Many of his works have appeared in Shogakukan Inc.'s weekly publication Shōnen Sunday. Raiku started off as a manga assistant for Kazuhiro Fujita's Ushio and Tora manga series in 1990.
When Raiko started making original manga content, he made several one-shots for the shōnen manga anthology including Bird Man (a one-shot story about a young pilot), Aishū Senshi Hero Ba-Ban (a one-shot story about a happy but feeble superhero), and Genmai Blade (a one-shot and two-part story about a medicinal exorcist). In 1999, he created the manga series Newtown Heroes, which was published in Shōnen Sunday Super, a seasonal publication featuring upcoming manga artists and one-shots from the main Sunday book.
Life & Career[]
Raiku began his manga career as an assistant to Kazuhiro Fujita, the creator of Ushio to Tora and Karakuri Circus. Raiku was accepted for the "Manga College" with BIRD MAN in 1991, and it became his debut work.
Zatch Bell![]
Main article: Zatch Bell!
Volume 1 cover of the Konjiki no Gash!! manga.
Raiku created the manga series Konjiki no Gash!! (金色のガッシュ!! Konjiki no Gasshu!!, lit. "Golden Gash!!"), which was published in 2001 in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday. An anime adaptation of his manga, Konjiki no Gash Bell!! (金色のガッシュベル!! Konjiki no Gasshu Beru!!, lit. "Golden Gash Bell!!") aired in Japan in 2003 and was produced by Toei Animation. The anime and manga was later dubbed as Zatch Bell! outside Japan in 2005.
While working on his third manga series Animal Land, Raiku returns to the Konjiki no Gash!! series once more with a one-shot manga special in 2011 entitled Konjiki no Gash!! Gaiden: Tomo (金色のガッシュ!! 外伝「友」, Konjiki no Gashhu Beru!! Gaiden "Tomo", lit. "Golden Gash!! Side Story: Friend"), taking place after the finale of the manga.
Works[]
Series[]
- Newtown Heroes (ニュータウン・ヒーローズ Nyūtaun Hīrōzu) — March 1999 – August 2000, Weekly Shonen Sunday Super
- Konjiki no Gash!! (金色のガッシュ!! Konjiki no Gasshu!!, lit. "Golden Gash!!") — January 2001 – December 2007, Weekly Shonen Sunday
- Animal Land (どうぶつの国 Dōbutsu no Kuni) — October 9, 2009 – February 9, 2014
, Separate Shonen Magazine
- Vector Ball (VECTOR BALL / ベクターボール Bekutābōru) — 2016 – 2017, Weekly Shonen Magazine
One-shots[]
- Bird Man (BIRD MAN) — April 1993, Weekly Shonen Sunday Special issue
- Naniwa Uchihito (浪速超人伝) — February 2015, Weekly Shonen Sunday Super — Original work by Muneyuki Saito (斉藤宗幸 Saitō Muneyuki)
- Yurine Great (ユリネ・グレイト Yurine Gureito) — June 1996, Weekly Shonen Sunday Super
- Genmai Blade (玄米ブレード Genmai Burēdo, "Uncooked Rice Blade") — December 1996, Weekly Shonen Sunday Super
- Genmai Blend (玄米ブレンド Genmai Burendo, "Uncooked Rice Blend") — February 10, 1998, Shonen Sunday Special Expansion R
- Aishū Senshi Hero Ba-Ban (哀愁戦士ヒーローババーン Aishū Senshi Hīrō Babān, "Grief Warrior Hero Ba-Ban") — March 2003, Weekly Shonen Sunday Super
- Aosora (アオソラ) — October 2009, Monthly Shonen Magazine
- Animal Land ~Episode 0~ (どうぶつの国〜エピソード0〜 Dōbutsu no Kuni ~Episōdo 0~) — 2009, Weekly Shonen Magazine
- Class Room (Class Room / クラスルーム, Kurasurūmu) — November 2009, Jump Square
- Oyaju Rider (おやじゅ～ライダー Oyaju~Rider) — November 2009, Young King Hours
- Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Gaiden: Tomo (金色のガッシュ!! 外伝「友」, Konjiki no Gashhu Beru!! Gaiden "Tomo", lit. "Golden Gash!! Side Story: Friend") — March 9, 2011, Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine
Lawsuit with Shogakukan[]
Raiku completed all of the ideas for "Zatch Bell!!" in mid-2005. He casually requested the Weekly Shonen Sunday editorial department to end the series. Still, the decision was delayed due to the ongoing broadcast of the anime and the upcoming release of the second film. He had previously struggled with all of his editors. When Raiku Studio was incorporated as a limited company, its tax accountant requested a contract change with its editor, but the change was not made, and over a year passed. Raiku was scolded by the tax office and had trouble with Shogakukan's accounting department. He made Shogakukan pay the full amount of the back taxes levied at that time. The stress of his troubled relationship with Shogakukan reached a breaking point in November of the same year, when he repeatedly forced his editorial ideas upon him. He reached his limit. At work, he asked an assistant to look closely at a mistake he had made, but he hit his face on the desk with such force that he injured himself. He also suffered an open fracture in his right hand, which took two months to heal and left him unable to write, forcing him to take a three-month hiatus from December of that year until February of the following year, 2006. This hiatus also had other repercussions, such as missing a signing event with Takashi Shiina, a serial author for the magazine, and the time off he would have received if the event had taken place.
During this hiatus, Raiku secured a promise from the editorial department to finish serializing Konjiki no Zatch!! Approximately one year after the conclusion of the "Faudo Arc" arc, which he was writing at the time. Konjiki no Zatch!! Ended in December 2007. Raiku received all of his manuscripts back on December 27, 2007, but several pages were missing, so he requested their return several times. On February 29, 2008, it was finally confirmed that five color pages were lost, and on the same day, an agreement was reached to return the positive film. Shogakukan offered compensation of 500,000 yen, consisting of 234,000 yen for the four pages (three times Raiku's manuscript fee of 17,000 yen), plus 10,000 yen for the one page that was cut, plus 256,000 yen in compensation. However, Raiku refused. Furthermore, when the end of Zatch Bell!! was confirmed, Raiku also requested to "cut ties with Shogakukan after the end of Zatch Bell!!", but he thought that this had also been agreed to when the end of the series was confirmed, so he tried to persuade him to stay, which complicated the issue, including Shogakukan's response at the time.
On April 19 of the same year, Raiku announced on his blog that he would be auctioning two original color illustrations. The project concluded on May 19 of the same year, and on May 21, he responded to a fan question on his blog, announcing his "parting ways with Shogakukan." Considering the average winning bid of 259,000 yen at the charity auction, their value as premium items, and the fact that the auction was not well known among fans, he determined that each manuscript had an artistic value of 300,000 yen. On June 6 of the same year, he filed a lawsuit against Shogakukan in the Tokyo District Court, seeking damages of 1.5 million yen for five manuscripts, plus 1.5 million yen in compensation and 300,000 yen in legal fees, for a total of 3.3 million yen, as well as the return of the film positives.
On the same day, he published the complaint and statement on his blog. Two Wikipedia entries were used as evidence. In addition to complaining about his own mental anguish, he also criticized his past editors by name. Also, he criticized the editors by name for the editor-in-chief’s cancellation of Raiku Makoto's work, " Touyuki," which he had heard from Sakai Yohei, a manga artist and former assistant of Raiku Makoto. He publicly stated, "I published this article because I thought that I should not create a similar example for myself later on, as Raiku Makoto's assistants had suffered so much." He blamed the responsibility of "successful manga artists" and called for the "improvement of the status of manga artists," including newcomers.
Many manga artists responded to this statement, sharing stories of past troubles with editors and lost manuscripts on their websites and blogs. In particular, the inside story revelation by manga artist Mayu Shinjo, who had publicly declared in 2007 that she had "become a freelancer from Shogakukan," became a hot topic online.
Raiku and his lawyers adopted settlement tactics, demanding an "apology," "compensation," and "joint proposals." On November 11 of the same year, a settlement was reached with an apology from Shogakukan and a settlement of 2.55 million yen (breakdown not disclosed), but the joint proposal was not realized. At a press conference held at the press club after the settlement, Raiku stated that he believed the artistic value had been recognized, but expressed dissatisfaction in a blog post he wrote upon returning home. In response, Raiku's lawyers declared victory, calling it a "victory settlement. "
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- His first name, Makoto (誠), is Japanese for "truth."
- His last name, Raiku (雷句), is Japanese for "thunder clause" or "thunder phrase."
- Makoto Raiku was born August 23, 1974, in Gifu.
- In 2003, he won the Shogakukan Manga Awards prize for Best Boys Manga.
External links[]
- Makoto Raiku on English Wikipedia
- Makoto Raiku (雷句誠) on Japanese Wikipedia
- Makoto Raiku's website
- Makoto Raiku's Twitter
- Makoto Raiku's YouTube channel