Drawing Of One Punch Man

ONE: Everything to Know About the One-Punch Man Manga Artist

Find out what we know about ONE, the enigmatic artist behind One-Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100.

The creator of One-Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100 goes by the apt screen name of ONE. Although he's kept his name a secret from the public eye, there are number of facts he's revealed about himself through various interviews. Let's investigate what this mysterious artist is like.

Personal Background

ONE was born in Niigata on October 29th, 1986. However, he spent his childhood up until early adulthood in Kōnosu, Saitama. The naming of Saitama's character, as well as the setting of the manga, was based on his experiences there. However, it seems that he has moved away from Saitama in his adult life, since as of 2017, ONE was a citizen of Okinawa. Although he doesn't talk much about his personal life, he has mentioned that he played tennis throughout middle school and high school. However, he only played casually—his real interest lay in drawing manga.

In an interview on a Nico Nico Live show called "Yamada Reiji's Young Sunday," ONE talks about what inspired him to start drawing. This interview is also one of the few instances where the enigmatic artist has openly revealed his face. He states that as a child, he read a lot of Crayon Shin-chan, which he believes was what inspired him to draw comics. In particular, he enjoyed the comedy and the multi-panel format.

However, he kept his interest in becoming a manga artist a secret. He didn't want to pursue a career that might disappoint his family, and felt ashamed of being scolded by his parents for drawing gag manga in his free time. ONE also admits that he's surprisingly similar to Mob in that he has a reserved personality and doesn't typically show much outward emotion. It wasn't until his freshman year of college that he began to publish his works online, after searching the web for a community of aspiring manga artists like him.

Making a Webcomic

He discovered a website called NEETsha, directly translated as "NEET company," purportedly for people who are "Not in Education, Employment, or Training." Many otaku also self-identify as NEETs, as this term has found its place in the often self-degrading terminology of anime fans in Japan. ONE found his niche posting his comics on this site, along with other authors like Sui Ishida of Tokyo Ghoul fame.

ONE didn't have much luck showing his early comics to Shonen Jump. Nevertheless, he overcame these struggles. In 2016, One-Punch Man won the Sugoi Japan award in the manga category, and in 2017, Mob Psycho 100 won the Shogakukan Manga Award in the shonen category. One of his latest published works is a Mob Psycho 100 spin-off called Reigen, now available in English from Dark Horse Comics.

Future Influences

ONE's unique art style comes from being mostly self-taught, having never worked as an assistant for a manga artist. He was always a prolific artist: in an interview with Tokyo Reimei Note, he talks about how he likely filled up around fifty notebooks just with his own comics and drawings. It's also important to note that the manga version of One-Punch Man published in Shonen Jump isn't his art, but a redraw of the original webcomic done by Yusuke Murata, of Eyeshield 21 fame. ONE now posts updates to One-Punch Man on a separate personal website, as he's outgrown the NEETsha site. He also has a page with links to shirts and behind-the-scenes books, featuring a hilarious sketch of Saitama and Genos humbly hawking the wares.

In many ways, ONE represents hope for many aspiring artists, showing that passion and creativity combined with consistent output can be a path to success. His comics demonstrate that especially in this digital age, creating content that is accessible and relevant online might be the most effective method of gathering an audience.

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About The Author

Mary Zhang (28 Articles Published)

Mary Zhang is a reader, writer, and musician. A UCLA graduate with a double major in English and Japanese, she has a great deal of passion for Japanese pop culture. In her free time, you can find her watching all the latest anime of the season.