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born January 14, 1956 is a Japanese author, manga writer and former editor of manga. He started his professional career at Shogakukan in 1980 and worked as an editor on the publisher's various manga magazines, including as editor-in-chief of Big Comic Spirits from July 1999 to 2001. Since becoming freelance, Nagasaki has worked as an author under various , such as 江戸川啓視, 東周斎雅楽, ビッグ・オー and リチャード・ウー.
He is best known for his collaborations with Naoki Urasawa, such as Pluto (2003–2009) and Billy Bat (2008–2016). The Kobe Shimbun wrote that Nagasaki brought the concept of a film producer into the manga industry, and in doing so "established a new relationship with manga artists." Brian Ruh of Anime News Network described Nagasaki as the only editor who "has risen to the level of co-creator alongside the artist."
Nagasaki first met Naoki Urasawa when he was assigned to be the editor of the newly debuting manga artist. The two collaborate so frequently, that Nagasaki has been called Urasawa's "producer." However, Nagasaki said he does not call himself a producer and described his "workload" as being the same as a manga editor's. Although they continue to collaborate even after Nagasaki became freelance, they rarely socialize outside of work. It was Nagasaki who came up with the premise for Urasawa and Kazuya Kudo's Pineapple Army (1985–1988). Nagasaki was a co-author of Urasawa and Hokusei Katsushika's adventure series Master Keaton (1988–1994). It was later adapted into a television anime and original video animation series between 1998 and 2000. From 1994 to 2001, Nagasaki collaborated with Urasawa on the story for the thriller Monster. They co-wrote a companion novel titled Another Monster in 2002, and the manga was adapted into an anime in 2004. The duo also collaborated from 1999 to 2007 on the story for the science fiction mystery 20th Century Boys and its sequel 21st Century Boys. The two series earned them the 2008 Seiun Award for Best Comic, and won many other awards. Nagasaki was also one of the scriptwriters of the three live-action film adaptations of 20th Century Boys, released between 2008 and 2009.
Nagasaki teamed up with Junji Ito and former diplomat Masaru Sato to create Yūkoku no Rasputin (2010–2012), based on Sato's personal experiences in Russia, for Big Comic. To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Shogakukan, Nagasaki produced a 2011 picture book adaptation of Kosuke Hamada's story Red Oni Cries that was illustrated by Urasawa. In April 2012, Shinchosha published the first novel in what would become Nagasaki's Daigo Shinji no Hakuran Suiri Files franchise that follows a manga editor who solves mysteries. As of 2018, it is composed of three novels and two TV drama adaptations broadcast by Wowow that star Arata Furuta as the title character. Richard Woo and Koji Kono's Kurokōchi ran in Nihon Bungeisha's Weekly Manga Goraku from 2012 to 2018. It was adapted into a 10-episode TV drama in 2013. From 2012 to 2014, Nagasaki and Urasawa created Master Keaton Remaster as a sequel set 20 years after the original series. Nagasaki reunited with Yoshizaki to create the science fiction detective series Usagi Tantei Monogatari (2012–2013) for Kodansha's Kiss. At the end of 2012, Nagasaki started working with Michitsune Nakajima on Yamaterasu Code, which was serialized in Shueisha's Jump X until the magazine was cancelled in 2014. As Richard Woo, he and Yoshizaki created Abracadabra: Ryōki Hanzai Tokusōshitsu in Big Comic Original Zōkan from 2014 to 2020. The series earned them the 2018 Saito Takao Award. Nagasaki has served on the award's final selection committee every year since.
Nagasaki wrote ZIG, illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari, for Shueisha's Grand Jump in 2017. In 2018, Richard Woo began Himiko -Shinsetsu Yamataikoku-den-, about the ancient queen of Himiko, with Mariko Nakamura in Big Comic Original. The following year, he reunited with Kono to began Keibuho Daimajin in Weekly Manga Goraku. Richard Woo created M no Shirushi -MacArthur Ansatsu Keikaku- in 2020 alongside Ryoichi Ikegami for Shogakukan's Big Comic Superior. It tells the story of a plot to assassinate Douglas MacArthur. Nagasaki was one of the writers of the June 2021 film Character. It was adapted into a manga for Monthly Big Comic Spirits by Akira Iwaya in March, and Nagasaki wrote a novelization published in May. He and Kōsuke Muku created the horror story Child from the Dark in Big Comic from November 25, 2021, to August 10, 2022. It is based on Nagasaki's novel Yomi Nemuru Mori -Daigo Shinji no Hakuran Suiri File-. Upon completion, it was revealed that "Kōsuke Muku" was a pen name of Makoto Isshiki and that she would be credited by her real name in the tankōbon.
Richard Woo and Yoshizaki began the suspense manga Minzoku Gakusha Akasaka Yaichirō no Jiken-bo in the October 2022 issue of Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon, which was released on August 24, 2022.
Nagasaki has stated that "creation is an evolution beyond imitation." Believing that no one thinks of something from scratch, he said that when one feels like they came up with a story on their own, it is actually them imitating without knowing it. Nagasaki reads and watches a lot of novels and movies, which he analyzes as practice. He will watch half a film, try to predict the rest of the story, and then watch the remaining half to see if he was correct. He said he does not get writer's block, but prefers to be given some kind of description of the intended manga instead of being told to "write whatever you want." Noting how writing manga is different from writing novels, he said that the latter are evaluated and rewarded based on one finished book, but manga is rewarded for being interesting in the middle of its story. In 2018, Nagasaki said he believed that the manga industry was shifting from "character-oriented" works to "story-oriented" ones.
Nagasaki believes that the illustrating artist determines whether or not a manga will be a hit. He described the artist as taking the lead role, while the author is the supporting role. As an example, Nagasaki takes pictures to aid the illustrator as references. If you compare manga to TV or film, Nagasaki said, "the original author is a scriptwriter. The editor is a producer, and the rest of the director, actors, cameras, and music are all done by a manga artist." He explained that a boring scenario can still be made into a hit by a good artist. Similarly, Nagasaki has also said that if the artist can not compose or divide frames well, it will create a boring work even if the scenario is good. This is derived from something he learned from Takao Saito; "the basis for manga is composition." Meaning, even if your drawing is poor, readers will continue to read if you are good at composition.
| Masutā Kīton | Co-author alongside Hokusei Katsushika and Naoki Urasawa, editor | 1988–1994 | |
| Monsutā | Story co-producer alongside Naoki Urasawa, editor, supervisor | 1994–2001 | |
| 20世紀少年 / | Story co-producer alongside Naoki Urasawa | 1999–2006, 2007 | |
| Purūtō | Co-author alongside Naoki Urasawa, based on Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka, supervised by Macoto Tezka | 2003–2009 | |
| Dramatization, illustrated by Takayuki Kosai, based on the novel of the same name by Harutoshi Fukui | 2005–2007 | ||
| Tsuki ni Mukatte Nagero! | Story co-producer alongside Naoki Urasawa | 2006 | |
| Birī Batto | Co-author alongside Naoki Urasawa | 2008–2016 | |
| Deka Gāru | Author, illustrated by Seimu Yoshizaki | 2008–2011 | |
| SQ | Author, illustrated by Kira | 2009–2010 | |
| 憂国のラスプーチン | Screenplay, written by Masaru Sato, illustrated by Junji Ito | 2010–2012 | |
| 泣いた赤鬼 | Producer of the picture book, illustrated by Naoki Urasawa, based on Kosuke Hamada's story of the same name | 2011 | |
| Masutā Kīton Rimasutā | Co-author alongside Naoki Urasawa | 2012–2014 | |
| うさぎ探偵物語 | Author, illustrated by Seimu Yoshizaki | 2012–2013 | |
| ヤマテラス・コード | Author, illustrated by Michitsune Nakajima | 2012–2014 | |
| ZIG | Author, illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari | 2017 | |
| Eden no Ō | Author, illustrated by Ignito | 2017–2019 | |
| キャラクター | Co-writer alongside Anna Kawahara and Akira Nagai, illustrated by Akira Iwaya | 2021 | |
| Aida no Shōnen | Author, illustrated by Kōsuke Muku/Makoto Isshiki, based on Nagasaki's novel Yomi Nemuru Mori -Daigo Shinji no Hakuran Suiri File- | 2021–2022 | |
| ディアスポリス 異邦警察 | Screenplay, illustrated by Shinichi Sugimura | 2006–2009 | |
| クロコーチ | Screenplay, illustrated by Koji Kono | 2012–2018 | |
| アブラカダブラ 〜猟奇犯罪特捜室〜 | Author, illustrated by Seimu Yoshizaki | 2014–2020 | |
| ディアスポリス -異邦警察- 999篇 | Screenplay, illustrated by Shinichi Sugimura | 2016 | |
| 卑弥呼 －真説・邪馬台国伝－ | Author, illustrated by Mariko Nakamura | 2018–present | |
| 警部補ダイマジン | Author, illustrated by Koji Kono | 2019–present | |
| 四月一日のエマ | Author, illustrated by Hitsuji Ikuta | 2019 | |
| Mの首級 マッカーサー暗殺計画 | Author, illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami | 2020 | |
| 民俗学者 赤坂弥一郎の事件簿 | Author, illustrated by Seimu Yoshizaki | 2022–2023 | |
| プルンギル -青の道- | Author as Keishi Edogawa, illustrated by Kwon Kaya | 2002–2003 | |
| イリヤッド-入矢堂見聞録- | Author as Toshusai Garaku, illustrated by Osamu Uoto | 2002–2007 | |
| ゴルゴ13 | Screenplay for chapters 429 and 555 as Keishi Edogawa, illustrated by Takao Saito | 2003, 2015 | |
| テレキネシス 山手テレビキネマ室 | Author as Toshusai Garaku, illustrated by Seimu Yoshizaki | 2004–2007 | |
| ジナス | Story co-producer as Big O alongside Satoshi Yoshida | 2005–2008 | |
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