born February 26, 1971
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 has several sources of inspiration, including manga, American comics and bandes dessinées. Japanese comics that strongly influenced him include Akira, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Ghost in the Shell.
Nihei designed the logo for the record label Lingua Sounda, formed in 2011 by the rock band Buck-Tick.
In 2024, Nihei created the Font "Toa heavy industries" in partnership with Iwata Corporation.
Works
Serialized works
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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 Monthly Afternoon, it also gained a 6 episode ONA. Movie released May 19, 2017.
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NOiSE – A prequel to Blame!, in which a police officer investigates the murder of a gang. Originally published in Afternoon Season Zōkan.
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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.
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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.
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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 Monthly 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 Award.
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Aposimz – Also known as Ningyō no Kuni (, lit. "Country of Dolls"). 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.
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Kaina of the Great Snow Sea – A "boy-meets-girl high fantasy" set in a world where land is being swallowed by the encroaching Great Snow Sea. Manga written by Nihei with art by Itoe Takemoto was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sirius from February 2022 to June 2024, and an anime was released in 2023.
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Tower Dungeon – A "hack-and-slash fantasy" series focusing on a necromancer, who has assassinated the king and kidnapped his daughter, taking refuge in the Tower of the Dragon. It began serialization in Monthly Shōnen Sirius in October 2023.
One-shots and additional works
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Parcel – A short one-shot about a man looking for his brother.
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Blame – A one-shot prototype for Blame!, collected in NOiSE.
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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.
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Blame Academy! – A comedy featuring the characters from Blame! as students in a school. Published infrequently.
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Blame! Fortress of Silicon Creatures - A full color, 14-page one-shot epilogue for the 2017 film, it came with its Japanese limited edition Blu-ray set.
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Blame! Movie Edition: The Electrofishers' Escape - A one-shot manga adaptation of the 2017 film.
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Dead Heads – First issue of a cancelled horror manga series; collected, as thumbnails, in Blame! and So On.
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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.
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– Set in the Halo universe, the untold story of Sergeant Avery J. Johnson and his escape from the bowels of Halo and the Flood.
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Negative Corridor – A short one-shot, published in NOiSE.
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Ningyō no Kuni – A short one-shot set on a frozen planet about an encounter between a young man and a mechanical being, acting as a prologue for Aposimz.
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Knights of Sidonia: The Fourth Gauna Defense War - One-shot spin-off from Knights of Sidonia.
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Knights of Sidonia: Tsumugi, I'm addicted to "Blame!" - A short one-shot included in a 2015 Blu-ray booklet and in Blame Academy! and So On new Japanese edition.
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– A one-shot sequel to Blame!.
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Numa no Kami – A short one-shot about a man encountering a lake Goddess (Akai Kiba vol. 3).
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Pump – A short one-shot about the last humans reproduction process.
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Sabrina – A short one-shot about a man coming across a girl whose arm is stuck in a hole, published in vol. 1 of Akai Kiba doujinshi anthology.
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Idaho - A one-shot published in vol. 2 of Akai Kiba doujinshi anthology.
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(no title)
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– A 5 issue limited series of the X-Men character Wolverine. Originally published by Marvel Comics.
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Winged Armor Suzumega / Sphingidae – A short one-shot about a battle between alien beings.
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Zeb-Noid – A short one-shot about a hostile encounter between two different species that takes an unexpected turn.
Artbooks
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Bitch's Life – An erotic illustrations book, featuring contributions from over twenty Mangaka; four of which come from Nihei.
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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.
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Megalomania - (STUDIO VOICE、Published in 2000、INFASパブリケーションズ）Collection of artworks by Tsutomu Nihei depicting large scale megastructures.
Accolades
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| 1995 | Afternoon Four Seasons Award | Jiro Taniguchi Special Prize | NOiSE | |
| 2006 | Harvey Awards | Best American Edition of Foreign Material | Blame! | |
| 2013 | 17th Japan Media Arts Festival | Manga Division | Knights of Sidonia | |
| 2015 | 39th Kodansha Manga Award | Best General Manga | |
| 2016 | 47th Seiun Award | Best Comic | |
| 2016 | Inkpot Award | Achievement | Himself | |
| 2019 | Eisner Award | Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia | Abara | |
| 2020 | 26th Manga Barcelona | Best Seinen Manga | Knights of Sidonia | |
External links
