Hiroyuki Takei

Hiroyuki Takei (武井宏之) is the author of the popular anime and manga Shaman King. He was born May 15, 1973 in Yomogita, Aomori Prefecture.

Biography
Hiroyuki Takei started his career as a mangaka with his manga "SD Hyakkaten". He was so successful that he became the assistant of famous mangaka such as Nobuhiro Watsuki ("Rurouni Kenshin") and Tamakichi Sakura ("Sabaki no Kaminari"). When his manga Butsu Zone was published in Weekly Shonen Jump, his career as an assistant of mangaka ended, and his own career as a serious mangaka began.

One of his popular one-shots was Anna the Itako, which features the well-known Shaman King character Kyōyama Anna. Takei, in an interview, stated that Anna is like a personal mascot/good luck charm.

His most famous and longest-running work is Shaman King. Takei also wrote two side stories that directly relate to Shaman King: Funbari no Uta and Mappa Douji.

As of 2010, Takei is working on two monthly series with Jumbor written by Hiromasa Mikami (加藤大悟, Mikami Hiromasa) and Karakuri Dôji Ultimo with Stan Lee.

Works
Bibliography

Character design

Others

 * SD Hyakkaten
 * Sabaki no kaminari
 * Doragu Doll Dan

Trivia

 * In an interview with Shōnen Jump, he stated that his favorite manga by other authors included Taiyo Kosoku by Baru, Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura, and Hellboy by Mike Mignola. He also cites American comic books, mecha anime, Hirohiko Araki of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fame, and Osamu Tezuka as influences.