Taiyō Matsumoto

Taiyō Matsumoto (born 1967) is an influential manga artist. He made his debut in Afternoon, Kodansha's monthly seinen manga magazine, but is probably best known for his works with Kodansha's rival publisher Shogakukan, including Tekkonkinkreet, Ping Pong and Number Five. He has received critical praise for his unconventional and often surrealist art style. Ping Pong and Aoi Haru (Blue Spring) have been adapted into live-action feature films, much more famous than the original manga in the west, and acclaimed animation studio Studio 4°C adapted Tekkonkinkreet into an animated feature film. In 2007 he received an Excellence Award for manga at the Japan Media Arts Festival for the art of Takemitsu Zamurai. He is the cousin of Santa Inoue, another critically acclaimed manga artist.