Introduction
Kentaro Yabuki (矢吹 健太朗, Yabuki Kentarō, born February 4, 1980 in Kōchi) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for his series Black Cat. His mentor was Takeshi Obata, the illustrator of Death Note, Hikaru no Go and Bakuman.
Overview
Yabuki has stated that everything he learned about drawing manga, he learned from Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball. He even admitted that his first publication in Jump was not his own work but actually an illustration combining, or rather fusing together, Gohan and Trunks that he sent in to a 1995 contest and won a prize for.
Yabuki is best known for his series Black Cat which ran from 2000 to 2004 in Weekly Shōnen Jump and later adapted into an anime. Both were released in North America. Upon its ending, Yabuki expressed desire to make a sequel from the series, or make its characters reappear in another work. Since 2004, he has only been working as illustrator to works written by other authors, including the popular To Love-Ru -Trouble- alongside his former assistant Saki Hasemi.
Yabuki was an extra in the 2003 movie Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., running through the streets of Roppongi Hills.
Works
- Yamato Gensōki (邪馬台幻想記) (1998 Shueisha)
- Jigen Bakuju (時限爆呪) (1999 Shueisha), illustrations only, light novel by Kaya Kizaki
- Black Cat (ブラックキャット) (2000–2004 Shueisha)
- Trans Boy (トランスボーイ) (2004)
- To Love-Ru -Trouble- (To LOVEる -とらぶる-, To LOVEru -Toraburu-) (2006–2009 Shueisha), Illustrator
- Mayoi Neko Overrun! (迷い猫オーバーラン!, Mayoi Neko Ovāran!) (2010 Shueisha), Illustrator
- Futagami Double (フタガミ*ダブル, Futagami Daburu) (2010), One-shot
- To Love-Ru Darkness (To LOVEる -とらぶる- ダークネス, To LOVEru -Toraburu- -Dākunesu-) (2010–2017 Shueisha), Illustrator
- Nijiyome Gakuen Z-Cune Aoi (にじよめ学園 ズキューーン葵, Nijiyome Gakuen Zukyūn Aoi), Illustrator
- Hatena Illusion (はてな☆イリュージョン, Hatena☆Iryūjon) (November 2014-current Shueisha), illustrations only, light novel by Tomohiro Matsu