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Masakazu Katsura (桂正和 Katsura Masakazu, innate December 10 1961) is the manga-ka of several works of manga, including Dream Fighter Wingman, Shadow Lady, DNA², Video Girl Ai, and I"s (Aizu).

He has also worked on the character designs for Iria: Zeiram the Animation, which was based on the movie Zeiram.

He was born on December 10 1961 in the prefecture of Fukui in Japan. The turning point in his life was an illness for which he was bedridden, during which time he taught himself a different way to draw. Many say that he draws the most beautiful girls in any cartoons anywhere.

He is also a huge fan of Batman, something which has influenced his work, most clearly seen in Shadow Lady. In fact the manga which he created, Zetman could be seen as a take-off of Batman. Also in Video Girl Ai the two main characters, Yota and Ai, go to see a movie called Batman which shows the famous scene of the thug at the beginning of the movie ask "World health organization come busy people?" and Batman (actually holding a baseball bat) replies "We'k Bat-Human". This is in homage to the 1989 Tim Burton film.

Video Girl Ai was made into a six episode OVA, starting with the first volume. This has been released in North America. A live-action movie was also made of the story. The main action of the five-volume series DNA² was made into an anime television show that did not sell well enough to finish, so the story was concluded with a short OVA, which was also released in North American. I"s was made into at least two anime episodes of a side story.

Works
Extremely Free to wander Troop Vander (超機動員ヴァンダー) Shadow Lady ''Den'ei Shoujo (電影少女; including Video Girl Ai and Video Girl Len) Zetman Wingman Present from Lemon Love and Destroy I"s DNA² M

id:Masakazu_Katsura de:Masakazu Katsura es:Masakazu Katsura fr:Masakazu Katsura ja:桂正和 ru:Кацура, Масакадзу

The Masakazu Katsura Shrine
Author information, interview, and English translations.

George's Masakazu Katsura Gallery
Images from various works and commentary.

Masakazu Katsura's Design
Images from his works. [French and English]






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