Kouji Kiriyama

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Kouji Kiriyama is a Japanese manga artist best known for the Ninku series which was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shounen Jump manga magazine between 1993 and 1995, and was adapted into a 55 episode anime series as well as an OVA and a film. A second manga Ninku Second Stage, ran from 2005 to 2011 in the seinen magazine Ultra Jump.

His works inspired artists such as Masashi Kishimoto of Naruto fame, who used to copy Kiriyama's drawings in his studying to become a manga artist.

(Source: Wikipedia)