Takemoto Izumi (竹本 泉) was born January 19, 1959 in Tokyo, Japan. He majored in business at Nihon University. Though it appears he didn’t stick with business, given his current career, this likely helped him in his current career as a manga artist (or mangaka 漫画家). He was influenced by the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and this can be seen in his works, which usually have at least a little science fiction, fantasy, or both.

His works are not that well known outside of Japan (at least in the English-speaking world). None of his manga works have been officially published in English, and neither have any of his games. This may be due to the “soft” style of his works, a style which isn’t currently very popular in the English-speaking Japanese-pop-culture-consuming world. His style, however, is one of the most distinctive in Japan, and stands out as somewhat unique. Be sure to visit the bibliography section to see examples of his works.

Takemoto likes cats, as evidenced by the large number of them appearing throughout his works. Up until 2003, however, he’d never owned a cat. His work, Aru Hi no Zwei (ある日のツヴァイ), is influenced by the experiences he had as he and his cat became used to each other.