is a Japanese manga artist.
Biography During elementary school, Furuya enrolled in the Osamu Tezuka Manga Correspondence Course and by the time he reached high school he had discovered a darker, more underground style.
He graduated from Tama Art University, where he majored in oil painting and developed an interest in sculpting and Butoh dance. During college his work evolved from figurative to eventually dealing more with abstract shapes.
In 1994, Furuya published his debut series Palepoli in the renowned alternative manga magazine Garo. After graduating from college, he initially planned to work as a full-time artist while doing illustrations on the side, but his success in manga shifted his focus. Soon after, he published the gag manga Short Cuts in the mainstream seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Sunday.
He was a regular contributor to the alternative manga magazine Manga Erotics F from its beginnings in 2001 on. For this magazine he created the manga Lychee Light Club, based on a stage play, about a group of middle school boys aiming to build an AI with cruel tactics has been adapted into a TV anime series.
Otherwise, since the 2000s, he has published in mainstream seinen and shōnen manga magazines of different publishers like Kodansha, Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shinchosha, but also drew a yonkoma series for the daily newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun and made a manga biography about Emperor Akihito's life for the weekly magazine Shūkan Post.
Style and themes Furuya works across different manga genres and has a broad variety of art styles, ranging from photorealistic drawing to mascot-like cute characters. His work has been published in major manga magazines as well as more underground magazines and cultural magazines. Masanao Amano describes that Furuya is known for "taking ordinary everyday situations, and adding instantaneous humor or transforming them into a mysterious world that showcases his surrealistic sense."
His work is influenced by the New Wave movement in manga in the 1980s.
Christianity is a recurring theme of his work. According to Sean Patrick Webb, christianity is found "most often in the context of Japanese children and adolescents struggling against childish impulses and making the transition to adulthood."
Reception Furuya's manga have been translated, among others, into English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
While Furuya has not won any major manga awards so far, he was nominated or selected several times: Award Year Category Recipient(s) Result American Library Association2012Great Graphic Novels for TeensGenkaku PicassoJapan Media Arts Festival2011Manga AwardNo Longer Human2015Manga AwardJoshikōsei ni Korosaretai
Works
Manga
Title Year Notes Refs 1994–1995 Serialized in GaroPublished in 1 vol.Excerpted in Viz's defunct Pulp magazine and in Secret Comics Japan, also from Viz. 1996–1999Serialized in Weekly Young SundayPublished in 2 vol.Published in English by Viz Wsamarus 20011998–1999Serialied in Studio VoicePublished in 1 vol. Garden2000Short story collection with stories previously published in Comic Cue, Manga Erotics and Garo Plastic Girl2000Short story collection The Music of Marie (Marieの奏でる音楽, Marie no kanaderu ongaku)2000–2001Serialized in Comic BirzPublished in 2 vol.Published in English by One Peace books Suicide Circle (自殺サークル, Jisatsu Sākuru)2002Serialized in Manga Erotics FPublished by Ohta Publishing in 1 vol.Published in French by Casterman as Le Cercle du Suicide 2002–2005Serialized in Big Comic SpiritsPublished in 9 vol. 2004Serialized in Da VinciPublished by Media Factory in 1 vol. 2006Short story collection Lychee Light Club (ライチ☆光クラブ, Litchi☆Hikari Club)2005–2006Written by Norimizu AmeyaSerialized in Manga Erotics FPublished in 1 vol.Published in English by Vertical Inc as Lychee Light Club2006Written by OtsuichiPublished by Shueisha in 1 vol.51 Ways to Save Her (彼女を守る51の方法, Kanojo wo Mamoru 51 no Hōhō)2006–2007Serialized in Weekly Comic BunchPublished in 5 vol.Licensed in English by CMX but never publishedLoosely adapted into the anime series Tokyo Magnitude 8.02008–2011Serialized in Manga Erotics FPublished by Ohta Publishing in 3 vol.2008–2010Serialized in Jump SquarePublished in 3 vol.Published in English by Viz as Genkaku Picasso2008–2012Serialized in Yomiuri ShimbunNo Longer Human (人間失格, Ningen Shikkaku)2009–2011Adaptation of No Longer Human by Osamu DazaiSerialized in Weekly Comic BunchPublished by Shinchosha in 3 vol.Published in English by Vertical Inc2010–2016Serialized in Jump SQ.19 and Jump SquarePublished in 14 vol.Bokura no☆Hikari Club (ぼくらの☆ひかりクラブ)2011–2012Prequel to Lychee Light ClubSerialized in PocopocoPublished by Ohta Publishing in 2 vol.2013–2016Serialized in Go Go BunchPublished by Shinchosha in 2 vol.2016–2017Serialized in Go Go BunchPublished by Shinchosha in 1 vol.2017–2020Serialized in Morning TwoPublished by Kodansha in 7 vol.Akihito Tennō Monogatari (明仁天皇物語)2019Based on a script by Issei EifukuSerialized in Shūkan PostPublished by Shogakukan in 1 vol.2020–PresentSerialized in Monthly Comic BunchPublished by Shinchosha in 3 vol. (as of January 2023)2021–2022Written by Rina IkomaSerialized in Monthly Comic BunchPublished by Shinchosha in 1 vol.
Illustrations
Flowers
Films/plays
ZOO (Screenplay, storyboards, character design) (Man in coffee shop) (Original work) (Original work) (Miyanishi)
References
External links Usagi Hitori Club (Usamaru Furuya's Blog) Usamaru Furuya Unofficial Web Site, Tokyo