is a Japanese manga artist

Mangaka

is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...

 born June 10, 1958 in Kashiwazaki

Kashiwazaki, Niigata

is a city located in Niigata, Japan.As of May 1, 2008, the city has an estimated population of 92,947 and the density of 210 persons per km². The total area is 442.70 km²....

, Niigata Prefecture

Niigata Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

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His debut manga was Sannen Kimen-gumi, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump

Weekly Shonen Jump

is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...

beginning in 1980. After Sannen ended in 1982, he began publishing Highschool! Kimen-gumi, also in Weekly Shōnen Jump, until 1987. Highschool was a smash hit, and an animated

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 version was begun in 1985, running for two years on Fuji TV, along with a movie in 1986 and two video games. His next manga series was , which ran from 1988 through 1990. After Shitataka, Shinzawa took a break from publishing manga until 2001, when his current series, Flash! Kimen-gumi began.

Reception

Shinzawa's High School! Kimengumi has been called "the funniest manga I have ever read" by Michael Gombos, director of Asian marketing for Dark Horse

Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

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