Furudate Haruichi

Name In Native Language: 古舘春一

Birthdate: March 7, 1983

A Japanese manga artist, best known for creating Haikyuu!!.

Haikyuu!! began as two oneshots published in Jump NEXT! in January 2011 and then Weekly Shounen Jump in April 2011. The story was then serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump beginning on February 20, 2012, and ending on July 20, 2020. The series was awarded the 61st Shougakukan Manga Award in the Shounen category and ranked in the top three manga series for the 2015 Sugoi Japan Award. In 2020, the series was in the top five best selling manga in Japan, with over seven million copies sold. The series has also received numerous adaptations, notably an anime television series and a stage play.

In an early stage of Haikyuu!!'s serialization, in order not to make readers feel bored, Furudate tried various storyboards, but a neighbor thought it was difficult to understand; later, Furudate saw a passenger on the train reading "JUMP" and skip Haikyuu!!. Furudate was deeply affected, so he made up his mind to improve his storyboard and painting style to make it more concise and easy to understand.