I just found a treasure trove of information for manga fans. Remember, I mentioned last August a documentary on NHK World Japan titled Manben: Behind the Scenes of Manga with Urasawa Naoki (浦沢直樹の漫勉 / Urasawa Naoki no ManBen / lit. “The manga study of Naoki Urasawa”)  where manga genius Urasawa Naoki was meeting with mangaka Yasuhiko Yoshikazu and discussing with him his drawing techniques and works (that video is still available for streaming on NHK World Japan until the end of July 2023). That documentary is actually part of a series where Urasawa meets with several manga artists to discuss their works. Unfortunately, only one other video is available for streaming on NHK WORLD Japan at the moment: the episode where he meets with Sakamoto Shin-ichi (available to stream until the end of November 2023).

However, I just discovered a fan website offering ALL the episodes of the series with English subtitles: www.naokiurasawa.com. The series has five seasons and about thirty episodes. Here is a list of all episodes (with links to view the documentaries):

Season 0 (2014)

• Kawaguchi Kaiji (Silent Service, Eagle, Zipang [Wikipedia])
• Yamashita Kazumi (The Life of Genius Professor Yanagizawa [Wikipedia])

Season 1 (2015)

• Higashimura Akiko (Princess Jellyfish [Wikipedia])
• Fujita Kazuhiro (Ushio and Tora [Wikipedia])
• Inio Asano (Goodnight Punpun, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction [Wikipedia])
• Takao Saito (Golgo 13 [Wikipedia])

Season 2 (2016)

• Moto Hagio (Heart of Thomas, Otherworld Barbara, Reine Margot [Wikipedia])
• Kengo Hanazawa (I Am A Hero [Wikipedia])
• Daisuke Igarashi (Children of the Sea [Wikipedia])
• Usamaru Furuya (Suicide Circle, Lychee Light Club, Genkaku Picasso [Wikipedia])

Season 3 (2016)

• Ryoichi Ikegami (Mai The Psychic Girl, Crying Freeman, Sanctuary [Wikipedia])
• Miyake Ranjo (Imuri, Bussen, Pet [Manga Updates])
• Takahashi Tsutomu (Sky High [Wikipedia])
• Naoki Urasawa (Pineapple Army, Yawara!, Master Keaton, Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto, Billy Bat [Wikipedia])

Season 4 (2017)

• Reiko Shimizu (Himitsu, Kaguyahime, Moon Child [Wikipedia])
• Junji Ito (Uzumaki, Tomie, Shiver, Gyo [Wikipedia])
• Naoki Yamamoto (RED, BLUE, Asatte Dance [Wikipedia])
• Takumi Nagayasu (Ai to Makoto, The Legend of the Mother of Sarah [Manga Updates])

Season 5: NEO (2020-2023)

• Chiba Tetsuya (Ashita no Joe [Wikipedia]) aired October 01 , 2020
• Nao Iwamoto (Yesterday: Yes a Day, The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom [Manga Updates]) aired October 08 , 2020
• Sugimura Shinichi (All Nude, Cigarette Anthology [Manga Updates]) aired October 15 , 2020
• Yukinobu Hoshino (2001 Nights [Wikipedia]) aired October 22 , 2020
• Daijiro Morohoshi (Yōkai Hunter, Saiyū Yōenden [Wikipedia]) aired November 12, 2020
• Keiko Nishi (Sanban-chō Hagiwara-ya no Bijin, Love Song [Wikipedia]) aired November 19, 2020
• Fuyumi Soryo (Boyfriend, MARS, ES, Cesare, Marie Antoinette [Wikipedia]) aired December 10, 2020
• Shinichi Sakamoto (The Climber, Innocent, Innocent Rouge [Wikipedia]) aired December 17, 2020
• Yushikazu Yasuhiko (Arion, Venus Wars, Joan, M.S. Gundam: The Origin [Wikipedia]) — See my comment
• Haruko Kashiwagi (Hanazono Merry go Round (Initiation), Onimushi (Rivage) [ANN]) aired June 16, 2021
• Shuzo Oshimi (Blood on the Tracks, Okaeri Arisu [Wikipedia]) aired June 23, 2021
• Wataru Watanabe (Yowamushi Pedal [manga Updates])
• Yasuko Aoike (From Eroica with Love [Wikipedia])
• Hideki Arai (The World is mine, Kiichi [Wikipedia]) aired in March 16, 2022
• Osamu Tezuka (Astroboy, Black Jack, Buddha [Wikipedia]) to air in February 2023
• Minase Ai (Hachimitsu ni Hatsukoi, Koi Furu Colorful [Manga Updates]) to air on February 11, 2023
• Katsuya Terada (The Monkey King [Wikipedia]) to air on February 18, 2023
• Kazuhiko Shimamoto (Honō no Tenkōsei [Wikipedia]) to air on February 25, 2023

For more information you can check the Official website of the show or the Japanese Wikipedia entry (Wikipedia.jp).

This documentary series certainly has a great potential to teach us a lot more about Japanese manga artists. Have a nice viewing!

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