1980–2001: Shogakukan

Due to his father's job, Nagasaki lived in Hiroshima from first to fourth grade.^[3] Nagasaki joined publisher Shogakukan as an editor in 1980. He worked on their manga magazines Big Comic, Weekly Shōnen Sunday, Big Comic Original and Big Comic Superior.^[4] In the mid-1980s, he was editor to Takao Saito on Golgo 13.^[5] Nagasaki is also one of the people credited for editing Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma ½.^[6] In July 1999, he became editor-in-chief of Big Comic Spirits and held the position until leaving Shogakukan in 2001.^[7]

Nagasaki first met Naoki Urasawa when he was assigned to be the editor of the newly debuting manga artist.^[1] The two collaborate so frequently, that Nagasaki has been called Urasawa's "producer." However, Nagasaki said he does not call himself a producer and described his "workload" as being the same as a manga editor's. Although they continue to collaborate even after Nagasaki became freelance, they rarely socialize outside of work.^[1] It was Nagasaki who came up with the premise for Urasawa and Kazuya Kudo's Pineapple Army (1985–1988).^[8] Nagasaki was a co-author of Urasawa and Hokusei Katsushika's adventure series Master Keaton (1988–1994).^[9] It was later adapted into a television anime and original video animation series between 1998 and 2000. From 1994 to 2001, Nagasaki collaborated with Urasawa on the story for the thriller Monster.^[10] They co-wrote a companion novel titled Another Monster in 2002,^[11] and the manga was adapted into an anime in 2004. The duo also collaborated from 1999 to 2007 on the story for the science fiction mystery 20th Century Boys and its sequel 21st Century Boys.^[12] The two series earned them the 2008 Seiun Award for Best Comic,^[13] and won many other awards. Nagasaki was also one of the scriptwriters of the three live-action film adaptations of 20th Century Boys, released between 2008 and 2009.^[14]

2001–present: Freelance

After becoming freelance in 2001, Nagasaki has worked as an author under his own name and various pen names, such as Keishi Edogawa, Garaku Toshusai, Big O and Richard Woo. He explained that he never intended to become famous as an author, and so felt that anything would be fine for a pen name.^[15] With Urasawa, Nagasaki co-authored Pluto (2003–2009), a re-imagining of Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka. It won numerous awards including, the ninth Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (2005),^[16] an Excellence Prize at the seventh Japan Media Arts Festival (2005),^[17] and the 2010 Seiun Award for Best Comic.^[18] From 2006 to 2009, Richard Woo worked with Shinichi Sugimura on Dias Police: Ihō Keisatsu for Kodansha's Morning.^[19] In 2016, the manga was adapted into a 10-episode TV drama and a theatrical film, and the duo created a short sequel arc subtitled 999-hen.^[20] In 2008, Nagasaki and Urasawa began the mystery series Billy Bat in Morning. The manga won the 2014 Max & Moritz Prize for Best International Comic, before ending in 2016.^[21][22] Also in 2008, Nagasaki and Urasawa took guest teaching posts at Nagoya Zokei University, where they taught "Modern Expression Course: Manga Classes" two to three times a year, although the class met every month.^[23] That same year, Nagasaki teamed up with Seimu Yoshizaki for the female detective manga Deka Girl, which ran in Kodansha's Kiss Plus until August 2011.^[24] In 2009, he created the two-part manga SQ with Kira for Shueisha's You.^[25] Nagasaki wrote the historical novel Arutantahā Tōhō Kenmonroku Kitan for Kodansha's Pandora Vol.2 Side-B magazine,^[26] before it was published as a standalone book in 2010.^[27]

Nagasaki teamed up with Junji Ito and former diplomat Masaru Sato to create Yūkoku no Rasputin (2010–2012), based on Sato's personal experiences in Russia, for Big Comic.^[28] To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Shogakukan, Nagasaki produced a 2011 picture book adaptation of Kosuke Hamada's story Red Oni Cries that was illustrated by Urasawa.^[29] In April 2012, Shinchosha published the first novel in what would become Nagasaki's Daigo Shinji no Hakuran Suiri Files franchise that follows a manga editor who solves mysteries. As of 2018, it is composed of three novels and two TV drama adaptations broadcast by Wowow that star Arata Furuta as the title character.^[30] Richard Woo and Koji Kono's Kurokōchi ran in Nihon Bungeisha's Weekly Manga Goraku from 2012 to 2018. It was adapted into a 10-episode TV drama in 2013.^[31] From 2012 to 2014, Nagasaki and Urasawa created Master Keaton Remaster as a sequel set 20 years after the original series.^[32] Nagasaki reunited with Yoshizaki to create the science fiction detective series Usagi Tantei Monogatari (2012–2013) for Kodansha's Kiss.^[33] At the end of 2012, Nagasaki started working with Michitsune Nakajima on Yamaterasu Code, which was serialized in Shueisha's Jump X until the magazine was cancelled in 2014.^[34][35] As Richard Woo, he and Yoshizaki created Abracadabra: Ryōki Hanzai Tokusōshitsu in Big Comic Original Zōkan from 2014 to 2020.^[36] The series earned them the 2018 Saito Takao Award.^[37] Nagasaki has served on the award's final selection committee every year since.

Nagasaki wrote ZIG, illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari, for Shueisha's Grand Jump in 2017.^[14] In 2018, Richard Woo began Himiko -Shinsetsu Yamataikoku-den-, about the ancient queen of the same name, with Mariko Nakamura in Big Comic Original.^[38] The following year, he reunited with Kono to began Keibuho Daimajin in Weekly Manga Goraku.^[39] Richard Woo created M no Shirushi -MacArthur Ansatsu Keikaku- in 2020 alongside Ryoichi Ikegami for Shogakukan's Big Comic Superior. It tells the story of a plot to assassinate Douglas MacArthur.^[40] Nagasaki was one of the writers of the June 2021 film Character. It was adapted into a manga for Monthly Big Comic Spirits by Akira Iwaya in March, and Nagasaki wrote a novelization published in May.^[41][42] He and Kōsuke Muku created the horror story Child from the Dark in Big Comic from November 25, 2021, to August 10, 2022.^[43] It is based on Nagasaki's novel Yomi Nemuru Mori -Daigo Shinji no Hakuran Suiri File-.^[44] Upon completion, it was revealed that "Kōsuke Muku" was a pen name of Makoto Isshiki and that she would be credited by her real name in the tankōbon.^[45]

Richard Woo and Yoshizaki began the suspense manga Minzoku Gakusha Akasaka Yaichirō no Jiken-bo in the October 2022 issue of Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon, which was released on August 24, 2022.^[46]

Manga

Novels

Film