Kumakura, Yuuichi

Yuichi Kumakura is a Japanese manga artist. He is from Niigata prefecture and he is also know by his pen name U-1 Kumakura. Kumakura dropped out from high school in the first semester, then start publish manga while working as a part-time job, and made his debut in 1994 with Soukenden (双剣伝) on Comic BomBom. After that he started the King of Bandits Jing, which become his major work. Kumakura was heavily influenced by animation works from around the world, such as Disney animations and his favorite movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. He was also influenced by the artstyle from Capcom's illustrations team (especially on Darkstalkers and Street Fighter), and by the late comic book author, Juan Giménez. He is a heavy smoker and therefore had to retire in 2006 due some health problems.