Таио Мацумото

Taiyō Matsumoto is a manga artist from Tokyo. He made his debut with STRAIGHT in Morning, Kodansha's monthly seinen manga magazine, but is known for his works with Kodansha's rival publisher Shogakukan, including Tekkonkinkreet, Ping Pong and Number Five. He has received critical praise for his unconventional and often surrealist art style. Ping Pong and Blue Spring have been adapted into live-action feature films. Animation studio Studio 4°C adapted Tekkonkinkreet into an animated feature film. In 2007 he received an Excellence Award for manga at the Japan Media Arts Festival for the art of Takemitsu Zamurai. He is the cousin of Santa Inoue, another manga artist.