Line #12 Creator/KenAkamatsu


1	%%
2	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16888640050.99919000
3	%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
4	%%
5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kenakamatsu.png]]
6	Ken Akamatsu (born July 5, 1968) is a mangaka and politician best known for his works ''Manga/LoveHina'' and ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi''.
7
8	He's also known for his full espousement of the {{moe}} aesthetic and [[HaremAnime loads of cute girls following the lead]], and enormous cast size. While he did do earlier doujin work, try not to be confused with his assistant MAGI - who did several doujins under the circle name of Culittle - which are sometimes confused with Ken Akamatsu. As of late, though, he seems to be breaking out of this mold, as his [[Manga/UQHolder latest series]] seems to contain ''far'' less of these elements.
9
10	His wife is a {{cosplay}}er, whom some of his lead female characters (prominently, ''Love Hina''[='s=] Naru and ''Negima''[='s=] Chisame) are apparently inspired by.
11
12	Before becoming a mangaka, he wrote ''The Paladin'', a simple ActionRPG for the Platform/PC88.
13
14	He's been working on a project called [[http://www.mangaz.com Manga Library Z]], formerly [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-04-11/j-comi/purify-file-shared-manga-with-authorized-ads J-Comi]], since the [=2010s=] to make currently out-of-print manga available online at no charge, as well as finding ways to allow mangakas to actually make money off of fan translations, again at no cost to the reader.
15
16	He's also created a new series, ''Manga/UQHolder'' which seems to be a StealthSequel to ''Negima'', picking up on what Evangeline is up to eighty years after the events of his previous manga. The manga ended in 2022 after he [[https://screenrant.com/negima-love-hina-manga-ken-akamatsu-run-office announced he would be running for councilor in the 2022 House of Councilors elections]]. He ran as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan's leading conservative political party, on a platform focusing on promoting manga, freedom of speech protections, and improved copyright protections for doujin authors. He announced his victory in on July 10th of the same year, winning the proportional ballot with about 530,000 votes, and becoming the first-ever mangaka to become a member of the Japanese parliament.
17
18	!!Notable Works:
19
20	[[index]]
21	* ''HitoNatsuNoKidsGame'' (1993): His debut manga
22	* ''Manga/AILoveYou'' (1994-1997): The first of his manga to be (extremely tenuously) connected to one of his other series.
23	* ''Manga/ItsudatteMySanta'' (1997)
24	* ''Manga/LoveHina'' (1998-2001): Arguably his best known work, being the TropeCodifier (or at least the most popular example) of the modern UnwantedHarem genre. It pigeonholed him as "a romantic comedy guy", a tendency he began to shift away from in subsequent series. Also known for having lots of {{Fanservice}}.
25	* ''Manga/MaoChan'' (2003-2004): The beginning of his shift away from romantic comedy, though it was obscure enough that he was still pigeonholed when his next work came about.
26	* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' (2003-2012): Arguably his ''other'' best known work, notable for codifying that it, ''A.I. Love You'', and ''Love Hina'' all take place in the same universe, as well as taking a ''hard'' GenreShift into shonen territory while still retaining a lot of {{Moe}}, UnwantedHarem elements, and {{Fanservice}}.
27	* ''Manga/UQHolder'' (2013-2022): His latest manga, a SequelSeries to ''Negima'', picking up roughly 80 years after ''Negima'''s epilogue. It's Akamatsu's first straight {{Shonen}} series, and appears to have jettisoned most (though not all) of the {{Fanservice}} and UnwantedHarem material he's most well known for.
28	[[/index]]
29
30	----
31	!!Tropes commonly associated with Ken Akamatsu:
32
33	* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: Akamatsu's style has been to compose his backgrounds distinct from his characters (the former increasingly done with actual CG, though some hand-drawn backgrounds still make it in), with the characters more or less pasted into the scene. On one hand, it does allow him to produce some lovely detailed backgrounds quickly as he's able to reuse elements or just pan around the created background image. On the other, the characters almost invariably have a white "halo" effect around them that can be distracting. The size of this "halo" has decreased over time (the halos in ''UQ Holder'' are easily half of what they were in ''Love Hina''), but it's still present.
34	* AuthorAppeal:
35	** Cosplay. And probably other forms of FanService, but the Cosplay is most prominent.
36	** He also seems to have an interest in the concept of immortality/invulnerability; ''Love Hina'' had a RunningGag that the protagonist [[AmusingInjuries couldn't be killed]], ''Negima'' featured an immortal character and explicitly made the protagonist immortal late in the series, and ''UQ Holder'' is about an entire organization of immortals.
37	* AuthorAvatar: Keitaro may be this to him, seeing as Akamatsu usually draws himself like Keitaro.
38	* BarbieDollAnatomy: Used quite frequently to tone down the fanservice; ''Love Hina'' especially uses this.
39	* ContinuityOverlap: Primarily between ''Negima'' and ''Love Hina'', but there are some overlaps with ''A.I. Love You''. ''UQ Holder'' pretty much confirms it, as it seems to deal with the fallout of TheMasquerade being dropped at the end of ''Negima'' and Evangeline appears to be a major character, although whether it's a straight-up continuation of the same continuity or an AlternateUniverse of some sort is up in the air.
40	** It's unclear if ''Mao-Chan'' is in the same universe; at one point a couple that looks an awful lot like Keitaro and Naru appears (as {{Bit Character}}s, not {{extras}}), but it is never explicitly confirmed or denied that it's them.
41	* CulturalCrossReference: Everything from ''Franchise/StarWars'' to ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' to "Ku:Nel Sanders" to Creator/SylvesterStallone.
42	* {{Determinator}}: Seriously, [[http://z4.invisionfree.com/aquastar/index.php?showtopic=6&st=29760 just read a few of his diary entries (translated)]] and tell us this guy ain't one himself.
43	* {{Ecchi}}: The levels of nudity in Akamatsu's fanservice, without being softened by things like BarbieDollAnatomy or other censoring methods, would push ''Love Hina'' and (arguably) ''Negima'' into R-rated territory.
44	* FanService: If there's a fanservice trope, Akamatsu's used it. One memetic scene from ''Negima'' involved [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_msn_c_4859.jpg a waitress in the magic world]] whose appearance and clothes hit ten separate fanservice tropes in one package.[[note]]If you're curious: CatGirl, FanServiceWithASmile, GoGoEnslavement, {{Meido}}, OfCorsetsSexy, HighClassGloves, ShowgirlSkirt, and ZettaiRyouiki[[/note]] [[FanServiceExtra For a grand total of one panel.]]
45	* GenreSavvy: [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-04-11/j-comi/purify-file-shared-manga-with-authorized-ads Good God he is one in real life.]]
46	* TheInternetIsAnOcean: The Internet's cyberspace is usually an endless ocean. Tuna is a DOS attack.
47	** ''Manga/AILoveYou'': Cyberspace is depicted as an ocean filled with fish who represent programs. The fish species depends on the nature of the program. It's also stated that there are as many different cyberspace oceans as there are digital networks.
48	** ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'''s chapter 154, where Chisame enters cyberspace to fight Chachamaru, and it is represented as an ocean with fish as programs.
49	* ReferenceOverdosed
50	* SceneryPorn: Akamatsu started doing some very detailed environments in the latter half of ''Love Hina'', but he really got going in ''Negima'', doing amazingly detailed locations in both the regular and magic worlds.
51	* ShoutOut: ''Tons''. Especially related to VideoGames.
52	* ShownTheirWork: Surprisingly good Latin, Ancient Greek, and ''[[SerialEscalation Sanskrit]]'' in ''Negima''. The {{Omake}} is also full of mythological references. ''Negima'' volumes' bonus sections also discuss how the laws of physics influence magic.
53	* UnwantedHarem: ''Love Hina'' practically redefined this trope's modern form, and it's the genre Akamatsu is most commonly associated with. Even though ''Negima'' started out looking like one, it eventually [[GenreShift started moving in a different direction]], as he wanted to try [[{{Shounen}} something different]]. ''UQ Holder'' appeared to have abandoned the genre entirely until chapter 98, when it came back full force.
54	* TheVerse: ''Love Hina'', ''Negima'', and ''UQ Holder'' all take place in the same universe; ''A.I. Love You'' also has a tenuous connection and ''Mao-Chan'' an even more tenuous one.
55	* WhamLine: "''Negima'' will end in three chapters." Cue fans ''frothing at their mouths.'' And ''then'' you find out [[http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=4062766&postcount=8408 his reasons for ending the manga way too quick.]]
56

Context Creator / KenAkamatsu