is a Japanese manga artist

Mangaka

is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...

 known both for his own works as well as being the collaborative artist with manga writers such as Shou Makura and Tatsuya Hamazaki.

Okano made his manga debut with Shueisha

Shueisha

is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...

 in 1987 with the one shot . In 1988, the one shot AT Lady! won the 28th Akatsuka Award

Akatsuka Award

The is the name of a semi-annual award presented to humorous manga cartoonists by the Japanese publisher Shueisha. The award has been given since 1974 and it aims to reward new manga artist in the comedy manga category. Its counterpart award, Tezuka Award, awards new manga artists in the Story...

 for best comedic story (under the name ), leading to a series in 1989 in Weekly Shōnen Jump

Weekly Shonen Jump

is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...

, Shueisha's main weekly shōnen magazine. After that series quickly ended, he soon met manga artist writer Shou Makura (Makura Shou, 真倉翔) and together, they began working on the series that would eventually become both of their greatest efforts: Hell Teacher Nūbē

Hell Teacher Nube

is a horror-comedy manga created by the collaborative efforts of writer and artist Takeshi Okano in Shueisha's manga anthology book Weekly Shōnen Jump. The series ran for 276 chapters from Issue 38, 1993 through Issue 24, 1999...

. After two one-shots under the name Jigoku Sensei Nubo (one in the 1992 Autumn Jump Special, another appearing in the main magazine early in 1993), the series began serialization in Jump Issue 38 in 1993 and had a successful 6-year run through Issue 24, 1999. The manga eventually ran for 276 chapters over 31 volumes, as well as a 49 episode anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series by Toei Animation

Toei Animation

Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...

 (from 1996 to 1997), as well as notoriety from one magazine as being one of the "Five Best Big Breast Manga".

After Nube ended, Makura and Okano worked together on another Jump manga in 2000, , a manga about a boy who's the descendant of a legendary fisherman. This series, though, did not last too long and broke apart the Okano/Makura team. After breaking with Makura, Takeshi Okano came back in 2001 with , but this series too did not last too long.

In 2004, Takeshi Okano returned to the strange and peculiar with . This series was an interactive study in cryptozoology

Cryptozoology

Cryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...

 similar to how Nube was a study in the supernatural. While lasting longer than his two previous efforts in manga with 47 chapters and 5 manga volumes, the series could not keep the interest of fickle Jump readers for too long and ended one year after it started.

In 2005, Takeshi Okano joined in on another collaborative effort for an extremely well known and popular series. Digimon

Digimon

, short for , is a Japanese media franchise encompassing digital toys, anime, manga and video games. The franchise's eponymous creatures are monsters of various forms living in a "Digital World", a parallel universe that originated from Earth's various communication networks.-Conception and...

, the popular monster partner series, was making a slight resurgence in the public eye, coinciding with a new anime series, (Digimon Savers

Digimon Savers

Digimon Data Squad, known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series, and the fifth series produced as part of the Digimon franchise. It was produced by Toei Animation, and aired every Sunday at 9:00 a.m. on the Fuji TV network. In addition, a tie-in movie called Ultimate Power! Burst Mode...

, which began in April 2006), and the start of the new manga series Digimon Next

Digimon Next

is the second Digimon manga to be printed in the pages of V-Jump magazine, starting on December 17, 2005. Its main purpose is to promote the Digimon virtual pet toys. The main character is called Tsurugi Tatsuno and is partnered with a Greymon...

in the pages of Shueisha

Shueisha

is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...

's video game magazine, V-Jump

V-Jump

is a Japanese magazine about new manga and video games based on popular manga. The magazine's first debut was in 1993 by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines.- History :...

. Okano is the artist on this project, working alongside , writer known for the manga version of .hack//Legend of the Twilight

.hack//Legend of the Twilight

is a science fiction manga series written by Tatsuya Hamazaki and drawn by Rei Izumi. The twenty-two chapters of .hack//Legend of the Twilight appeared as a serial in the Japanese magazine Comptiq, and published in three tankōbon by Kadokawa Shoten from July 2002 to April 2004...

and novelization for Jump properties such as Saint Seiya

Saint Seiya

, also known as Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac or simply Knights of the Zodiac, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada and serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1986 to 1991, and adapted into an anime TV series by Toei Animation from 1986 to 1989.The story follows...

and One Piece

One Piece

is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...

. Like before, Okano finds himself in a collaborative effort regarding children facing extraordinary circumstances.

In 2007, Okano and former partner Shou Makura finally reteamed to create a new series based on Hell Teacher Nube character Izuna Hatsuki.

Series Worked On

• AT Lady! (1989–1990)
• Hell Teacher Nube
  Hell Teacher Nube
  is a horror-comedy manga created by the collaborative efforts of writer and artist Takeshi Okano in Shueisha's manga anthology book Weekly Shōnen Jump. The series ran for 276 chapters from Issue 38, 1993 through Issue 24, 1999...
  
   (1993–1999, with Shou Makura)
• Tsurikkies Pintarou (2000, with Shou Makura)
• Magician² (2001)
• Gedou the Unidentified Mysterious Boy (2004–2005)
• Digimon Next
  Digimon Next
  is the second Digimon manga to be printed in the pages of V-Jump magazine, starting on December 17, 2005. Its main purpose is to promote the Digimon virtual pet toys. The main character is called Tsurugi Tatsuno and is partnered with a Greymon...
  
   (2006–2008, with Tatsuya Hamazaki)
• Izuna the Spiritual Medium (ongoing, with Shou Makura)