Tsugumi Ohba author page

Tsugumi Ohba biography

Tsugumi Ohba is a Japanese manga writer whose principal works have been created in collaboration with illustrator Takeshi Obata. Shueisha publishes the pair’s manga in Japan, while VIZ Media publishes their English-language editions in the United States. VIZ identifies Ohba as having been born in Tokyo, but relatively little verified biographical information about the writer has been made public.

Ohba and Obata first collaborated on Death Note, which was serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump. The story follows student Light Yagami after he discovers a supernatural notebook that causes the death of any person whose name is written in it. The original manga comprises 12 main volumes, with additional material published in Death Note 13: How to Read and later collections.

The pair reunited for Bakuman, a 20-volume series about two students who work together in an attempt to become professional manga creators. Ohba supplied the story and Obata the artwork, the same division of responsibilities used for Death Note. Their third major serialized collaboration, Platinum End, follows Mirai Kakehashi after an angel draws him into a contest involving 13 candidates for the position of the next god. The series was serialized in Shueisha’s Jump SQ. and collected in 14 volumes.

Ohba has also written shorter manga, including the Death Note pilot and later stories set in the same fictional world. VIZ Media brought several of these pieces together in Death Note Short Stories, with artwork by Obata, releasing the US edition on May 10, 2022.

Tsugumi Ohba teaching resources

• VIZ Media’s Death Note, Vol. 1 page provides a free online preview of the manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, together with publication details, a Teen Plus age rating and information about the complete series.
• The Center for Cartoon Studies’ Death Note study guide is a downloadable PDF for Volumes 1 and 2 with ten discussion and analysis prompts covering suspense techniques, characterization, visual framing, protagonist and antagonist roles, artistic choices, morality and Light Yagami’s psychological development.
• PBS LearningMedia’s How Manga Took Over American Bookshelves is a grades 6-12 ELA resource featuring a 14-minute video that includes Death Note in its examination of manga, accompanied by discussion questions, vocabulary, a video-summary organizer, a manga-reading activity and a comic-panel writing activity.
• VIZ Media’s Bakuman, Vol. 1 page provides a free online preview of Ohba and Obata’s manga about two students attempting to become professional manga creators, together with publication information and VIZ’s Teen age rating.