Atsuji Yamamoto is a manga artist with decades of experience and published works in the industry. He was one of the first students of legendary manga creator Kazuo Koike’s Gekiga Sonjuku school, a college course designed for aspiring manga artists, where he studied alongside other future manga luminaries like Rumiko Takahashi. Yamamoto would also later be an assistant for Takahashi on her debut work Urusei Yatsura. After graduating from college, he worked as an assistant for Haruki Etsumi on his series Chie the Brat, which was later adapted into a popular anime directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata. Yamamoto made his debut as a manga creator in 1978 in the Weekly Manga Action manga magazine. Some of his most notable works include the screwball action-comedies Ultimate Teacher and Elf 17, which have both been adapted into anime. He is also known for drawing an X-Men manga adaptation in 1995 and for being the character designer for the Metal Max video game series. Yamamoto is an avid cat lover and has an entire online store dedicated to merch just featuring his cat illustrations and designs.