Assassination Classroom and KonoSuba Writer Visits Crunchyroll Expo!

Despite being a necessary cornerstone of a successful series, the writers contributions to anime may be one of the ones most difficult to see, especially when it comes to adapting published works or maintaining quality with series composition. Makoto Uezu has overcome his hurdle to rise to real prominence in the industry for not only the quality of his work, but also the raw quantity he's able to produce. Even more than these exceptional qualities, he also possesses an now famous eye for spotting the next big thing and making it happen, making him a truly exceptional creator in anime.

 

Crunchyroll is honored to welcome Uezu as a guest to the second year of Crunchyroll Expo, where he'll be looking back at his 20 years in the anime industry, talking about some of his greatest career hits, and showing off his newest work!

 

Uezu was born in the Osaka prefecture and enrolled in Osaka University of Arts, originally intending to work in video games before dropping out. He was eventually scouted as a writer from the work he put into his blog, and moved to Tokyo in 2002 to work at Studio Orphee under Yosuke Kuroda before going independent in 2004.

Uezu’s personal philosophy is to read as much as possible, keeping up with current manga trends. He famously recommended young creators read criterion works, even if they aren’t fans of the genre, to broaden their perspective and increase their flexibility. Not just manga, either--his friend and frequent partner Seiji Kishi recalled going to see Avengers: Infinity War with Uezu, who had been anticipating the movie because he’d already read the entire related comic line.

This practice has lead directly to Uezu’s participation in some of his famous works. One infamous story among the staff of Assassination Classroom was Uezu bringing a copy of the first chapter into a morning meeting and telling everyone it was going to become big, which had the studio enthusiastic about the series when they eventually entered talks about the anime adaptation. He had also been a fan of the KonoSuba light novels along with director Takaomi, who both pushed to adapt the series when the studio was looking for material for future projects.

Uezu writes. A lot. A whole lot. Since getting his start in the early 2000s, he’s worked in a huge number of anime as series composition, script writer, or often both. As his career has progressed, he just seems to be speeding up. Looking back at his oeuvre, there are many periods of time where he has worked on multiple titles in a single season. Since 2010, he’s averaged about 2-3 anime a year, with many of them extending into multiple seasons.

Even if you just recently became an anime fan, you’re probably familiar with Uezu’s work. Just as Uezu predicted, Assassination Classroom and KonoSuba were both major hits both in Japan and internationally. Before those two highlights, he participated in the production of popular action anime like Akame ga Kill! and Yuki Yuna is a Hero.

The last year has been unusual for Uezu: rather than spreading himself across multiple projects, he’s been working on the megahit successor shonen series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations since its premiere in spring 2017. Uezu will be hosting a career retrospective panel reviewing his past 20 years of work on Saturday:

Radiant Scriptwriter Makoto Uezu: A Career Retrospective

Saturday 1:15PM - GB 220B (Upper Level)

As well as a panel where he will be discussing his newest work on the upcoming Fall shonen anime based on a hit manga by the French manga artist Tony Valente, Radiant:

Bringing Radiant to Life: A conversation with script writer Makoto Uezu

Monday 2:15PM - GB 220 C (Upper Level)

Uezu has a reputation for hosting exciting fan events in Japan, so come prepared. He’s proven to have an eye for works with international appeal, so his excitement about Radiant speaks for itself. Whether you’re curious about his past work or hyped for one of the biggest upcoming shonen titles, he’s one guest that you don’t want to miss! Make sure you’re registered and to visit both his panels!

Buy tickets to Crunchyroll Expo 2018 now!

What's your favorite Uezu work? Are you excited about Radiant? Let us know in the comments below!

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Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

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