赤松 健 (Akamatsu Ken) is a Japanese mangaka, born in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, on July 5, 1968. Most of his works fall into the "harem" genre and feature ecchi material.
In his teenage years, Akamatsu failed the entrance exam to Tokyo University, and applied for Film Study instead (it is speculated that this is where he got the idea for Love Hina). Eventually, he became famous as an illustrator featured in Comiket (short for Comic Market, a comic convention bi-annually held in Japan). He used the pen name Awa Mizuno (水野 亜和, Mizuno Awa [1]). Akamatsu, still in college, then proceeded to win the Weekly Shonen Magazine award twice. His "A Kid's Game for One Summer" was awarded the coveted 50th Shonen Magazine Newcomer's Award soon after he graduated.
After a big hit with A・I ga Tomaranai! (A.I. Love You), he finally made a grand success with his new manga, Love Hina. The series appeared in Weekly Shonen Magazine and has been collected in eleven volumes (with fourteen volumes in total), which have sold over 6 million copies in Japan, and received the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen in 2001. Akamatsu had added elements of his own life experiences to the story, and this was said to have induced a unique feeling to the manga especially for Western readers, whose lack of familiarity with Japanese culture for the most part added to the effect. The series, published in America in 2002, was especially well received in many overseas countries - Akamatsu was surprised that even foreign readers found Love Hina to be "cute" and to their liking.
He is married to his wife 'Kanon' Akamatsu. Love Hina and the his manga after that, Mahou Sensei Negima! (Negima!: Magister Negi Magi), were made into an anime series produced by XEBEC. A second independent retelling of Negima by SHAFT was made called Negima!? [2], but it never reached the popularity of the first series or Love Hina. It is has also been aired as a live action series.
His current manga is UQ Holder!, a story in the same universe as Negima. It received an anime adaptation by JC Staff that was based on a backup plot.
He later announced in December 2021 he would be running in the summer 2022 elections for a seat in the House of Councillors, the upper house of Japan's House of Representatives, through a nationwide proportional district with a platform "to protect freedom of expression, artistic freedom and creators' rights in Japan from foreign and domestic puritan and politically correct censorship, standards, regulations and influences" according to Wikipedia. His campaign was a success.
[1] https://tangorin.com/words?search=水の泡
[2] Anime DB: Negima!?
Wikipedia Entry
