Gege Akutami

Gege Akutami (芥見下々) is a Japanese manga artist known for their work Jujutsu Kaisen. Gege Akutami is a pen name and the author's real name and identity are unknown.

Biography
Gege Akutami was born in Iwate Prefecture on February 26, 1992. Akutami moved to Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture in fifth grade. Akutami began drawing manga by mimicking a friend, which inspired them to become a professional manga artist. Akutami has named Tite Kubo as an influence in their work after reading Bleach in fourth grade, in addition to Hunter × Hunter and Neon Genesis Evangelion among other works. In 2014, Gege Akutami started working as an assistant to Yasuhiro Kanō in Kiss x Death.

They published their first work the same year, titled "Kamishiro Sōsa" (神代捜査), a one-shot chapter published in Shueisha's Jump NEXT! vol. 2 on May 7, 2014. Their next work was No.9, with a one-shot chapter published in Jump NEXT! vol. 2 on May 1, 2015, and another one-shot in the 46th issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump on October 10, 2015. Akutami would publish the one-shot "Nikai Bongai Barabarjura" (二界梵骸バラバルジュラ) in the 2016 44th issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, released on October 3, 2016. This one-shot was nominated for the 11th "Gold Future Cup" contest of the magazine. In 2017, Akutami published Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School (東京都立呪術高等専門学校), a 4-chapter series that ran in Jump GIGA from April 28 to July 28, 2017. This series later served as a prologue to their next work, Jujutsu Kaisen, being retroactively titled as Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Akutami began the publication of Jujutsu Kaisen in the 2018 14th issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, released on March 5, 2018.

Works

 * Kamishiro Sousa (神代捜査) (2014) — one-shot published in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump Next!.
 * No.9 (2015) — one-shot published in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump Next!.
 * No.9 (2015) — one-shot published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump.
 * Nikai Bongai Barabarujura (二界梵骸バラバルジュラ) (2016) — one-shot published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump.
 * Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School (東京都立呪術高等専門学校) (2017) — serialized in Shueisha's Jump GIGA.
 * Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦) (2018–present) — serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump.

Awards
In 2016, Akutami's one-shot Nikai Bongai Barabarujura was nominated for Weekly Shōnen Jump's 11th Gold Future Cup contest. In 2019, their manga Jujutsu Kaisen was nominated for the 65th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category. Akutami is the 2020 grand prize winner for Jujutsu Kaisen on Mando Kobayashi, Kendo Kobayashi's monthly manga variety show where winners are selected on their personal taste. In 2021, Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen was listed as a nominee for the 25th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.