Satoru Noda (artist)

Satoru Noda (野田サトル) is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series Golden Kamuy, for which he won the 2016 Manga Taishō and the 2018 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Biography
Noda was born in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, Japan. His great-grandfather was a military settler in Hokkaido and veteran of the Russo-Japanese War; Noda named the protagonist of his manga series Golden Kamuy after him. After moving to Tokyo at the age of 23, he entered the manga industry as an artist assistant. Noda was an assistant to Mitsurou Kubo for two years, and later worked under Yasuyuki Kunitomo. He made his debut as a manga artist in 2003, with the one-shot Kyōko-san no Kyō to iu Kyō (恭子さんの凶という今日) published in Monthly Young Magazine. His second one-shot story, 2006's Gōrī wa Mae Shika Mukanai (ゴーリーは前しか向かない), won a Tetsuya Chiba Award in the Young Artist division.

After working as an artist assistant for nearly a decade, Noda made his serialized manga debut in 2011 with Supinamarada!, serialized in Weekly Young Jump. After Supinamarada! was a commercial failure, Noda took a year before developing his next series, 2014's Golden Kamuy. The series would become a widespread critical and commercial success, and won the Manga Taishō in 2016 and the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2018. Following the conclusion of Golden Kamuy in 2022, Noda announced that he would relaunch Supinamarada!. Noda debuted the ice hockey manga reboot under the new name Dogsred in Weekly Young Jump on July 27, 2023.

Little is known about Noda's personal life. Though he maintains an online presence and is interviewed by the press about his work, he does not make public appearances; upon winning the Manga Taishō in 2016, the award was accepted by his editor, with Noda delivering an audio-only acceptance speech.

Style
Noda draws using digital illustration exclusively. While Noda is noted for conducting in-depth research on subject material that appears in his manga, he has stated that he is not interested in maintaining strict historical accuracy in his work, citing historically inaccurate elements in Golden Kamuy such as skiing and certain firearms that were added for dramatic effect.

Noda cites JoJo's Bizarre Adventure creator Hirohiko Araki and the manga Keiji, Kinnikuman, and Bloody Stumps Samurai as among his influences. Hallmarks of his work include visual references to pop culture, and narratives that juxtapose gag comedy against violent or dramatic moments. Handsome and muscular men are a recurring element of Noda's work; he has voiced his distaste for -styled manga, and has stated that he "draw[s] without compromise the beautiful bodies of men."

Serials

 * Supinamarada!, serialized in Weekly Young Jump (2011–2012)
 * Golden Kamuy, serialized in Weekly Young Jump (2014–2022)
 * Dogsred, serialized in Weekly Young Jump (2023–present)

One-shots

 * Kyōko-san no Kyō to iu Kyō (恭子さんの凶という今日), published in Monthly Young Magazine (2003)
 * Gōrī wa Mae Shika Mukanai (ゴーリーは前しか向かない), published in Monthly Young Magazine (2006)
 * Love of the Giant God Warrior - Spinamarada! Gaiden-( Aoharu No.0.99)
 * World Wide Wild ("Weekly Young Jump, etc." Vol.23, 2013)

Awards
! scope="row" | 2006 ! scope="row" | 2016 ! scope="row" | 2016 ! scope="row" | 2016 ! scope="row" | 2017 ! scope="row" | 2018 ! scope="row" | 2018
 * Gōrī wa Mae Shika Mukanai
 * Young Artist Division
 * Tetsuya Chiba Award
 * Won
 * Golden Kamuy
 * Male Readers
 * Kono Manga ga Sugoi!
 * Second place
 * Golden Kamuy
 * Grand Prize
 * Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize
 * Nominated
 * Golden Kamuy
 * Manga Taishō
 * Won
 * Won
 * Golden Kamuy
 * Grand Prize
 * Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize
 * Nominated
 * Golden Kamuy
 * Grand Prize
 * Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize
 * Won
 * Golden Kamuy
 * Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
 * Eisner Award
 * Nominated
 * English-language translation by Viz Media