Ken Akamatsu (赤松 健, Akamatsu Ken, July 5, 1968 -) is a Japanese mangaka from Tokyo. 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). 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. 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 now married to his wife 'Kanon' Akamatsu, who was previously a singer/idol. He is currently working on his latest manga series, Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, which is his longest running manga so far. Like Love Hina, has also been made into an anime series. A second independent retelling of Negima was made called Negima!?. Both series were produced by XEBEC (Negima!? was produced by SHAFT).
Series
Books
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 6
2015
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Omnibus 4
2012
Love Hina, Vol. 09
2000
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 7
2004
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 22
2008
UQ Holder!, Vol 14
2017
Love Hina, Vol. 10
2001
A.I. Love You, Vol. 02
1999
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 4
2014
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 13
2006
A.I. Love You, Vol. 04
2004
UQ Holder! Vol. 13
2017
A.I. Love You, Vol. 05
1999
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 8
2015
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 3
2003
Love Hina, Vol. 08
2000
Love Hina, Vol. 14
2002
UQ HOLDER! 20
2019
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 15
2006
UQ Holder, Vol 12
2016
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 1
2003
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 1
2013
Love Hina, Vol. 01
1999
Love Hina, Vol. 06
2000
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 36
2011
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 30
2010
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 12
2004
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 28
2009
A.I. Love You, Vol. 07
2005
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Omnibus 2
2011
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 37
2012
Love Hina, Vol. 03
1999
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 14
2006
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Omnibus 1
2007
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 17
2007
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 32
2001
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 15
2017
A.I. Love You, Vol. 01
1994
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 5
2004
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 16
2018
UQ HOLDER! 28
2022
UQ HOLDER! 17
2018
Negima!? Neo
Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 2
2009
Negima!? Neo 7
2009
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 5
2014
Negima!? Neo 5
2009
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 2
2003
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 10
2005
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 34
2011
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 11
2005
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 16
2006
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 11
2016
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 4
2004
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 7
2015
Negima!? Neo 4
2009
Love Hina, Vol. 11
2001
Love Hina, Vol. 05
1999
UQ HOLDER! 22
2020
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 27
2009
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 10
2016
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 21
2008
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 24
2008
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 25
2009
Love Hina, Vol. 13
2001
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 26
2009
Love Hina, Vol. 02
1999
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 23
2008
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 38
2012
UQ HOLDER! 21
2019
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 9
2015
UQ HOLDER! 25
2021
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 9
2005
UQ HOLDER!, Vol. 3
2014
UQ HOLDER! 26
2021
Love Hina, Vol. 07
2000
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 20
2007
Love Hina, Vol. 04
1999
Love Hina, Vol. 12
2001
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 8
2004
UQ HOLDER! 24
2020
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 18
2007
UQ HOLDER! 27
2021
UQ HOLDER! 23
2020
Negima!? Neo 1
Magister Negi Magi
2007
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 35
2011
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 31
2010
Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 19
2007
