Kenichi Sonoda

Kenichi Sonoda
Born	(1962-12-13) 13 December 1962 (age 61) Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture
Nationality	Japanese

Manga artist and animation character designer

Sonoda Kenichi (園田健一, Sonoda Ken'ichi, born 13 December 1962) is a Japanese manga artist and animation character designer.

Professional career

Born in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Sonoda moved to Tokyo in 1984, at the age of 21, and began work at Artmic,^[1] an anime studio. During this time, he worked on Bubblegum Crisis, producing the original Knight Saber character designs. He also worked on Gall Force, for which he did the original character designs.

He worked at Artmic until 1991, when he began work on the manga series Gunsmith Cats. Gunsmith Cats is one of Sonoda's best known works, being both a Harvey^[2] and Tezuka award nominee. Sonoda concluded Gunsmith Cats' run in 1997, when he put the comic on hiatus, and began work on Cannon God Exaxxion. In 2004, after finishing Cannon God Exaxxion, he returned to work on Gunsmith Cats, with the follow-up sequel, Gunsmith Cats Burst.

He is currently the 19th head of the wagashi confectionery shop "Sonoda-ya" in Kumamoto, established in 1582. Sonoda created a new product, its first in 115 years, by adding lemon peels to his family's existing chōsen-ame candies and providing his own bishōjo illustrations for the packaging.^[3]

Personal life

Sonoda is a self-confessed gun fanatic, owning several replica guns.^[4]

Works

Manga

Riding Bean (1988–1989; cancelled with the magazine)
Gunsmith Cats (1991–1997)
Cannon God Exaxxion (1997–2004)
Gunsmith Cats BURST (2004–2008)
Bullet the Wizard (2010–2013)

Animation

Wanna-Be's (1986)—character concept design
Gall Force: First Story Arc (1986)—character design
Gall Force: Rhea Arc (1989)—character design
Gall Force: Earth Chapter Arc (1989)—character design
Gall Force: New Era Arc (1991)—character design
Bubblegum Crisis (1987-1991)—character and mecha design
Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise (1987)—production design
Riding Bean (1989) original story, character design
Bubblegum Crash (1991)—character design
Otaku no Video (1991)—character design
Gunsmith Cats (1995-1996)—original story, character design
Idol Janshi Suchie-Pai (1996)—original character design
Solty Rei (2005)—conceptual design

Video games

Sol Bianca
Suchie-Pai The Idol Fighter series (1993–ongoing)
Neon Genesis Evangelion Eva to Yukai na Nakamitachi Datsuihokankeikaku
Temho Painyan

References

^ "Interview with Kenichi Sonoda", Gunsmith Cats Volume 1: Bonnie and Clyde (Dark Horse Comics, 1996), p. 3.
^ The Harvey Awards. "Harvey Award Nominees 1997". Archived from the original on June 25, 2004. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
^ "１５８２年創業の老舗和菓子店、１１５年ぶり新商品発売：朝日新聞デジタル". Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 15 September 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
^ DarkHorse.com. "Dark Horse interview with Sonoda". Retrieved September 16, 2006.