Samura, Hiroaki

Hiroaki Samura (沙村広明) is a manga artist born in Chiba Prefecture in 1970. He studied at art school but left before graduating when Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon recruited him to begin his debut series. His classical fine-arts training - including a background in etching and Renaissance-influenced chiaroscuro - gives his manga an unusually painterly quality, with many panels rendered in pencil shading rather than ink line art.

Hiroaki is best known for "Blade of the Immortal", which ran from 1993 to 2012 across 30 volumes. Set in Edo-period Japan and following a cursed immortal samurai, it won the Excellence Award at the first Japan Media Arts Festival and received two anime adaptations. He has also published numerous short works, many of them in the ero guro genre. His current ongoing series, published in English as "Wave, Listen to Me!", is a slice-of-life manga about a radio talk-show host.

1990s

1993-2012
Mugen no Jūnin (無限の住人) | Published in English as "Blade of the Immortal"

2000s

2000
Ohikkoshi (おひっこし) | Published in English as "Ohikkoshi"

2003
Seishun Jan-Jaka-Jaka-Jaka (青春じゃんじゃかじゃかじゃか) | Published in English as "Youth Chang-Chaka-Chang"

2004
Emerarudo (エメラルド) | Published in English as "Emerald" 

2005
Seifuku wa Nugenai (制服は脱げない) | Published in English as "The Uniforms Stay On" (2005 - 2006)
Buraddohārē no Basha (ブラッドハーレーの馬車) (2005 - 2007)

2006
Burigitto no Bansan  (ブリギットの晩餐) | Published in English as "Brigitte's Dinner"
Kasō Senryaku: Kagami-uchi (下層戦略 鏡打ち) | Published in English as "Low-grade Strategy: The Mirror Play"

2008
Shizuru Kinema (シズルキネマ) | Published in English as "Shizuru Cinema"
Harushion Ranchi (ハルシオン・ランチ) (2008-2011)

2009
Kusein-ke Saidai no Shō (久誓院家最大のショウ) | Published in English as "The Kusein Family's Grandest Show"

2010s

2010
Gensō Ginekokurashī (幻想ギネコクラシー) | Published in English as "Fantastic Gynaecocracy" (2010 - 2017)

2011
Beagerutā (べアゲルター) | Published in English as "Die Wergelder" (2011 - Present)

2013 
Harukaze no Sunegurachika (春風のスネグラチカ) (2013 - 2014) | Published in English as "Snegurochka of the Spring Breeze"

2014
Nami yo Kiitekure (波よ聞いてくれ) | Published in English as "Wave, Listen to Me!" (2014 - present)