Yukio Sawada
| Yukio Sawada | |
|---|---|
 
| |
| Born | March 12, 1953 (age 71) |
| Super Mario–related role(s) | Author of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario-kun, Ore Dayo! Wario Dayo!!, Super Mario-kun Gekijou - Yoshi's New Island, Mario & Sonic at Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Super Mario Manga Mania and Super Mario-kun Special Selection |
Yukio Sawada (Japanese: 沢田 ユキオ; real name 沢田 幸男) (born March 12, 1953 in the Osaka Prefecture, Kansai region, Japan) is a manga artist famously known for being Super Mario-kun's (and the other related manga) author. He appears in some panels of his manga as the narrator or even a character of the story, mostly in special chapters about his experience as the "Mario mangaka", in which he is usually called「作者」(sakusha, "the author").
After studying engineering at Doshisha University and graduating, Sawada started his career in manga with one-shot manga on Weekly Shōnen Jump. His first Super Mario manga is a Super Mario Bros. one-shot in the February 1986 issue of a Shogakukan publication aimed at third-grade elementary students.[1] This one-shot was republished in Volume 40 of Super Mario-kun. Nintendo then gave Wanpaku Comic the rights for a Super Mario manga serialization, with Sawada as the author and artist: Super Mario Bros. 2. This was based on Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and ran monthly until 1988. In December 1988, Sawada started a new series called Super Mario Bros. 3 but it ran for only two issues as the publication shut down in January 1989. In 1990, Sawada moved to CoroCoro Comics where he has worked on Super Mario-kun ever since.
Sawada is the father of two children and author of 59 Super Mario-kun volumes as well as three spin-offs based on the Wario franchise, Yoshi's New Island and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. He has also designed an Event Course in Super Mario Maker.
Gallery
A message to the reader from Sawada in volume 11
Scene of a special 4-koma manga by Sawada, to commemorating the opening of Jisedai World Hobby Fair in Summer 2015
Scene of a special 4-koma manga by Sawada, to commemorating the opening of Jisedai World Hobby Fair in Summer 2015
Scene of a special 4-koma manga by Sawada, to commemorating the opening of Jisedai World Hobby Fair in Summer 2015
Scene of a special 4-koma manga by Sawada, to commemorating the opening of Jisedai World Hobby Fair in Summer 2015
Mario and Olivia drawn by Sawada, used for the present of a lottery activity commemorating the release of Super Mario-kun volume 58 initiated by CoroCoro
A 2023 nengajō drawn by Sawada
Elephant Mario drawn by Sawada
Elephant Mario drawn by Sawada
Trivia
- When writing a story for Super Mario-kun, Sawada usually plays the game on which the story is based and gets help from his children in difficult levels.[2]
- Sawada's favorite character is Yoshi.[3]
References
- ^ Sawada interview in Famitsu
- ^ Super Mario-kun volume 15
- ^ Back cover of the Super Mario-kun volume 14
