Death Note & Hikaru no Go Artist Just Dropped a Big Surprise for Fans

Takeshi Obata is an award-winning manga artist best known for his works in Death Note, Hikaru no Go, and Bakuman, famous for his moody character depictions and overall gorgeous illustrations. Obata won the prestigious Tezuka Award in 1985 at the beginning of his career for his first one-shot, 500 Kōnen no Shinwa. He gained international recognition with Hikaru no Go, written by Yumi Hotta, which was serialized from 1998-2003. However, Obata is best known for Death Note and Bakuman, both written by Tsugumi Ohba.

Apart from manga, he also worked as a character designer for the video game Castlevania Judgement, along with illustrating several light novels. Obata is currently working on an ongoing comedy manga, Show-ha Shoten! Written by Akinari Asakura, the manga has been serialized in Jump Square magazine since 2021. After a career of forty years, the artist has finally launched an official account on X. The account also announced a surprise getaway for fans.

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漫画家・小畑健先生の公式Xアカウントです。
手塚賞準入選受賞から今年は40周年✨手掛けられた数多くの作品の紹介や最新情報の告知をしていく予定です。ぜひフォローをお願いします！

アカウント開設を記念して、小畑先生より描き下ろしイラストをいただきました！

『DEATH NOTE』弥 海砂 pic.twitter.com/RI5BSSIwA3

— 小畑健【公式】 (@T_Obata_info) February 14, 2025

Takeshi Obata Announces a Big Surprise for Fans on His New X Account

Obata’s account shared two posts soon after creating the account. The first one shared, “This is the official X account of manga artist Obata Takeshi. This year marks the 40th anniversary of his Tezuka semi-finalist award. We will be introducing many of his works and sharing the latest news. Please follow us! To commemorate the opening of our account, we received an original illustration from Obata-sensei! ‘Death Note‘ Misa Amane.”

Death Note is still one of his most famous works and has a dedicated fanbase even though the manga ended in 2006. In another post, he promotes the account by asking fans to follow and repost in exchange for a prize. Ten lucky winners will receive a poster featuring an illustration of Light Yagami and Ryuk from the first episode of Death Note. The participants must follow the account and repost to be considered eligible.

There is also a set of rules shared in Japanese. The shipping will only be limited to Japan, and the campaign can be changed without notice. Even so, fans are still excited to see one of the most popular artists. Both posts went viral in no time as fans heartwarmingly welcomed Obata on Twitter. This year, the artist is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his first Tezuka Award. He has won several awards since then, including the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1999, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2003, and the Eagle Award in 2008.

As confirmed via Takeshi Obata on X.