Eiichiro Oda
Hiroyuki Takei started drawing manga with writer EXIAD on SD Département Store Series which they created for a fanzine. Early in his career, he became the assistant to Tamakichi Sakura on "" as in 1992 and Kōji Kiriyama ("Ninku"). At that time, he also submitted his first yomikiri Dragdoll Group to the Tezuka Award but was rejected. In 1994, Takei submitted his short story "Anna the Itako" to the 48th Tezuka Award and won the honorable mention. He was later introduced to Nobuhiro Watsuki and became his assistant along with Eiichiro Oda on "Rurouni Kenshin".