Akira Saito

**Akira Saito** (斉藤あきら, 1934-) is a Japanese manga-ka formerly of Fujio Pro, now associated with his own company Jaguar Pro.

## Life and Career

Saito entered the industry in 1954 as an assistant for Shigeru Sugiura, but found himself also assisting other authors through the decade including Osamu Tezuka, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Yoshiteru Takano, and Mitsuaki Suzuki.

Eventually, as he went through his own career, he was contacted by Mitsutoshi Furuya, who invited him to join Fujio Pro. Interesting enough, Saito found that he had conversed with Akatsuka a decade prior and had never expected to become one of his own assistants. Saito would become known for drawing out and taking over some of Akatsuka's own works in the mid to later 1970s, when Akatsuka became too busy to continue the main art for the feature (or in the case of Kensaku the Architect, taking over due to Akatsuka having quit over disagreements).

Aside from his own works and those done for Fujio Pro, Saito would also illustrate tie-in manga for works of Shotaro Ishinomori, Mitsutoshi Furuya, and Tatsunoko Productions, among others.

## List of Works

*Detailed serialization information must be found and determined for some works.*

* **Good Luck Junpei** (Junior High School 1st Year, April 1962-March 1963)
* **Wolf Boy Ken** (Toho Manga ,1964)- Tie-in manga to the anime series
* **Spaceman** (Hopeful Friend, 1965)
* **Our People of the Future** (Junior High School 2nd Year Course, April 1965-March 1966)
* **Ultra Zoffy** (Elementary School 1st Grade, September 1972 extra issue)- Tie-in manga to Ultraman series
* **Wonder Man Lion Maru** (Elementary School 4th Grade, 1972)- Tie-in to the tokusatsu show
* **Jumborg Ace** (Elementary School 1st Grade, February and March 1973 issues)- Tie-in manga to the tokusatsu
* **Iron King** (Elementary School 1st Grade, April 1973-March 1974)- Tie-in to the tokusatsu
* **Android Kikaider** (Elementary School 6th Grade, April and May 1973)- Parallel version of Shotaro Ishinomori's Kikaider manga and tie-in to tokusatsu series
* **Kikaider 01** (Elementary School 6th Grade, June 1973-March 1974)- Tie-in manga to Ishinomori's Kikaider 01 tokusatsu
* **Takobo's Family** (Elementary School 3rd Grade, 1974)- Spinoff of Mitsutoshi Furuya's "No-Good Father"
* **No-Good Father and Takobo** (Elementary School 4th Grade, June 1974-March 1975)- Another spinoff of "No-Good Father"
* **One-Shot Kanta-kun** (6th Grade Learning, October 1977-September 1978)- Based off the work by Tatsunoko

### Collaborations with Fujio Akatsuka/Fujio Pro

* **Oh! Great Jailbreak** (September 13, 1970, Weekly Shonen Sunday)- Story and Art (Collaboration with Mitsutoshi Furuya, Kunio Nagatani, and Don Sasaki due to Akatsuka's absence for the week)
* **Mad Dog Trotsky** (狂犬トロッキー, January to September 1971, Separate Edition Shonen Magazine)- Story: Kai Takizawa, Saito illustrated the later chapters, collaborating with Akatsuka who had drawn the early portions.
* **The Great Stupid Detective Kogoro Hakuchi** (大バカ探偵はくち小五郎,June 1972-December 1974, Adventure King)- Art for later chapters
* **Adventurer Miru-chan** (ぼうけんミルちゃん, October 1972-May 1973, Fun Kindergarten)- Art
* **Nyarome** (ニャロメ, June 7, 1973-September 5, 1974, Lied Comic)- Art
* **Womens' Ashoko** (女のアショコ, December 1, 1973, Manga No.1)- Art
* **Nyan Nyan Nyanda** (ニャンニャンニャンダ, January 1975-October 1976, Adventure King)- Art for later stories
* **Kensaku the Architect** (建師ケン作, 1977, Weekly Shonen Magazine #2-31)- Assistant for chapter 1, all art for chapters 2 and forward.