There aren’t many manga artists with an asteroid named after them, but Japan’s Lynn Okamoto is one of them (it’s 49382 Lynnokamoto). Here on Earth, he is best known for the Elfen Lied manga series, which ran for 107 chapters in Weekly Young Jump between 2002 and 2005 and was adapted into a successful anime series. Okamoto’s work since has included Nononono, Brynhildr in the Darkness, Kimi wa Midara na Noku no Joo, and his current series, Parallel Paradise, which has been serialised in the Japanese Weekly Young Magazine since 2017 and published in English since 2019.

Okamoto was born in Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture in January 1970. Unlike other manga artists, he didn’t immediately dedicate his life to his art. Instead, he worked for major Japanese companies such as toy manufacturers Bandai and video game developer Arc System Works. Elfen Lied was first published a short story in 2000 and began being serialised in the seminal publication Weekly Young Jump two years later. The transgressive story covers some very grown-up themes, from social identity to the overall value of identity, and became a hit, running for three years.

Okamoto’s work since then has continued to prove successful with young audiences, as the ongoing Parallel Paradise series attests.