To many Westerners, Manga is synonymous with fantasy -- its glossy lines, popping color palettes and fanciful scenarios are an escapist's delight. But one of the most celebrated makers of the wildly popular Japanese graphic novels says he draws on reality as much as possible. Takehiko Inoue was just 23 when his second Manga propelled him to fame in Japan. "Slam Dunk," published in 31 volumes of magazine "Weekly Shonen Jump" in the early 1990s, followed the fortunes of a loveless delinquent who joins a basketball team to impress a girl, and then discovers a natural ability for the game.
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Takehiko Inoue has drawn some of Japan's most popular mangas, including the basketball-themed Slam Dunk
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His work is credited with inspiring a generation of Japanese students to take up basketball
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He says he studies nature, and draws on his own emotions to achieve the realism that makes his work so engaging
"@placeholder artists are different from painters: We have to have a story, meaning, and entertainment."