After working as an assistant, Urasawa made his professional debut in 1983 with "Beta!" before creating the short serialized work "Dancing Policeman" the following year. He began his first major serialized work, "Pineapple Army", in 1985 in the semimonthly "Big Comic Original". He was the illustrator of the series, while Kazuya Kudo was its writer. It ended in 1988 and was collected into eight "tankōbon" volumes. While working on "Pineapple Army", Urasawa began "Yawara!" in the weekly "Big Comic Spirits" in 1986 which he wrote and illustrated himself. It earned him the 1989 Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category. That same year it was adapted into a live-action film and an anime television series. It ended in 1993 and was collected into 29 volumes.