Takehiko Nariai
Takehiko Nariai is the real name of manga artist Takehiko Inoue, born in 1967 in Ōkuchi (now Isa), Kagoshima Prefecture. After assisting Tsukasa Hōjō, Inoue debuted under the real name with "Kaede Purple", selected at the 1988 Tezuka Award, and drew a first serial, Chameleon Jail (story by Kazuhiko Watanabe), in 1989. Around the start of Slam Dunk in 1990 the artist switched to the name Takehiko Inoue, later creating Vagabond and Real.