Question 1

True or false: Matsumoto created the character designs for the anime 'Bleach'.

Accepted Answer

False. That's a common mix-up—Tite Kubo designed 'Bleach'. Matsumoto's design work is limited to his own manga and related adaptations.

Question 2

True or false: Matsumoto was a professional Go player before becoming a manga artist.

Accepted Answer

False. He was not a Go pro; he was a manga assistant and editor. The Go expertise in 'Hikaru no Go' came from supervisor Yukari Umezawa.

Question 3

True or false: Akira Matsumoto is a Japanese manga artist known for the series 'Hikaru no Go'.

Accepted Answer

True. Matsumoto co-created the hit manga 'Hikaru no Go' with Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata, but he's often overshadowed by Obata's art.

Question 4

True or false: He once worked as an assistant to the legendary manga artist Osamu Tezuka.

Accepted Answer

False. Matsumoto was born in 1965, too late to assist Tezuka (who died in 1989). He assisted other artists like Tetsuo Hara instead.

Question 5

True or false: Matsumoto's real name is different from his pen name, which he chose as a tribute to a Go player.

Accepted Answer

True. His pen name 'Akira Matsumoto' was inspired by Go legend Hon'inbō Shūsaku's real name, Kuwabara Akira, mixing it with his own surname.

Question 6

True or false: Akira Matsumoto wrote the screenplay for the live-action film 'The Last 10 Years'.

Accepted Answer

True. He wrote the screenplay for this 2022 romantic drama, which was a surprise shift from his manga roots and earned critical praise.

Question 7

True or false: Akira Matsumoto was a ghostwriter for several episodes of the 'Doraemon' TV series.

Accepted Answer

True. Early in his career, he anonymously wrote scripts for 'Doraemon' episodes, a little-known fact even among fans.

Question 8

True or false: Matsumoto's first major manga was a sports series about sumo wrestling.

Accepted Answer

False. His debut was actually 'Soul Kickers' (a soccer manga), not sumo. The sumo rumor persists due to his later work on 'Hikaru no Go'.

Akira Matsumoto Trivia Questions