Nisio Isin

Nisio Isin (西尾 維新), stylized as NISIOISIN to emphasize the palindrome, is a pseudonymous Japanese novelist, manga author, and screenplay writer.

Nisio debuted in 2002 with the novel The Beheading Cycle (the first in his Zaregoto series), which earned him the 23rd Mephisto Prize at twenty years of age.

In 2002, Nisio debuted with the first novel of the Zaregoto series, Kubikiri Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense User, earning him the 23rd Mephisto Prize.

He was twenty years of age at the time, and his slogan was "Nisio Isin, the 20-year-old from Kyoto".

Afterward, he proceeded to write the second title in the series, Strangulation Romanticist, in three days.

In 2005, he began his long-running Monogatari novel series, which was published in 29 volumes as of 2023, and was later adapted as a highly-successful animated series of the same name, produced by Shaft.

His Katanagatari novels, Medaka Box manga series, Jūni Taisen novel, and The Beheading Cycle have also been adapted as anime.

He has also collaborated with Death Note writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata to write the light novel Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases.

Nisio Isin is best known for the Monogatari series, which began as a trilogy of short stories on the Mephisto magazine in 2005, and developed into a series with 28 volumes.

It has been adapted as anime up to Zoku Owarimonogatari, and it has also been adapted as manga.

He still works with the Mephisto magazine, and worked with Kodansha on the literary magazines Faust, and Pandora. He also published his Katanagatari series as twelve volumes over twelve months for the Kodansha Box line in 2007; Ryūsui Seiryōin was matching this output, and the Kodansha Box website stated that it was the first time in the world two authors had done twelve-volume monthly novel series simultaneously.

In February 2008, his novel Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases, based on the Death Note manga, was released in English by Viz Media.

Del Rey Manga released the first and second volume in his Zaregoto series, which were revised for a rerelease by Vertical and followed by a translation of the third volume.

Vertical is translating other titles and series by Nisio Isin, including Monogatari, Katanagatari, Pretty Boy Detective Club, and Imperfect Girl.

The Publishers Weekly's Translation Database reported that from 2008 to 2018, 19 of Nisio's novels were translated into English, putting him as the second author with the most English translations of that period in the U.S.

Since Nisio's debut, wordplay and tongue-in-cheek dialogue have been characteristic of his works.

When asked if his use of manzai comedy was related to the fact he is from the Kansai region, he replied "I think it's certainly because I'm a Kansai person."

He feels that "dialogue is the character" and focuses more on dialogue than appearance.

Nisio features many women in his works because "it is easier for them to express their individuality" explaining that "women are much more adorned as characters (e.g. fashion) than men".

His greatest influence comes from such things as Shōnen Jump manga and shōjo manga en masse.

About manga, he is a passionate fan of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; in a dialogue with Hirohiko Araki, the author of the manga, he commented this is "a manga he would like all humanity to read."

Among his references, references to JoJo are particularly common and in a novelization project of the series called "VS JOJO", together with Kouhei Kadono and Ōtarō Maijō, he wrote one of the novels that were published, called JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Over Heaven.

His works are characterized by a sense of literature that is amid the so-called "Shindenki" (ja) mystery-light novel genre, in which insane characters attempt to solve a mystery in a situation that would be impossible or unlikely in reality; and inexhaustible quotations of anime and manga from the past.

He is well regarded as an author who has blended the conventions of mystery novels and character-driven light novels.

Between 2009 and 2016, he ranked among the top 10 best-selling authors in Japan, ranking as the best-selling in 2012 and 2014.

As of November 2022, his novels and manga had over 36 million copies in circulation.

Nisio's works frequently feature lengthy and witty dialogues.

He is viewed as an author that blends regular novels and light novels, going through the genres of mystery, sekaikei, and shindenki, with frequent references to other manga and anime.

Nisio Isin was a manga enthusiast since childhood and wanted to become a mangaka.

However, seeing a lack of improvement in his drawing ability, he decided to become a novelist, mentioning that it didn't matter if his handwriting was subpar.

He attended the Ritsumeikan University College of Policy Science and left the university without graduating.

During his early career when he submitted work for magazines, Nisio's writing speed was a selling point, and he once submitted two or three works to a single Mephisto Prize.

From 2009 to 2016, Nisio Isin was one of the top 10 best-selling authors in Japan, achieving a place in the top 3 for three years and, in 2012 and 2014, ranking first place as the best-selling author in the country.

In those years, he sold 1,408,319 copies and 997,211 copies, respectively.

As of November 2022, his novels and manga had over 36 million copies in circulation.

The series has consistently achieved a high number of sales, with the anime's first two seasons alone, Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari, selling over one million DVDs and Blu-rays combined as of September 2012.

The first volume of Zaregoto, his Katanagatari and Medaka Box series, his Jūni Taisen novel, and the Pretty Boy Detective Club series have all been adapted into anime as well.

His Bōkyaku Tantei series was adapted as a Japanese Drama in 2015.

Several of his series have been adapted as manga.

Juni Taisen was also adapted as a Stage Play in Japan in 2018.