Forbes Japan has unveiled its 30 Under 30 2026 list, and included under the Art & Style & Anime category are manga creatorTakeru Hokazonoof Kagurabachi fame and illustrator and indie animator Komugiko2000(DAN DA DAN Season 2 ending animation), who were both born in 2000.
Some of the other 30 Under 30 picks include VTuber Juufutei Raden from hololive DEV_IS’ ReGLOSS group and Lilas Ikuta (also born in 2000, coincidentally) of music duo YOASOBI.
Hokazono’s Kagurabachi, his first serialized work, debuted in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in September 2023, three years after Hokazono’s one-shot Enten became a runner-up at the 100th Osamu Tezuka Award. The dark fantasy action manga, in which a young swordsman seeks revenge for his slain swordsmith father, quickly gained internet fame overseas as a result of English memes that heavily praised it, and now has a TV anime adaptation that’s set to begin airing in April 2027. Hokazono told Crunchyroll that he “started pursuing drawing manga in college” and “ended up giving my all to manga, rather than college.”
Komugiko2000 started their activities 10 years ago and is commemorating that anniversary with the solo exhibition POP QUEST, which is running at Harajuku Space from August 22 to August 31. Aside from the aforementioned DAN DA DAN Season 2 ending sequence, they have been involved in animations like ZUTOMAYO’s “Hunch Gray” music video (solo credit) and NEE’s “Continue” music video (director, character designer et al.).
In 2020, they set up the so-called Indie Production Animation Club (Jishu Seisaku Animation-bu) X/Twitter account and encouraged the use of the #indie_anime hashtag to assist the activities of the indie anime community. They are also part of the animation company studio ALBLE, which was established in December 2023 and includes creators Hanabushi and Mizuki Watanabe.
Forbes Japan’s 30 Under 30 list last year featured persons like animator Kerorira (Bocchi the Rock! character designer) and hololive’s Hoshimachi Suisei.
