takeshi obata chose to be a manga artist because he always loved drawing. as a child he re-read shotaro ishinomori's "cyborg 009" over and over. he originally became noticed in 1985 when he took a prize in the tezuka award for his one shot "500 kōnen no shinwa". joining the "weekly shōnen jump" staff, he mentored under makoto niwano before starting his first major series, writing and drawing "cyborg jii-chan g" in 1989. after this series, obata began collaborating with other writers.