In 2007, he collaborated again with Production I.G to co-create the original concept for the anime television series Ghost Hound, Production I.G's 20th anniversary project. Two more volumes of Appleseed followed before he began work on Ghost in the Shell.
After a professional reprint of Black Magic and a second volume of Appleseed, he released Dominion in 1986. The story was a sensation, and won the 1986 Seiun Award for Best Manga. The result was best-selling manga Appleseed, a full volume of densely plotted drama taking place in an ambiguous future. His work caught the eye of Seishinsha President Harumichi Aoki, who offered to publish him.
While in college, he developed an interest in manga, which led him to create his own complete work, Black Magic, which was published in the manga dōjinshi Atlas. Born in the Hyōgo Prefecture capital city of Kobe, he studied oil painting at Osaka University of Arts.
