# Kenta Shinohara (篠原健太)
**Kenta Shinohara** (篠原健太) is a Japanese manga artist, born in 1974, best known as the creator of the school comedy *Sket Dance* (2007–2013), the science-fiction series *Astra Lost in Space* (2016–2017), and the fantasy comedy *Witch Watch* (2021–present), all published by Shueisha.[1](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KentaShinohara) • [2](https://www.jump-mangasho.com/interview/shinohara-sensei-vol4/) His first two serialized manga won the 2010 [Shogakukan Manga Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/shogakukan-manga-award) in the shonen category and the 2019 Manga Taishō respectively.[1](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KentaShinohara)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974[1](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KentaShinohara) |
| Debut | One-shot "Red Panda Puppet Show" (レッサーパンダ・パペットショー), published in *Akamaru Jump* Winter issue, 2005[3](https://natalie.mu/comic/pp/astra/page/3) |
| Breakthrough | *Sket Dance*, Weekly Shonen Jump, 2007–2013, 32 volumes, over 14 million copies in print, TV anime in 2011[12](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/16954003/) • [4](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/actus/2021/02/08/Une-cohabitation-compliquee-dans-la-nouvelle-comedie-de-Kenta-Shinohara) |
| Major award | Manga Taishō 2019 for *Astra Lost in Space*; 55th Shogakukan Manga Award (shonen category) 2010 for *Sket Dance*[12](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/16954003/) • [5](https://www.mangataisho.com/data/2019/press20190319.pdf) |
| Current series | *Witch Watch*, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since February 2021, with a TV anime airing from April 2025[4](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/actus/2021/02/08/Une-cohabitation-compliquee-dans-la-nouvelle-comedie-de-Kenta-Shinohara) • [6](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVy5hCqIorM) |
| Early career | Salaryman at a game company before becoming a manga artist; assistant on *Gintama* under the alias Shintaroh Nakae[1](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KentaShinohara) • [2](https://www.jump-mangasho.com/interview/shinohara-sensei-vol4/) |
## Early career and debut
Before entering manga, Shinohara worked as a salaryman, including time at a game company where he worked with 3D graphics and helped create and sell entertainment products as part of a team.[2](https://www.jump-mangasho.com/interview/shinohara-sensei-vol4/) He has said this experience later helped him view his relationship with his editor in business terms and made it easier to direct his own assistants.[2](https://www.jump-mangasho.com/interview/shinohara-sensei-vol4/)
He entered the industry as an assistant on *Gintama*, working for its creator Hideaki Sorachi under the alias Shintaroh Nakae.[1](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KentaShinohara) His professional debut came with the one-shot "Red Panda Puppet Show," published in the Winter issue of *Akamaru Jump* in 2005.[3](https://natalie.mu/comic/pp/astra/page/3)
## Sket Dance (2007–2013)
*Sket Dance*, a school comedy, ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2007 to 2013 and became his breakthrough hit.[1](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KentaShinohara) The series exceeded 14 million copies in cumulative circulation, was adapted into a TV anime in 2011, and for years stood among the magazine's principal titles.[12](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/16954003/) It collected 32 volumes in total, and its 77-episode anime adaptation was produced by the studio Tatsunoko.[4](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/actus/2021/02/08/Une-cohabitation-compliquee-dans-la-nouvelle-comedie-de-Kenta-Shinohara) In 2010 the manga won the 55th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shonen category.[3](https://natalie.mu/comic/pp/astra/page/3)
## Astra Lost in Space (2016–2017)
After ending *Sket Dance* himself, Shinohara spent about a year developing a battle manga as a deliberate contrast, since *Sket Dance* had consisted largely of classroom conversation. He could not make the concept work, and during a meeting with his editor he scrapped the project himself. A few hours later the idea for *Astra Lost in Space* (彼方のアストラ) came to him, which he attributed to returning to his roots in the SF short stories of Fujiko F. Fujio.[12](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/16954003/) At the Weekly Shonen Jump planning meeting the pitch was, in his words at the Manga Taishō ceremony, rejected outright.[7](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20190319dog00m200044000c.html)
The series instead ran on Shueisha's web platform Shonen Jump+ from May 2016 to December 2017, in five volumes. Shinohara has said it did not receive the response he had hoped for during serialization.[12](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/16954003/) After the ending, its popularity grew steadily among readers: it placed third in the otoko (male-oriented) ranking of *Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2019*, won the Manga Taishō 2019 in March 2019, and a TV anime adaptation by the studio Lerche, directed by Masaomi Andō, aired from July 2019.[12](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/16954003/) • [4](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/actus/2021/02/08/Une-cohabitation-compliquee-dans-la-nouvelle-comedie-de-Kenta-Shinohara)
The series marked a deliberate change of structure from his debut work. Where *Sket Dance* stories mostly took place on a school campus in an episodic format, *Astra* was built as a continuous adventure with a different location each arc, and its humor, while still recognizably his, was downplayed in favor of character interaction and plot.[8](https://mangamavericks.com/2018/astra-lost-space-volume-1/) For the spacecraft Astra itself, Shinohara drew the design and then commissioned a 3D model, which was worked back into the drawn pages, an approach his earlier 3D experience made possible.[12](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/16954003/)
## Witch Watch (2021–present)
*Witch Watch* (ウィッチウォッチ), a magical comedy about Morihito, a boy with the power of an ogre, living as the familiar of his childhood friend Nico, a witch in training, launched in Weekly Shonen Jump on February 8, 2021, with the opening chapter available internationally on [Manga Plus](https://www.edgepedia.org/manga-plus).[4](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/actus/2021/02/08/Une-cohabitation-compliquee-dans-la-nouvelle-comedie-de-Kenta-Shinohara) • [9](https://sp.shonenjump.com/j/rensai/witch/) It is his return to the main magazine after *Astra* ran on Jump+.[4](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/actus/2021/02/08/Une-cohabitation-compliquee-dans-la-nouvelle-comedie-de-Kenta-Shinohara) A TV anime adaptation was announced for April 2025.[6](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVy5hCqIorM) Commentators describe the series as a fusion of the humor established in *Sket Dance* and the storytelling discipline of *Astra*, with the fast-paced banter of his earlier series carried into the witch-and-familiar premise.[10](https://note.com/shungk__k37/n/n2a0b2701c01d?hl=en)
## Creative approach
Shinohara describes his working method as meticulous story construction, and interviewers have characterized him as a "plot genius" whose comedy rests on wordplay, pacing, and careful foreshadowing.[2](https://www.jump-mangasho.com/interview/shinohara-sensei-vol4/) • [11](https://note.com/mild_ibis8361/n/n3d76ab94c0f0?hl=en) He has said that the period of solitary work on storyboards (name) with a single editor, without showing his manga even to his former *Gintama* colleagues, was when he grew most as an artist.[2](https://www.jump-mangasho.com/interview/shinohara-sensei-vol4/) He has also noted that manga drawing skill improves only by drawing manga, and that his late start after leaving company life left him playing catch-up on art while giving him a sense of urgency.[2](https://www.jump-mangasho.com/interview/shinohara-sensei-vol4/)
Beyond his own series, he has worked as a lyricist for the song "Watercolor" on The Sketchbook's 2012 album *Sketchbook*, and did character design for *Battle Spirits BurningSoul* (2015).[1](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KentaShinohara)
## References
1. [Kenta Shinohara (Creator), TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KentaShinohara)
2. [〖第4回〗孤独なネーム作りを通じ、成長を実感, Shueisha Jump Manga Award Portal](https://www.jump-mangasho.com/interview/shinohara-sensei-vol4/)
3. [アニメ「彼方のアストラ」特集 篠原健太×安藤正臣 対談, Comic Natalie](https://natalie.mu/comic/pp/astra/page/3)
4. [Une cohabitation compliquée dans la nouvelle comédie de Kenta Shinohara, Manga News](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/actus/2021/02/08/Une-cohabitation-compliquee-dans-la-nouvelle-comedie-de-Kenta-Shinohara)
5. [報道資料 2019年3月19日, Manga Taishō](https://www.mangataisho.com/data/2019/press20190319.pdf)
6. [TVアニメ『ウィッチウォッチ』ティザーPV, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVy5hCqIorM)
7. [彼方のアストラ：マンガ大賞受賞作、週刊少年ジャンプの企画会議では"完全ボツ"に, MANTANWEB](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20190319dog00m200044000c.html)
8. [Astra Lost in Space Volume 1, Manga Mavericks](https://mangamavericks.com/2018/astra-lost-space-volume-1/)
9. [『ウィッチウォッチ』｜少年ジャンプ公式サイト, Shueisha](https://sp.shonenjump.com/j/rensai/witch/)
10. [The Exquisite Balance of Comedy and Drama: Kenta Shinohara's Theory of Evolution as Seen in 'WITCH WATCH', note](https://note.com/shungk__k37/n/n2a0b2701c01d?hl=en)
11. [The Magic Woven by Daily Laughter and Intricate Foreshadowing, note](https://note.com/mild_ibis8361/n/n3d76ab94c0f0?hl=en)
12. [「企画ボツ」から大逆転のヒット, Livedoor News](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/16954003/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Visual arts and design › Illustration and illustrators*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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