Having lost an important part of himself, he identified with them because they wander around the streets without being noticed by anyone. Since then, Katsuma has posted his drawings online every day. He posted the drawing on his Facebook page, and it instantly attracted hundreds of likes and made him feel confident in his skills. It made him happy to see that she was delighted with the portrait he created on his computer. Two years later, a friend asked Katsuma to draw a picture of her pet cat. He kept at it although he wasn’t satisfied with the outcome. Thinking that he might be able to draw using a personal computer, he moved the mouse with his right hand and drew a picture. His doctor told him he wouldn’t be able to work again as a painter.Ī picture of a cat drawn by Toshio Katsuma using a personal computer for the first time after he suffered a stroke (Provided by Toshio Katsuma) When Katsuma came to, he felt numb along the left side of his body and couldn’t hold a paint brush with his dominant hand. He collapsed at his home in Osaka after working with no sleep to finish a drawing. In December 2010, he felt his hands begin to shake. Still, he relied on his painting skills to survive, working as an instructor at a vocational school and providing illustrations for advertisements and other services. Unfortunately, none of his manga works gained popularity and his manga career ended after about three years.
Katsuma made his professional debut as a manga artist at age 18 when his first work was published in the Weekly Shonen Magazine comic anthology, which also ran the wildly popular serialized titles “The Star of the Giants” and “Ashita no Joe” (Tomorrow’s Joe). He decided to pursue a career in drawing after graduation, moving on to study at a vocational school for painting instead of a high school. When he was a junior high school student, his sci-fi comic became popular among his classmates, earning him the moniker of “Manga.” Katsuma, 70, had always been skilled at drawing since childhood.
(incl.A CG illustration of a cat (Provided by Toshio Katsuma)