Nisio Isin


Nisio Isin, stylized NisiOisiN to emphasize the palindrome, is the pen name of a Japanese novelist, manga, and screenplay writer.
He attended and left Ritsumeikan University School of Policy Science without graduating. In 2002, he debuted with the novel The Beheading Cycle, which earned him the 23rd Mephisto Prize at twenty years of age. He worked with Kodansha on Faust, a literary magazine containing the works of other young authors who similarly take influence from light novels and otaku culture. He also worked with Pandora, the Kodansha Box magazine, and he's currently working with the Mephisto magazine, also from Kodansha. He was also publishing a twelve volume series over twelve months for the Kodansha Box line; Ryūsui Seiryōin was matching this output, and the Kodansha Box website stated that this is the first time in the world two authors have done twelve volume monthly novel series simultaneously from the same publisher.
In February, 2008, his novel , which is based on the Death Note manga, was released in English by Viz Media. Del Rey Manga has already released the first and second volume in his Zaregoto Series.
His Monogatari, Katanagatari and Zaregoto novels have been adapted into anime. The sequel novel has also been adapted as an anime, as well as all the volumes up to Zoku Owarimonogatari. Another of his works, Medaka Box, has been adapted into a two-season anime series, along with his light novel Juni Taisen, which has also been adapted into an anime, and as a Stage Play. An anime adaptation of the Bishōnen Series was announced at the end of 2019. His Bōkyaku Tantei Series was adapted as a Japanese Drama in 2015. Several of his series was adapted as manga.

Style

Since Nisio Isin's debut, wordplay and tongue-in-cheek dialogue have been characteristic of his works. Regarding the peculiar style of comedy Boke and Tsukkomi, when asked in a dialogue with Ryūsui Seiryōin if this was related to the fact that he is from the Kansai region, he replied that "I think it's certainly because I'm a Kansai person." He feels that "dialogue is the character" and focuses more on what they say than on how they look. Nisio features many women in his works because "it is easier for them to express their individuality," and he explains that "women are much more adorned as characters than men".
His works are characterized by a sense of literature that is amid the so-called "Shindenki" mystery-light novel genre, in which insane characters attempt to solve a mystery in a situation that would be impossible or unlikely in reality; and inexhaustible quotations of anime and manga from the past.
His greatest influence comes from such things as Shōnen Jump manga and shōjo manga en masse. About manga, he is a passionate fan of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; in a dialogue with Hirohiko Araki, author of the manga, he commented that this is "a manga that he would like all humanity to read." Among his references, references to JoJo are particularly common and in a novelization project of the series called "VS JOJO", together with Kouhei Kadono and Ōtarō Maijō, he wrote one of the novels that were published, called JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Over Heaven.
He is well regarded as an author who has blended the conventions of mystery novels and character-driven light novels. Tsunehiro Uno describes Nisio Isin as the only writer who has made a smooth transition from "Sekaikei" to "Shindenki".
He has made no secret of his policy of not doing crossover or linking in his Zaregoto Series. This is because crossover and linking was a technique that Kouhei Kadono, whom he admires, excelled at, and so he decided to stick with the opposite style, but he replied that he made an exception for the Ningen Series because he began writing it as an homage to the relationship between the Kouhei Kadono's Boogiepop Series and Beat's Discipline. He still maintains a steady writing pace and develops several series at the same time, but until Mazemonogatari, he did not link his works to each other. After fifteen years of non-crossover writing, he decided it was time to try a new pattern.
He has a unique way of naming his characters. He seeks to define his characters by their names, and he does not simply give them unusual names, but instead establishes some rules for them, and he will occasionally deviate from these rules. When it comes to naming, he has been described as "bizarre" and "extremely strange". Examples are Namanie Nienami, Kiki Kikitsu, Shibuki Shibushi, Mukae Emukae, Momo Momozono, Kajiki Kurokami, Kariteru Kanaino, Sukinasaki Saki, Shikigishi Kishiki, Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade, Backyard Bottomslash, Quarter Queen, Sagano Usagi, Byōinzaka Kuroneko and Shikizaki Kiki.
He said that he learned much from the novels of Kiyoshi Kasai, Hiroshi Mori, Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Ryūsui Seiryōin and Kouhei Kadono. He has also stated that the five writers were, metaphorically speaking, God-like beings, who had shaped and molded his writing style.

Nisio and light novels

Most of Nisio's works are published by Kodansha Novels, a general literature imprint, but are sometimes classified as light novels. In a conversation with Ubukata Tow, Otokazu said of Nisio, "I think he falls into the light novel category in a broad sense." The January 2005 issue of Nikkei Characters! introduces Nisio as "a new generation of writers who are breaking down the barriers between general literature and light novels". The Nisio Isin Chronicle describes his Zaregoto Series as "often regarded as a light novel".
In the 2004 edition of the light novel guide book This Light Novel is Amazing! 2005, the Zaregoto Series ranked as the second most popular light novel series, but the authors wrote: "There are different opinions on whether the Zaregoto Series is a light novel or not." Taking into account various opinions on "Bunko is the light novel", "packaging", "age of the characters", and other factors, the book's Genre Guide refers to the Zaregoto Series and Kimi to Boku no Kowareta Sekai as "borders" outside of the Bunko. In the following year's This Light Novel Is Amazing! 2006, the Zaregoto Series ranked first, and in an interview held to commemorate this, Nisio said, "I'm unsure if it's a light novel," and commented that "It's not a light novel in the sense that it's 'not a light novel label,' but it's part of a light novel in the sense that 'it's a collaboration between an illustration and a novel,'" and he also said that he has no qualms about his work being identified as a light novel.

Works in English translation

Novels

;Zaregoto series
;Monogatari series
;Katanagatari
Omnibus 3-in-1 volumes.
;Other books
;Short stories
;One-shot
;Imperfect Girl
Adaptation of the Shōjo Fujūbun novel.
;Juni Taisen
Adaptation of the Jūni Taisen novel.
;Bakemonogatari
Adaptation of the Monogatari Series novels.

''Zaregoto'' Series

The Zaregoto Series is written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Take. The series was published between February, 2002, and November, 2005. It was followed by a spin-off series Ningen Series starring the Zerozaki clan. A second spin-off series titled Saikyō Series focusing on the character Jun Aikawa was also released. All books were released in Japan by Kodansha Novels.
First PublishedTitleISBN
February 7, 2002The Beheading Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense Bearer
May 8, 2002Strangulation Romanticist: Hitoshiki Zerozaki, Human Failure
August 6, 2002Hanging High School: The Nonsense Bearer's Pupil
November 7, 2002Psycho Logical Gaisuke Utsurigi's Nonsense Killer
November 7, 2002Psycho Logical : Sour Little Song
July 5, 2003Cannibal Magical: Niounomiya Siblings, Masters of Carnage
February 8, 2005Uprooted Radical : The Thirteen Stairs
June 7, 2005Uprooted Radical : Overkill Red vs. The Orange Seed
November 8, 2005Uprooted Radical : The Blue Savant and the Master of Nonsense

of the Zaregoto Series, it is also known as the "Zerozaki Ichizoku Series." The illustrations are provided by Take. Published by Kodansha.
First PublishedTitleISBN
February 6, 2004Sōshiki Zerozaki's Human Experiment
November 7, 2006Kishishiki Zerozaki's Human Knock
March 6, 2008Magashiki Zerozaki's Human Character
March 25, 2010Hitoshiki Zerozaki's Human Relations: Relations with Izumu Niōnomiya
March 25, 2010Hitoshiki Zerozaki's Human Relations: Relations with Iori Mutō
March 25, 2010Hitoshiki Zerozaki's Human Relations: Relations with Sōshiki Zerozaki
March 25, 2010Hitoshiki Zerozaki's Human Relations: Relations with the Nonsense Bearer

''Saikyō'' Series

of the Zaregoto Series telling the story of "Overkill Red" Jun Aikawa. It was first serialized in the Mephisto magazine. A complete series with 4 volumes published by Kodansha. Take handled the illustrations for the series again.
First PublishedTitleISBN
April 23, 2015
May 7, 2016
April 20, 2017
May 11, 2020

''JDC Tribute'' Series

The Japan Detectives Club was created by Ryūsui Seiryōin, and Nisio Isin is one of several authors to write novels using that setting. The third book is a compilation of the first two.
First PublishedTitleISBN
March 6, 2003
August 7, 2007
January 15, 2010

''Sekai'' Series

A different narrator tells the story each time in a series full of interlinked mysteries. Published by Kodansha. Illustrated by Tagro.
First PublishedTitleISBN
November 3, 2003
October 10, 2007
July 8, 2008
December 5, 2008

First serialized in Faust magazine with illustrations by Capcom's Kinu Nishimura. It was later published in paperback by Kodansha.
First PublishedTitleISBN
July 17, 2004
March 6, 2005
February 22, 2007

''Monogatari'' Series

The series was first created by Nisio Isin as a series of short stories for Mephisto magazine. While his previous Zaregoto Series featured large casts of characters, each Bakemonogatari story tends to introduce only one new character. The previously published stories, and some new ones, were eventually collected in two volumes as part of the Kodansha Box launch titles on November 1, 2006 and December 1, 2006. Vofan has been handling the illustrations ever since. The series is divided into five parts: First, Second, Final, Off, and Monster Season. Ongoing series with 25 volumes published so far. For more details see List of Monogatari novels.

''Mazemonogatari''

In Mix Story Koyomi Araragi meets various heroines from other series written by Nisio Isin. This crossover stories were first distributed in sessions for the Kizumonogatari movies between 2016-17. Kodansha collected those stories, with 3 new ones, and published in 2019.

Related book

This twelve volume samurai epic with illustrations by Take was released one volume a month throughout 2007.
First PublishedTitleISBN
January 10, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 1: Plane, the Absolute
February 2, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 2: Blunt, the Decapitator
March 1, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 3: Blade, the Thousand
April 3, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 4: Needle, the Fine
May 8, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 5: Aegis, the Resentment
June 5, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 6: Hammer, the Dual-Edge
July 3, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 7: Destitute, the Vile
August 2, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 8: Sai, the Minute
September 4, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 9: Saw, the Imperator
October 2, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 10: Scales, the Sincere
November 2, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 11: Gilt, the Venomous
December 4, 2007Katanagatari Chapter 12: Gun, the Firearm

''Maniwagatari''

Maniwagatari takes place 200 years before Katanagatari, when the first Kyotōryū head, Kazune Yasuri, met Kiki Shikizaki.
First PublishedTitleISBN
December 2, 2008

Related book

A complete series with 10 volumes published by Kodansha. The first volume was published as the Nisio's longest book at the time of its publication. The cover of the final volume was illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori.
First PublishedTitleISBN
April 25, 2012
February 28, 2013
June 26, 2013
November 26, 2013
July 2, 2014
February 26, 2015
November 25, 2015
December 28, 2016
February 28, 2018
March 28, 2018

''Medaka Box''

novels of the Medaka Box manga. Illustrated by Akira Akatsuki.
First PublishedTitleISBN
May 2, 2012
June 4, 2012
October 10, 2012
November 19, 2012
October 4, 2013

Related book

Medaka Box Complete Guide Book -

''Bōkyaku Tantei'' Series

Ongoing series with 12 volumes published by Kodansha. Illustrated by Vofan.
First PublishedTitleISBN
October 14, 2014
April 23, 2015
August 19, 2015
October 6, 2015
December 17, 2015
May 17, 2016
August 22, 2016
November 16, 2016
June 1, 2017
January 19, 2018
October 5, 2018
March 18, 2020

''Jūni Taisen''

After the one-shot publication in the one-shot series manga Ōgiri, the story told one day before those events was published in one volume by Shueisha on May 19, 2015, with the illustrations provided by Hikaru Nakamura. A sequel was released in 2017.
First PublishedTitleISBN
May 19, 2015
December 12, 2017

''Bishōnen'' Series

The "Pretty Boy Detective Club" was originally intended to be a group that would appear in the Bōkyaku Tantei Series, but during the story's development, Nisio Isin decided that it could be published as an independent title. Illustrated by Kinako. A complete story told in 11 volumes published by the Kodansha Taiga label.
First PublishedTitleISBN
October 20, 2015
December 18, 2015
March 18, 2016
September 20, 2016
October 18, 2016
March 22, 2017
October 20, 2017
May 23, 2018
October 24, 2018
November 22, 2019
December 20, 2019

Novelizations

Other works

Nisio Isin has also published several single-volume works, with some of them receiving manga adaptations. All of them deal with different themes from the usual, but although they employ the author's characteristic writing style, many of the readers question the quality of these works amid Nisio Isin's large and successful series. Other fans see such works with many of the author's style strengths. Ningyō ga Ningyō is a novel that invokes the style of old Japanese nonsense horror novels; Nanmin Tantei is a detective novel, a style always present in Nisio Isin's writing, but much more prominent in this title; Shōjo Fujūbun is a suspense novel, and Ripogura! is a novel that highlights Nisio Isin's love for constrained writing, based on three short stories rewritten three times each following restrained writing rules. The Veiled Man Hypothesis was Nisio's 100th book.
First PublishedTitleISBN
September 6, 2005
December 10, 2009
September 6, 2011
January 8, 2014Lipogram
July 31, 2019The Veiled Man Hypothesis
Illustrated by Mai Yoneyama

Uncollected works

Collaborative works

Nakoto or Pnakotic Manuscript, referencing the grimoires H. P. Lovecraft created, has been releasing since 2004.
Remaining chapters of the series written for the Faust and Mephisto magazines published by Kodansha.
Stories written for the Pandora magazine published by Kodansha. Illustrated by Maruboro Akai.
The fifth story titled My World was serialized in the Mephisto magazine published by Kodansha.
Since the release of the Bakemonogatari Anime Complete Guidebook on October 28, 2010, Nisio Isin has been writing more than 50 short stories related to the anime or manga adaptation. The stories happens throughout all the timeline of the story featuring different narrators. They usually are brief stories talking about an specific topic, commentaries on literature, etc. Only the short stories in Mazemonogatari were collected in a book.

''Detective Urban Legend''

A series written in the Mephisto magazine published by Kodansha.
A story written in the Mephisto magazine published by Kodansha.
Stories written for the Mephisto magazine published by Kodansha that were not collected yet.
A story written for the Mephisto magazine published by Kodansha.

One-shots

Since the publication of the Hōkago, Nanajikan-me. one-shot in Comic Faust, Nisio Isin has been writing several original scripts for manga.
First PublishedTitleArtistPublisher and Magazine, or Event
June 24, 2006Yun KōgaKōdansha
Comic Faust
January 4, 2008Takeshi ObataShueisha
Weekly Shōnen Jump
March 3, 2013Akira AkatsukiMedaka Box DVD Premium Event Booklet
August 11, 2014Yūya KawadaShueisha
Weekly Shōnen Jump Issue 37/38
August 11, 2014Miyokawa MasaruShueisha
Weekly Shōnen Jump Issue 37/38
June 16, 2016Kei TakizawaShueisha
Weekly Young Jump Issue 27
December 11, 2017Kawashita MizukiShueisha
Weekly Shōnen Jump Issue 2/3
December 29, 2017Iwasaki YūjiShueisha
Jump GIGA 2018 Winter Vol. 2
March 3, 2018Iwasaki YūjiShueisha
Shōnen Jump+
January 25, 2019Iwasaki YūjiShueisha
Jump GIGA 2019 Winter Vol. 2
September 14, 2019Saeki Shun and Tsukuda YūtoShueisha
Weekly Shōnen Jump
Issue 42 Jump Romcom Festival!
November 2, 2019Akira AkatsukiShueisha
Jump Square

Ōgiri

Based on 9 themes suggested by his editor, Nisio Isin wrote 9 one-shots with various artists that were released on Shueisha's magazines between 2014 and 2015 in a period of four months. The collection of stories were published by Shueisha on April 3, 2015.
#TitleArtistThemeMagazineYear and Issue
1Akira AkatsukiCardboard box
Weekly Shōnen Jump2014-49
2RKD-EK9Takeshi ObataParadiseJump SQ2014-12
3Akihisa IkedaAnimalJump SQ2014-12
4Teppei FukushimaHungerWeekly Young Jump2015-01
5Aiji Yamakawa RingBessatsu Margaret2015-01
6Atsushi NakayamaSoccerWeekly Shōnen Jump2015-03
7Hikaru NakamuraWishWeekly Young Jump2015-06/07
8Mizuki KawashitaSweatWeekly Shōnen Jump2015-08
9Renjūru KindaichiConversation DramaJump SQ2015-03

Medaka Box is a Japanese shōnen manga written by Nisio Isin and drawn by Akira Akatsuki. It was serialized in the Japanese magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from Apr 11, 2009 to Apr 27, 2013. It was published by Shueisha in 22 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1October 2, 2009
2December 4, 2009
3February 4, 2010
4April 2, 2010
5August 12, 2010
6September 3, 2010
7November 4, 2010
8December 29, 2010
9March 4, 2011
10May 2, 2011
11August 4, 2011
12October 4, 2011
13December 2, 2011
14March 2, 2012
15April 4, 2012
16July 4, 2012
17September 4, 2012
18December 4, 2012
19February 4, 2013
20April 4, 2013
21June 4, 2013
22September 4, 2013

''Kimi to Nadekko!''

Kimi to Nadekko! is a Japanese shōjo manga written by Nisio Isin and drawn by Ema Tōyama. It's an in-universe shōjo manga written and drawn by Nadeko Sengoku, a female character from the Monogatari Series. The 3 chapters were released in various ways in 2014. It was never collected in a full volume.
First PublishedTitlePublicationISBN, Issue, ASIN
January 30, 2014Heroine Book #4: Sengoku Nadeko
June 28, 2014Kōdansha, Aria magazine.Aug 2014 Issue
July 23, 2014Koimonogatari BD/DVD vol. 2

''Shōnen Shōjo''

Shōnen Shōjo is a Japanese shōnen manga written by Nisio Isin and drawn by Akira Akatsuki. Shōnen Shōjo began serialization on January 4, 2016, and was published in Jump Square until April 4, 2017 with a total of 16 chapters. Compiled by Shueisha into 3 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1June 3, 2016
2November 4, 2016
3May 2, 2017

''Seishun Kijinden! 240 Gakuen''

Legend of Eccentric Youth! Nishio Academy is a Japanese shōnen manga drafted by Nisio Isin and drawn by Shiba Mochi. It was done in commemoration of the 15th year of Nisio Isin writing career and it features various characters from his other series. It began serialization on February 9, 2017 in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine until November 9, 2018. Compiled by Kodansha into 3 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1August 9, 2017
2April 9, 2018
3December 7, 2018

Screenplay

Anime

Manga

Nisio Isin has several adaptations of his novels for manga and since most of his novels are published by Kodansha, most of them comes out in magazines of the publisher.

''Zerozaki Sōshiki no Ningen Shiken''

First serialized in Pandora Vol. 2 Side-A, it was later transferred to the Japanese magazine Monthly Afternoon. It's an adaptation of the first volume of the Ningen Series and it was drawn by Iruka Shiomiya. It was serialized from December 20, 2008 to August 2013. Compiled by Kodansha in 5 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1December 22, 2011
2September 19, 2012
3December 19, 2012
4April 23, 2013
5October 23, 2013

''Zerozaki Kishishiki no Ningen Knock''

It was serialized in the Japanese magazine Monthly Afternoon from August 25, 2014 to September 24, 2016. It's an adaptation of the second volume of the Ningen Series and it was drawn by Chomoran. Compiled by Kodansha in 4 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1January 23, 2015
2August 21, 2015
3March 23, 2016
4November 22, 2016

''Okitegami Kyōko no Bibōroku''

It was serialized in the Japanese magazine Monthly Shonen Magazine from August 6, 2015 to March 6, 2017. It's an adaptation of the first volume of the Bōkyaku Tantei Series and it was drawn by Yō Asami. Compiled by Kodansha in 5 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1October 16, 2015
2April 15, 2016
3August 17, 2016
4January 17, 2017
5April 17, 2017

''Shōjo Fujūbun''

Shōjo Fujūbun is an adaptation of the novel with the same name and was drawn by Mitsuru Hattori. Mitsuri wanted to adapt the novel after reading it. It was serialized between November 30, 2015 and August 29, 2016 in the Japanese magazine Weekly Young Magazine. It was compiled by Kodansha in 3 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1May 6, 2016
2August 5, 2016
3October 6, 2016

''Himeiden''

It was serialized in the Japanese magazine Young Magazine Third from December 4, 2015 to December 6, 2017. It's an adaptation of the first volume of the Densetsu Series and it was drawn by Mitsutani Osamu. Compiled by Kodansha in 4 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1May 6, 2016
2December 20, 2016
3June 20, 2017
4January 19, 2018

''Bishōnen Tanteidan''

It was serialized in the Japanese magazine Aria from June 2016 until June 2018 because of Aria's termination. It was transferred to Shonen Magazine Edge on October 17, 2018 and the rest of the chapters were released until July 17, 2019. It's an adaptation of the first volume of the Bishōnen Series and it was drawn by Oda Suzuka. Compiled by Kodansha in 5 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1September 7, 2016
2February 7, 2017
3August 7, 2017
4June 7, 2018
5September 6, 2019

''Jūni Taisen''

It was serialized in the Japanese magazine Shonen Jump+ from September 23, 2017 to May 12, 2018. It's an adaptation of the Jūni Taisen novel and it was drawn by Akira Akatsuki. Compiled by Shueisha in 4 volumes.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1November 2, 2017
2January 4, 2018
3April 4, 2018
4July 4, 2018

''Bakemonogatari''

Bakemonogatari is an adaptation of the Monogatari Series novels and is drawn by Oh! great. It began its serialization on March 14, 2018, and has been published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. It has been compiled by Kodansha. A special edition within the Kodansha Box label is also published.
Vol.First PublishedTitleISBN
1June 15, 2018
2August 17, 2018
3November 16, 2018
4January 17, 2019
5April 17, 2019
6July 17, 2019
7October 17, 2019
8February 17, 2020
9May 15, 2020

TV Drama

. It adapted the first and second volume of the Bōkyaku Tantei Series. Starring Yui Aragaki.
Title# of episodesBroadcast dateDirectorNetwork
Okitegami Kyōko no Bibōroku1010 October – 12 December 2015Tōya Satō
Yoshinori Shigeyama
Naoko Komuro		NTV

Stage Play