Takeshi Obata is a renowned Japanese manga artist known for his distinctive drawings. He often works as the lead artist in collaboration with a writer. Obata first gained international recognition for his work on Hikaru no Go (1999–2003) with Yumi Hotta and achieved global fame with the hit series Death Note (2003–2006), in collaboration with writer Tsugumi Ohba. He is also the co-creator of other notable works such as Bakuman (2008–2012) and Platinum End. Obata has played a mentoring role to several acclaimed manga artists, including Nobuhiro Watsuki, known for Rurouni Kenshin, Kentaro Yabuki, the creator of Black Cat, and Yusuke Murata, the artist behind Eyeshield 21.