Idzuki Kouji

This article is written from the Real Life point of view

New artwork drawn by Kouji for the 35th anniversary of Metroid in 2021.

Idzuki Kouji, also known as Izuki Kouji or by his pseudonym Moon Up, is a Japanese manga artist and the author of the Samus and Joey and Metroid EX stories published in Comic BomBom. His other works include Rockman, a manga series based on Mega Man.

Samus and Joey

Kouji later reflected that he never kept any copies of either work apart from the original manuscripts, although CapCom of the Metroid Database was able to acquire both stories in their entirety and translate both of them into English. Kouji and CapCom had kept in contact, and Kouji was happy that someone was enjoying his work enough to translate it into English.

Kouji was interviewed by Shinesparkers in 2019 about Samus and Joey. He explained that he was selected to draw the manga by both Nintendo and Kodansha out of several candidates, "based on being able to draw an action theme and an energetic child." He was disappointed that Metroid EX was not released as a tankobon (collection) like the first three volumes of Samus and Joey, and has launched a campaign on Fukkan to have that series reprinted. Samus and Joey was later released in eBook in February 2022.

He currently works as a care assistant for handicapped people in Japan, and was considering writing a book about his experiences with this role.

Shinesparkers published a translation of multiple tweets written by Kouji from 2021 to 2022 in July 2022.

Trivia

• If he had the chance to change anything in the story, Kouji said he would draw a scene of Samus on a day off, and "some kind of trouble" she would get caught in "in her daily life as a woman."
• Kouji had not kept up with the Metroid series since Metroid Prime, as he had no consoles with which to play the games.

External links

• Blog
• Metroid blog entry
• MDb translation of the above post on Facebook
• Kouji on Twitter
• Interview with Shinesparkers
• Translated tweets