Kazuo Koike

was a prolific Japanese manga writer (gensakusha), novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and entrepreneur. He is best known for his violent, artful ''seinen'' manga, notably ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' (with Goseki Kojima, 1970–6), ''Lady Snowblood'' (with Kazuo Kamimura, 1972–3) and ''Crying Freeman'' (with Ryoichi Ikegami, 1986–8), which – along with their numerous media adaptations − have been credited for their influence on the international growth of Japanese popular culture. Provided by Wikipedia