One of the most influential and innovative manga artists currently working in Japan, Taiyo Matsumoto is best known to English-reading audiences as the creator of GoGo Monster, Number Five, and Tekkonkinkreet, which was made into a critically acclaimed animated film of the same name. In 2007, Matsumoto was awarded a Japan Media Arts Festival Award for Excellence, and in 2008, he won the prestigious Eisner Award for the English publication of Tekkonkinkreet.