Akira Itou is a writer, gamer, and international best-selling comic artist. Over the last decade his work has been associated with some of the world's most popular trading card games - YuGiOh and Vanguard. Raised in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Itou cut his teeth as an assistant for Studio Dice and YuGiOh creator Kazuki Takahashi. After working as an assistant on the original YuGiOh comic, Itoh would eventually come to draw the YuGiOh sequel YuGiOh R. The series was a regular feature in Shonen Jump Magazine for four years and significantly expanded the brand from comic for teens to full-blown gaming narrative. After working with the YuGiOh franchise for nearly a decade, Itoh would pair up with Japanese trading card leaders BushiRoad to develop a new card game - Vanguard. Vanguard would premiere as a serialized manga in 2010 to lay the foundation for a TRPG which would debut globally February 2011. The brand has spun-off a weekly prime-time animated TV series, which is currently available globally in English on YouTube, with Itou as the writer.