Next year, popular illustrator and character designer Range Murata (Last Exile, Blue Submarine No. 6) will add a new title to his résumé: associate professor. Murata will join the faculty for the new character design course that Kyoto Seika University is establishing in April of 2013. The new course will fall under the Department of Cartoon & Comic Art of the university's Faculty of Manga.

Murata notes that it has been over a decade since he began working as an illustrator. In that time, Internet technology and dōjin events have grown rapidly, and so has the number of people who want to turn pro. Murata said that he will impart to his students the "techniques, preparation, and ideas" that he himself obtained by working in the industry.

The Faculty of Manga's teaching staff already includes To Terra creator Keiko Takemiya, Night on the Galactic Railroad director Gisaburô Sugii, and manga translator Matt Thorn. In addition, anime creator Yoshiyuki Tomino (Gundam, Dunbine) and director Rintaro (Metropolis, X) are visiting professors at the university.

Hiroyasu Ishida gained worldwide recognition with his multiple award-winning anime short "Fumiko's Confession," which he created while he was still studying in the university's Department of Animation. Yoshiaki Sukeno graduated from the Department of Cartoon & Comic Art, and Shueisha announced last month that Sukeno's Binbō-gami ga! manga will be adapted into anime.

Source: AnimeAnime.biz