Riku Sanjo

Riku Sanjo was born on October 3, 1964, in Japan. A graduate of Meiji University, he built a career as a manga writer and screenwriter for anime and live-action projects. Sanjo is best known as the co-creator of *Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai*, a long-running series illustrated by Koji Inada that ran from 1989 to 1996. That manga became one of the best-selling in history, moving over 47 million copies. The same duo later reunited for *Beet the Vandel Buster* (2002–2006, with a revival in 2016), which has sold roughly 4 million copies. Sanjo’s writing style blends classic fantasy adventure with tight plotting and a knack for ensemble casts. In our catalog, he is credited as writer on 12 issues from 2004 to 2007, most prominently for *Beet the Vandel Buster*. His later work includes screenwriting for *Kamen Rider* series and other tokusatsu productions. While Sanjo has not received major industry awards on the level of some peers, his commercial success and influence on shōnen manga are substantial. He remains active, continuing the *Beet the Vandel Buster* revival and contributing to anime and live-action scripts.