Takehiko Inoue is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. He is best known for his basketball manga series Slam Dunk, which has sold over 100 million copies in Japan alone. He has also created several other popular series, including Vagabond, Real, and Buzzer Beater. Inoue has won numerous awards for his work, including the Shogakukan Manga Award, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, and the Kodansha Manga Award. He is considered one of the most influential manga artists of all time, and his work has been praised for its realism and attention to detail. Inoue continues to create new works, inspiring generations of manga fans around the world.