Kamachi Kazuma

Kamachi Kazuma (鎌池和馬) is a Japanese-born light novel author and the original creator of the Toaru Majutsu no Index light novel series and Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, its spin-off manga series. He also actively works on the manga and anime adaptations of both Index and Railgun, and has worked on other related media like the original plot of the PSP game.

As he uses a pen name, his real name and identity is as of yet unknown.

Career
Before becoming the famous writer of the Index light novel series, Kamachi wrote a story entitled Schrödinger's Road (シュレディンガーの街) as an entry in the 9th Dengeki Game Novel Prize; unfortunately, his submission failed to reach past the third selection stage of the said competition. However, his story caught the attention of the editor-in-chief of Dengeki, and Kamachi later becomes in-charge in writing the book Kaite-minai ka? (書いてみないか？), which becomes his debut as a professional writer.

Background
Kamachi's identity has been shrouded in mystery. He has little to no media exposure, and unlike many novelists, uses an avatar — a face created from simple shapes like circles or oblongs — as a picture in his publications. Haimura Kiyotaka, the illustrator of the Toaru Majutsu no Index light novels has once thought of him as "delicately sports-minded", while the author of the Toradora! light novels, Takemiya Yuyuko, upon meeting the author personally, was surprised to discover him as "younger than expected".

Kamachi began writing novels while he is studying as a junior high school student. However, his works were not finished until he graduated from high school.

Work
Kamachi considers writing novels as his pastime, and he takes joy in doing so; in fact, he is noted for his very quick pace of writing. As exemplified by volume 2 of the Index novels which was written at the behest of his editor, and was forced to complete it in a mere 17 days. He also extremely prolific, apparently managing to write for two of his light novel series on schedule, and at the same time writing for other side projects.

On holidays, he plans on the progress on the plot and prepares manuscripts. Kamachi also takes some time to research on materials for the light novels.

Literature

 * Toaru Majutsu no Index (とある魔術の禁書目録) (2004-2010) (light novels, original creator)
 * Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan (撲殺天使ドクロちゃん) Collaboration Volume (2007) (light novel, contributor)
 * New Testament: Toaru Majutsu no Index (新約 とある魔術の禁書目録) (2011, ongoing) (light novels, original creator)
 * Heavy Object (ヘヴィーオブジェクト) (2009, ongoing) (light novels, original creator)
 * The Circumstances of Waltraute's Courtship (ヴァルトラウテさんの婚活事情) (2012) (short story, original creator)
 * The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village (インテリビレッジの座敷童) (2012) (original creator)
 * A Simple Survey (簡単なアンケートです) (2012) (original creator)

Manga

 * Toaru Kagaku no Railgun (とある科学の超電磁胞) (2007, ongoing) (manga, original creator)
 * Toaru Majutsu no Index (2007, ongoing) (manga, original creator)
 * Heavy Object (manga, original creator)

Anime

 * Toaru Majutsu no Index (2008-2009) (anime series, original creator)
 * Toaru Kagaku no Railgun (2009-2010) (anime series, original creator)
 * Toaru Majutsu no Index II (2010-2011) (anime series, original creator)
 * Toaru Kagaku no Railgun OVA (2010) (OVA, original creator)
 * Toaru Majutsu no Index Movie (TBA) (Theatrical film, original creator)

Video games

 * Toaru Majutsu no Index Portable (2011) (PSP game, original creator)
 * Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Portable (2011) (PSP game, original creator)
 * Kakusansei Million Arthur (拡散性ミリオンアーサー) (2011) (Android phone, scenario writer)

Trivia

 * Kamachi once used a picture of an orange with a face on it, all made using circles or other shapes, as an avatar during the first five volumes of the Toaru Majutsu no Index light novels. Since Volume 06, he has switched to a much simpler avatar: various faces created from circles and/or rectangles.