Why this acclaimed manga artist hides her face behind a chicken mask
In short: Paru Itagaki, the creative force behind the hit series Beastars, maintains a strictly private public persona. By wearing a chicken mask at all appearances, she separates her personal identity from her work, a strategy she also used to establish her own professional reputation independent of her famous father.
Born in 1993, Paru Itagaki began her artistic journey in kindergarten, eventually developing the core concept for her breakout hit, Beastars, while still a teenager. Her early influences were eclectic, ranging from Disney animation to the distinct artistic styles of Nicolas de Crécy and Egon Schiele. Despite her early start, her path to professional success was not immediate; after studying filmmaking at Musashino Art University, she initially struggled to find work in the film industry. She turned to creating dōjinshi, which she sold at conventions before eventually submitting her work to editors at Akita Shoten.
Her breakthrough came in 2016 with the serialization of Beastars in Weekly Shōnen Champion, a series that earned both critical and commercial acclaim. Throughout her career, Itagaki has been intensely protective of her privacy. She famously wears a mask based on the character Legom from Beastars to obscure her face at public events. This commitment to anonymity extended to her family background; although Japanese tabloids identified her as the daughter of Baki the Grappler creator Keisuke Itagaki in 2018, she did not publicly confirm the relationship until 2019. She waited until she was firmly established in the industry to avoid any potential accusations of nepotism.
Itagaki’s output has remained prolific since her debut. Following the conclusion of Beastars in 2020, she launched several projects, including the series Sanda, which ran from 2021 to 2024, and the ongoing Taika's Reason, which began in 2025. Her work spans various publications, from the autobiographical Paruno Graffiti to shorter collections like Beast Complex. In 2023, she announced her marriage, continuing to balance a high-profile career with a carefully guarded personal life. Her trajectory from a university student selling dōjinshi to an award-winning creator demonstrates a deliberate, self-made path through the competitive Japanese manga industry.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Paru Itagaki
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