Biography
Matthias Mertrud (pen name), better known on social media by his artist name Tanji, is a 24-year-old amateur mangaka. Since childhood, he has been immersed in drawing, largely thanks to the superhero of his youth: Spider-Man.
It was not until his final year of primary school that a friend introduced him to his very first manga, Fairy Tail. From that moment on, he developed a genuine passion for manga and gradually began devoting more time to drawing than to his schoolwork.
After earning a literary high school diploma with honors, he pursued a degree in Modern Literature at the Sorbonne. By then, however, the dream of becoming a mangaka had largely faded due to the difficulty of entering the profession and the instability of the lifestyle it often entails. Yet, during a university assignment in which students were asked what career they hoped to pursue, he found himself unable to answer. Pressed for time, he simply wrote “mangaka” on the form. He did not write it entirely seriously, but a small spark within him had never truly gone out.
As part of his studies, he was required to interview either a publisher or an author. He contacted the independent publishing house Chatto-Chatto, which directed him to AAA (Association des Amitiés Asiatiques), a school specializing in manga.
After discovering the school and with the unwavering support of his parents, he ultimately decided to leave the Sorbonne—despite having successfully completed his first year—to study manga at AAA under the guidance of the remarkable Kaori Yoshikawa. He was only able to attend for one year before the school closed, and since 2021 he has continued his artistic training as a self-taught creator.
Since then, he has developed several editorial projects, participated in various competitions—including Kana’s Summer Feelings contest in 2023—and created several one-shots with the goal of improving his craft and eventually seeing one of his projects break into the professional manga industry.
Although he has not yet signed a major personal project, he has already appeared in the horror short story anthology Chroniques horrifiques, published by Éditions Reborn, and is now also featured in Manga ISSHO, thanks to the support of Timothée Guédon and the Kana team. More projects are already on the horizon.
