Makoto Kobayashi is a manga artist that is best known for his unusual drawing style. His earliest work is Grapple Three Brothers, which won the Shounen magazine New manga artist award. He has won twice the Kodansha Manga Award, for 1 2 no Sanshirou in 1981 and What's Michael? in 1986.

One of his most well known manga is What's Michael?, a manga about a curious orange cat and his many adventures.