As a teenager, Itagaki admired karate master
Mas Oyama and dedicated himself to working out. He holds a second degree
black belt in
Shorinji Kempo. Wanting a career where he would be praised for his physical regimen, Itagaki served five years in the
1st Airborne Brigade of the
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. During his service he practiced amateur boxing and competed in the
National Sports Festival. Because he was already married with children at this point, he took the classes, which together cost ¥180,000, very seriously. A book collecting the four published at the time was released on January 1, 2023. Itagaki designed a special costume for
Bruce Irvin in
Tekken 5 (2004). In November 2010, Itagaki began
Dogesen, a manga centered around
dogeza, with his friend and fellow manga artist Rin Kasahara. After coming up with the initial idea, Itagaki attended plot meetings and supervised, while Rin wrote and illustrated the work for
Weekly Manga Goraku. However, disagreements resulted in the dissolving of the partnership in October 2011. Itagaki began
Daku Jotaro in the October issue of
Play Comic. He wrote the manga, while Seisaku Kano illustrated it. However, despite the second chapter announcing it would be moved to
Young Champion, the series has not resumed. Instead, Itagaki decided to start a new manga with the
dogeza theme. Itagaki starred in the television show , which was broadcast on
BS-TBS on March 20, 2021. It follows as he visits
dojos for various martial arts, including
Jeet Kune Do and
Krav Maga. He illustrated the
para taekwondo section of the official programme for the
2020 Summer Paralympics and created the key visual for the 2021
Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. ==Works==