Manga-ka of the Month – Watsuki Nobuhiro

WATSUKI NOBUHIRO

(和月伸宏)

August

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Pen Name: Watsuki Nobuhiro (和月 伸宏)

Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan

Date of Birth: 26 May 1970

Horoscope: Gemini

Responsible for the creation of Rurouni Kenshin – one of the most popular and classic manga of all time – Watsuki Nobuhiro’s path towards manga artist started long before he was even known. He started drawing manga by following his older brother when he was still a young boy, and continued even after his brother stopped.

Mangaka of the Month – Takaya Natsuki (高屋 奈月)

Takaya Natsuki

(高屋 奈月)

-July–

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Pen name: Takaya Natsuki

Real name: Hatake Naka

Date of Birth: July 07, 1973

Home-town: Shizuoka, Japan

Horoscope: Cancer

Manga-ka of the Month – Yabuki Kentarou

YABUKI KENTAROU

(矢吹 健太朗)

June

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Pen Name: Yabuki Kentarou (矢吹健太朗)

Hometown: Kochi, Shikoku, Japan

Date of Birth: 4February 1980

Yabuki is best known for the series Black Cat which ran 20 volumes and has finished publishing in the U.S. He is also notable as the artist and collaborator on the series To Love-Ru alongside former assistant Saki Hasemi. Three of his serialised works were adapted into an animated series, namely Black Cat, To-Love-Ru and Mayoi Neko Overrun!

His mentor is the illustrator Obata Takeshi, who is famous for his works Death Note, Hikaru no Go and Bakuman to name a few.

Works

Yamato Gensōki (邪馬台幻想記) (1998 Shueisha)

Jigen Bakuju (時限爆呪) (1999 Shueisha)

Black Cat (ブラックキャット) (2000 Shueisha), Illustrator

Trans Boy (One-shot, 2004) No. 37-38 on Shounen Jump

To Love-Ru -Trouble- (To LOVEる -とらぶる- Toraburu) (2006 Shueisha), Illustrator

Mayoi Neko Overrun! (迷い猫オーバーラン!, Stray Cats Overrun!) (2010 Shueisha), Illustrator

Futagami Double (One-shot, 2009) Shounen Jump

To Love-Ru Darkness (To LOVEる -とらぶる- ダークネス) (2010 Shueisha), Illustrator

Mangaka of the Month – Kure Yuki

Kure Yuki 

(呉由姫)

-April-

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Name: Kure Yuki

Date of Birth: December 4th

Hometown: Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Yuki Kure made her debut in 2000, with the story Chijo yori Eien ni (Forever from the Earth), published in monthly LaLa magazine. She was born on December 4th, and is from Chiba prefecture. La Corda d’ Oro is her first manga series published. Her hobby is watching soccer games and collecting small goodies (fancy goods).

-ShojoBeat

Mushroom Manga – Gin no Saji & Ao Haru Ride

A couple of days back I woefully bade goodbye to Kekkaishi as I read its final chapter. It had a surprisingly quite sad ending in certain aspects, but like many other shounen manga it closed with the promise of future – not just for the characters in the manga, but the manga-ka his/herself as well. So as I read the usual final little side note that went something along the lines of ‘thank you for supporting so-and-so… look forward to next work…’ I thought… A-HAH!

Therefore today I mushroom manga from  two pretty-much super popular manga-ka who have recently started on their new piece of work!

Gin no Saji (銀の匙) / Silver Spoon

Manga-ka: Arakawa Hiromu

Genre: Comedy, School Life, Slice of Life, Shounen

Yugo Hachiken aspires to live separated from his family, so he took the chance by enrolling to an agriculture boarding school. He thinks that the path would be easy for him regardless due to his talent for studying – but he’s proven wrong. Brought up as an all-easy-to-get city boy, he is forced to discover the inconvenient truth about agricultural life. Enjoy Hachiken’s story as he tries to keep up with his friends (mostly farmers’ heirs) who are already accustomed to hardworking farm life.

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I didn’t even bother reading the summary before I started going through this. Gin no Saji, or Silver Spoon, is by Arakawa Hiromu – and being an avid fan of FMA, this was a definite must-read.

Manga-Talk: Hana to Akuma vs. Twilight

So I found out some time back that Hana to Akuma has actually been completed. There I was wondering why it never got updated, and guess what genius? The whole ‘I-won’t-read-this-chapter-I’ll-wait-for-the-next-so-I-can-read-it-in-one-go’ strategy has quite obviously backfired.

Just to sum up Hana to Akuma, it’s about this 14-year-old girl who lives with a demon. He’s been taking care of her ever since she was in diapers coz she was abandoned in front of his huchamungous mansion, and guess what happens?

Moving on.

I never quite got why I enjoy reading it; I started following it quite early, and I would read it whenever a new chapter came out, but I never cemented an attachment to it. It was like a good passing acquaintance rather a friend, I would say. But I think that might have changed with the last chapter.

I was actually really curious about how Oto Hisamu would end the whole story. Hana to Akuma carries the whole ‘happy ending’ atmosphere from the 1^st chapter all the way to its penultimate 57^th one, so I seriously wondering how it would finish – she was a human with a limited lifespan, and he was a demon who would continue living for countless millennia after her.

So anyway, the spoilers (and comparison) start here so if you don’t want to read either one, you can stop reading now.

But, I mean, I would appreciate it if you didn’t. That’s why I wrote this post.

Mangaka of the Month – Midorikawa Yuki

MIDORIKAWA YUKI

(緑川ゆき)

March

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Pen Name: Midorikawa Yuki (緑川ゆき)

Hometown: Kumamoto, Japan

Date of Birth: 23 May 1976

Her pen name ‘Midori-kawa’ (green river) was given to her by her sister, who named her after one of the rivers in their hometown. It was her older sister who made her start thinking of becoming a manga-ka when she was in middle school. She debuted in 1998 with her one-shot, Coffee Hirari (珈琲ひらり) and won the “Fresh Debut Prize” for the 18^th LaLa Manga Grand Prize (LMG). Her first published story, Akaku Saku Koe (あかく咲く声) received Athena Shinjin Taishou by Hakusensha in 1999. Her most popular series, Natsume Yuujinchou (夏目友人帳), has been adapted into an anime with a forthcoming 3^rd season July this year.

Midorikawa Yuki chose Hakusensha was due to her interest in some of their published works, such as Boku no Chikyuu wo Mamotte (Please Save my Earth)and Doubutsu no Oisha-san (Mr. Veterinarian). Some other works and manga-ka that have influenced her are Shinohara Chie’s Umi no Yami, Tsuki no Kage (Darkness of the Sea, Shadow of the Moon) and Mochizuki Karin.

Gakuen Alice Illustration Fan Book~

Hello my dear chums, what an inevitable thrill to have you all again. It’s been quite a bit of time now since I last shared the Starry Sky BGM Collection CD with you and just to enlighten confused minds, the Gakuen Alice Illustration Fan Book came in the same shipment. The product name is ‘Gakuen Alice Illustration Fan Book’ but the book itself actually says ‘fun’ instead of ‘fan,’ but oh well. I won’t add any captions but my comments will be posted UNDER each picture.

Mangaka of the Month ~ CLAMP

CLAMP

Current members:

Nanase Ohkawa

Place & Date of Birth: May 2, 1967. Osaka, Japan.

Writing scripts, designing graphic novel covers, planning and sales

Tsubaki Nekoi

Place & Date of Birth:January 21, 1969. Kyoto, Japan

Drawing super deformed characters, assists in character design, applying screentones, correcting manga illustrations

Satsuki Igarashi

Place & Date of Birth: February 8, 1969. Kyoto, Japan

In charge of the design of the tankōbon, assistant to Mokona and Tsubaki Nekoi, production coordination, line artist, character designer

Mokona

Place & Date of Birth: June 16, 1968. Kyoto, Japan

In charge of character design, illustrator, colorist, composition designer

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Mangaka of the Month – Kubo Tite

KUBO TITE

(久保 帯人 KUBO TAITO)

January

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Real Name: Kubo Noriaki (久保 宣章)

Hometown: Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima

Date of Birth: 26 June 1977

Kubo Tite’s most significant work to date would happen to be one of the most popular manga of all time –Bleach. His talent was recognised by one of the editors in Shonen Jump when he submitted an entry for one of the magazine’s contests. Although he did not win, the two worked together and he managed to produce three one-shots. His first serialisation was Zombiepowder in 1999, which ended in 2000 with 4 volumes. His next work is also his current one – the ever famous Bleach that has run in the Weekly Shounen Jump since August 2001 with over 430 chapters.

Some of his greatest influences include Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro by Shigeru Mizuki and Saint Seiya by Masami Kurumada.