Yasuko Aoike (青池 保子, Aoike Yasuko, born July 24, 1948, in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi) is a female Japanese manga artist. Most of her works are shōjo manga, predominantly focused on romance, adventure and light comedy, and many of them contain elements of shōnen-ai . She is included in the Year 24 Group. [1]
Aoike grew up as the youngest child in a large family (including five sisters and a brother) that owned a construction company, so in her childhood she was surrounded by the strong men employed by the company. Her father, an amateur artist who had studied ink wash painting under a master of the Southern School style, was a great influence on Aoike.
Aoike made her professional debut at the age of 15 in Ribon magazine's 1963 Winter Special Edition with the short story Sayonara Nanette. [2] Her short works appeared in Shōjo Friend and other Kodansha publications through the mid-1970s. She began writing serial works primarily for Akita Shoten, starting with Miriam Blue's Lake in the January 1975 issue of Princess . [3] Her work has also appeared in Shueisha's Monthly Seventeen Magazine in the late 1970s (most notably El Alcon and Seven Seas, Seven Skies) and Hakusensha's Lala magazine in the 1980s. [4]
She is best known for From Eroica with Love , which has been serialized by Akita Shoten since 1976 and has produced several spinoff series. It was licensed in English by CMX, which published 15 volumes from 2004-2010. [5] [6] In 1991 Aoike was awarded the Japan Cartoonists Association Award's Excellence Award for Alcazar.
Yasuko Aoike has worked on various stand-alone manga and short stories that are included in other volumes: [7]
CMX was an imprint of DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment. It was DC's line of manga translations. CMX was known for its censored release of Tenjho Tenge and the print version of Fred Gallagher's Megatokyo web manga series.
Densha Otoko is a Japanese movie, television series, manga, novel, and other media, all based on the purportedly true story of a 23-year-old otaku who intervened when a drunk man started to harass several women on a train. The otaku ultimately began dating one of the women.
From Eroica with Love is a shōjo manga by Yasuko Aoike which originally began publication in 1976 by Akita Shoten. The series ran irregularly in the Japanese anthology magazine Viva Princess from December 1976 to April 1979, then moved to the sister publication Princess beginning in September 1979. It was featured regularly in Princess, with several later side stories appearing in Viva Princess, until August 1989. It went on hiatus for several years, then reappeared in Princess in May 1995 and ran irregularly through December 2007. As of January 2009, it is once again regularly featured in Princess Gold. The English translation by CMX began publication in 2004. It has also been translated to Chinese, as Romantic Hero, with 21 volumes; as well as to Thai, with 20 volumes.
Princess is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Akita Shoten. It launched in December 1974 and is released on the sixth of each month. It has inspired several spin-off publications, including Bessatsu Viva Princess, renamed Viva Princess (1976–1990), Princess Gold (1979–2020); Bessatsu Princess (1990–1994); and Princess Gold's own spin-off, Petit Princess, launched in 2002 and published on the first of each month.
The Year 24 Group is a grouping of female manga artists who heavily influenced shōjo manga beginning in the 1970s. While shōjo manga of the 1950s and 1960s largely consisted of simple stories marketed towards elementary school-aged girls, works by members of the group significantly developed shōjo manga by expanding it to incorporate new genres, themes, and subject material. Narratives and art styles in shōjo manga became more complex, and works came to examine topics such as psychology, gender, politics, and sexuality. Manga produced by the Year 24 Group brought the shōjo category into what scholars have described as its "golden age".
Kyoko Mizuki is one of the pen names of Keiko Nagita, a Japanese writer who is best known for being the author of the manga and anime series Candy Candy.
Toshie Kihara is a Japanese manga artist and a member of the Year 24 Group. She made her professional debut in 1969 with the short story Kotchi Muite Mama! in Bessatsu Margaret. She is best known for her manga series Mari to Shingo, serialized from 1977 to 1984 in LaLa, which follows a romance between two young men at the start of the Shōwa era. Several of her manga series have inspired musicals performed by the all-female Takarazuka Revue, including Angélique, an adaptation of the novels by Anne Golon; Torikaebaya Ibun, an adaptation of the Heian era tale Torikaebaya Monogatari; and Ōeyama Kaden.
Kimiko Uehara is a prominent Japanese shōjo and josei manga artist. She is best known for shōjo series such as Maiko no Uta, Lovely Mari-chan, Marybell, Honoo no Romance, Lolly no Seishun, and Yumedokei. She received the 1990 Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga for Lovely Mari-chan. Uehara is cited by Naoko Takeuchi, author of Sailor Moon, as an influence, especially her dialog in Lolly no Seishun and Honoo no Romance.
Oyayubihime Infinity is a shōjo manga series by Toru Fujieda. It was published in Japan by Akita Shoten starting in April 2004, and continuing for six tankōbon volumes until its conclusion in May 2006. The series was licensed by CMX manga for an English language release in North American starting in June 2006.
VS is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Keiko Yamada. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's shōjo magazine Princess Comics. The individual chapters were released in 7 tankōbon volumes between June 1999 and December 24, 2001. The series is licensed in North America by CMX, which released the manga's 7 tankōbon volumes between April 1, 2006 and October 10, 2007. The story follows violinist, Reiji Saioin, as he strives to win the next Japanese National Music Contest with the help of his personal teacher, Mitsuko Hane, and his friends, Nachi Meiya and Aoi Kenzaki. Impeding his goal is Bartholomew Asakura, who ruined Hane's arm in the past, and his growing feelings for his teacher.
Melody, stylized as MELODY, is a Japanese josei manga magazine published on the 28th of even-numbered months by Hakusensha since August 28, 1997, initially published as a shōjo manga magazine.
Apothecarius Argentum is a Japanese shōjo manga series by Tomomi Yamashita, published in Akita Shoten's Princess Gold magazine and collected into eleven volumes. It was licensed in English by CMX Manga, who released the first eight volumes. It is about a princess, Primula, and her bodyguard Argent.
The Seven Deadly Sins is a Japanese fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Nakaba Suzuki. It was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from October 2012 to March 2020, with the chapters collected into 41 tankōbon volumes. Featuring a setting similar to the European Middle Ages, the story follows a titular group of knights representing the seven deadly sins. The manga has been licensed by Kodansha USA for English publication in North America, while the chapters were released digitally by Crunchyroll in over 170 countries as they were published in Japan.
Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō, or simply Saintia Shō, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chimaki Kuori, a spin-off of the classic Saint Seiya manga created, written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. Saintia Shō started its serialization in Akita Shoten's Champion Red magazine in August 2013.
Yukiko Kai was a Japanese shōjo manga artist. Her real name was Kimiko Kaihatsu. She is considered a member of the Post Year 24 Group. Although she died young, her works are still analyzed. Manga artist Akiko Hatsu is her younger sister.
Reign of the Seven Spellblades is a Japanese light novel series written by Bokuto Uno and illustrated by Ruria Miyuki. ASCII Media Works have published the series since September 2018 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Sakae Esuno has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Ace since May 2019. Both the light novel and manga are licensed in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation by J.C.Staff is set to premiere in July 2023.
Sunroom Nite is a Japanese manga one-shot written and illustrated by Keiko Takemiya. It was originally published in the December 1970 issue of the manga magazine Bessatsu Shōjo Comic under the title Yuki to Hoshi to Tenshi to.... It is the first work in the shōnen-ai genre.