is a Japanese

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

Career

She is a graduate of

Musashino Art University or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan. History In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...

. She made her professional debut in 1977 with the short story , published in '' Bessatsu Shōjo Comic'' magazine. Her following series were critical successes. Her series '' Sakura no Sono'' was adapted as a live-action film in 1992. Yoshida is best known for the crime thriller series '' Banana Fish'', which she published between 1985 and 1994. The series was reprinted many times and received an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

adaptation produced by

MAPPA is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Nakano, Tokyo (formerly in Suginami, Tokyo). Founded in 2011 by Madhouse co-founder and producer Masao Maruyama, it has produced anime works including '' Terror in Resonance'', '' Yuri!!! on I ...

in 2018.

Style

While publishing mainly in manga magazines, her drawing style has often been compared to the aesthetics of

shōnen manga is an editorial category of Manga, Japanese comics targeting an audience of both adolescent boys and young men. It is, along with Shōjo manga, manga (targeting adolescent girls and young women), Seinen manga, manga (targeting young adults ...

. Yoshida herself reacted to this in an interview with a magazine in 1982: "Being a secret shojo manga artist suits me just fine. Hidden in some little corner of the world, staying out of people's way, I can actually do some pretty outrageous things. Which is really great. ..So, yeah, you men can just shut up. Girls, let's just have our own fun right here."

Reception

She is a three time recipient of the

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is ...

– for '' Kisshō Tennyo'' in 1983 and for '' Yasha'' in 2001, both in the manga category, and for '' Umimachi Diary'' in 2015 in the general manga category. In 2002, Yasha was among the jury-selected works at the Japan Media Arts Festival 2002. In 2007, she received an Excellence Award for manga at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival for ''Umimachi Diary'', which was later adapted into a feature film titled '' Our Little Sister''. In 2013, she was awarded the 6th

Manga Taishō The is a Japanese List of comics awards, comics award recognizing achievement in manga. It is awarded annually to a manga series published in the previous calendar year of eight or fewer Tankōbon, collected volumes in length. The Manga Taish� ...

, again for ''Umimachi Diary''. Despite her work being solely published in shōjo manga magazines, she also has a broad readership among fans of

Awards

Works

Series

Short story collections

* , 1983

Anime

*, 1985, character designer

Art books

* ''California Tuning'', 1982 * ''The Making of Bobby's Girl'', 1985 * ''Angel Eyes: Illustration Book Banana Fish'', 1994 (1st ed.), 2018 (reprint) * ''Double Helix: Illustration Book Yasha'', 2003

References

Literature

External links

Official 40th anniversary blog
at '' Monthly Flowers'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshida, Akimi 1956 births Living people Japanese female comics writers Japanese female comics artists Manga artists from Tokyo Manga Taishō People from Shibuya Women manga artists