was 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 ...

. She was the first woman to be published in the manga magazine

Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the ...

and its only regular female comic artist.

History

Tsurita began drawing manga as a teenager and submitting her work to magazine contests, but it was not well received in part because women were expected to create shoujo romance stories, not action stories. One editor wrote "I would recommend you stick with subject matter that you’re familiar with and draw about girls instead.”. She later found success publishing in the

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

manga magazine

. Tsurita died of complications from

lupus Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common ...

in 1985 at the age of 37.

Style and Themes

Many of Tsurita's manga were in

gekiga is a style of Japanese comics aimed at adult audiences and marked by a more cinematic art style and more mature themes. ''Gekiga'' was the predominant style of adult comics in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. It is aesthetically defined by sharp ...

style. Tsurika's work explores and subverts themes of women's

gender roles A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gende ...

and

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

ideas of femininity,

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

, and

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. Some of her work feature

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it often r ...

gender nonconforming Gender nonconformity or gender variance is gender expression by an individual whose behavior, mannerisms, and/or appearance does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A person can be gender-nonconforming regardless of their gender identity ...

self-cameos. Tsurika has a varied visual style, ranging from sparse simple drawings that make use of blank space to elaborate scenes inspired by Pop Art and

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

Works

This list may not be comprehensive.

Collections in Japanese

* フライト : つりたくにこ作品集 (''Flight: The Works of Kuniko Tsurita''). Seirin Kōgeisha, 2010. * 彼方へ : つりたくにこ未発表作品集 (''Beyond: Unpublished works of Kuniko Tsurita''). Seirin Kōgeisha, 2001. * 六の宮姫子の悲劇 (''The Tragedy of Princess Rokunomiya''). Seirin Kōgeisha, 2001.

Translated Collections

* ''Flight'' has been translated into: ** Italian by V. Filosa. Coconino Press, 2019. ** French by Léopold Dahan. , 2021. ** Spanish by Yoko Ogihara and Fernando Cordobés. Gallo Nero Ediciones, 2024. * '' The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud'', translated by Ryan Holmberg. Drawn & Quarterly Publications, 2020.

Notes

External links

* Manga artists Women manga artists Japanese female comics artists Japanese female comics writers 20th-century Japanese women writers 1947 births 1985 deaths {{Manga-artist-stub