Yoshimi Uchida

Masao Azuma et Ran Ishidō eds. (2009), pp.808–809.Nichigai Associates Editorial Department (1997), p.64. is a Japanese manga artist. She is well-known for her detailed and emotional art style. Her career ended in 1986 after publishing her last long work, ''Liddell of Star Clock'' (three volumes). None of her works have been republished in accordance with her wishes. Representative works of hers include ''Liddell of Star Clock'' and ''Sō Labyrinth, Sō Space''.

Life and works

Uchida was born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1953. The first manga she read was ''8 Man'' by Jiro Kuwata. In middle school, she started drawing manga herself. Uchida started her professional career in 1974 when she was still a student in the university. She won the ''Ribon Award'', which is the highest rank prize for a newcomer in the manga magazine ''Ribon'', with her short manga story ''In the Season of Violet Color'' (). She then published her debut story ''Nami no Shōgaibutsu Lace'' ( in ''Ribon''. Until she graduated university, Uchida worked as an assistant for Yukari Ichijo. Through 1977, she published exclusively in ''Ribon'' magazine and its sister magazines.

In 1977, she quit her contract with ''Ribon'' and became a freelancer. She published illustrations in magazines such as ''Lyrica'' and worked also as a book designer for a publisher.

When in 1978, Shueisha founded the new shōjo magazine ''Bouquet'', she published her work in it from the first issue until around 1983. She was one of the main contributors of the magazine besides Sakumi Yoshino, Akemi Matsunae and Wakako MIzuki. In this magazine, she published her only long series and most famous work, '' Liddell of Star Clock''. The series was published from 1982 until 1983, first in chapters in the magazine, then in three volumes.

In 1984, Uchida published her last short story. She published a few more illustrations in the late 1980s, but then ended her career and has lived withdrawn from the public. Her books are difficult to get ahold of in Japanese, as Uchida wishes for her works not to be republished, although they have been licensed in other countries. In 2013, fellow manga artist and friend of Uchida's, Akemi Matsunae, said that she was doing well at home, and Uchida allowed for some of her illustrations to be published in the February 2014 edition of the art magazine ' on Pre-Raphaelite art and its influences.

Sō Labyrinth, Sō Space

A college student named Sō (), who finds Neko (, literally "cat"), an '' ichimatsu ningyō'' who talks, walks, moves, and eats as if she is a real human girl. The two of them live and grow together.

Liddell of Star Clock

A young American man named Hugh has recurring dreams of a house he has never visited and a young Victorian girl named Liddell who calls him a ghost.

List of selected works

Manga tankobon

* ''The Ship of Star Dust Color'' (), 1977-05, Ribon mascot comics, Shueisha
* ''Pianissimo at the End of Fall'' (), 1978-08, Ribon mascot comics, Shueisha
* ''Looks Like the Color of the Sky'' (), 1981-05, Bouquet comics, Shueisha
* ''Steam Train Swaying in Gypsophila'' (), 1981-10, Bouquet comics, Shueisha
* ''Forest of Clear-toned Cicada'' (, 1980-10-20, Bouquet comics, Shueisha
* ''Sō Labyrinth, Sō Space'' (), 1985-03, Shueisha
* '' Liddell of Star Clock'' (), (3 volumes) 1985-09 to 1986-10, Shueisha

Artbook

* ''Magic Spell of St. Pumpkin'' (), 1978-10, Shinshokan
* ''Visions of Snow White'' () , 1979-09, Sanrio
* ''Uchida Yoshimi Artbook - Memories of the Boys'' () (Artist selection), 1979-12, Cherish gallery, Hakusensha
* ''Somnium Night Flight Record'' (), 1982-10, Hakusensha

Illustration

* The cover of ''I Love Galesburg in the Springtime'' (short story collection) by Jack Finney, 1980, Hayakawa Publishing, translation

Publication outside of Japan

The series ''Liddell of Star Clock'' was translated into French as ''Liddell au clair de Lune'' by Black Box. It has also been licensed in English by Glacier Bay Books.

Award

* Ribon Prize, 1974 (Comic magazine ''Ribon'')

Style

Uchida was influenced by other shōjo manga artists as well as by European paintings, in particular the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Edward Burne-Jones.

References

Bibliography

* Masao Azuma & Ran Ishidō eds.(October 15, 2009) ''Dictionary of Fantasy Writers of Japan''. Kokusho Kankokai
* Nichigai Associates Editorial Department (April 21, 1997), ''Dictionary of Manga and Anime artists''. Nichigai Associates Co., Ltd.
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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchida, Yoshimi
Living people
1953 births
Manga artists
Women manga artists
Japanese female comics artists
Japanese female comics writers
20th-century Japanese women writers
Japanese women illustrators