Ai Yazawa

From Freepedia

Ai Yazawa (矢沢あい Yazawa Ai) (born March 7, 1967) is a popular girls' manga author in Japan.

Yazawa started her mangaka publishing life in 1985, when she was 17 years old. Throughout 15 years of publishing, she wrote over 10 series in Ribon. While her finished manga continue to be published in Japan by Ribon, they now appear in other magazines, including Zipper and Cookie.

Yazawa's most famous manga are Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (I'm Not an Angel), Gokinjo Monogatari (Neighborhood Story), Paradise Kiss, and NANA (Seven). Until recently Paradise Kiss was her only manga released in the US. Now NANA is running in Shoujo Beat and is up to issue #4.

Yazawa's works are most popular amongst woman and girls. The storylines generally center around young girls and their relationships, something with which that fanbase identifies. The characters are always very stylish, and she is known especially for her hip sense of fashion. Another key point is her strikingly unique, often rebellious characters, who tend to juxtapose the more traditional ones.

She has also published many illustration collections.

Works

Futari no Seaside Park
Ballad Made Sobani Ite
Esukepu
Kaze ni Nare!
Marine Blue No Kaze Ni Dakarete
Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai
Gokinjo Monogatari
Kagen no Tsuki
Paradise Kiss (1995)
NANA
Princess Ai -- character design by Yazawa; written by Courtney Love, Misaho Kujiradou and DJ Milky
15 Nen Ne
RabuuRetaa