Mangaka and feminist considered the mother of the Josei (demographic of manga aimed at an adult female audience 18+)
Kyōko was born on December 13, 1963 in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. When she was little, her father had a hairdressing salon and a total of 15 people lived in her house, including her uncles, cousins and her father's apprentices. Despite being so many people in a house, Okazaki said that everything was quite calm and that she had a good childhood, but that she never felt comfortable.
While studying art at Atomi Junior College (a Japanese college for women only) Okazaki debuted in Cartoon Burikko, an erotic manga magazine geared towards men. Although officially her first manga was Virgin (1985) published in Byakuyashobo magazine.
Kyōko was the most relevant author of Josei between the 80s and 90s, the latter being her golden decade. Her works with a minimalist but profound style deal with delicate and very taboo subjects such as prostitution, depression or drug addiction (without romanticizing any of these) and are also full of elements such as sex or fashion and beauty and the problems that it brings the obsession with these. In addition to the adult plots, another thing that separates it from shōjo is her female characters. Her mangas are full of unconventional girls, they are bold and their concerns are those of modern women and they don't think so much about getting married and starting a family, they leave aside the innocence of shōjo girls.
In 1996, at the age of 33, Okazaki was hit by a drunk driver, leaving her unconscious and unable to breathe on her own. She had to relearn how to speak and is currently in rehab, in 2014 she was seen in a wheelchair. Due to all the sequels Okazaki was forced to leave the manga.
Her works are a reflection of the society of the 80s and 90s. A cynical, selfish and capitalist society, which projects the vast majority of problems and insecurities onto women, making us compete with each other (well, it is also a reflection of the present).
♡ HELTER SKELTER 1995-1996
- genres: psychological horror
- Awards: Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize 2004, and Excellence Award from the Japan Media Arts Festival 2004.
- english | spanish
It is a criticism of the toxic society that makes women have to worry much more about their appearance and what others say.
Liliko (Ririko) is an increasingly popular model. She lives and depends on her physical image, which makes her obsession with her youth and her beauty lead her to make a series of not very good decisions. Illegal plastic surgeries, drugs, lack of sleep, her rivalry with other models and the people around her gradually destroy the protagonist.
— It has a live action from 2012.
♡ PINK 1989
- genre: slice of life
- english | spanish
It is a critique of capitalism that makes us believe that we have to fill our pockets with material goods. It deals with serious topics with a dash of humor, but it's still a drama. It also represents the relationships between women from the same family nucleus.
Yumiko is the main protagonist, she is presented as a carefree girl who is unable to see beyond her nose. She is a secretary by day and a prostitute by night, since her secretary's salary is not enough to feed her peculiar pet, a crocodile. She always listens to her co-workers complain about money and they wait for a prince charming to save them, but Yumiko thinks that with a series of tricks in her life they wouldn't have to worry about it. On the other hand we have Haruo, a university student who puts the masculine gaze on history, has sex with Yumiko's stepmother for money, is much more serious and wants to be a writer although the only readers of his are Yumiko and her stepsister.
It contains an epilogue that is a brief reflection that Okazaki makes of love, work and prostitution.
♡ RIVER'S EDGE 1993
- Genre: drama, slice of life
It represents with a more serious and objective look the problems of adolescents and how horrible adolescence can be for many people. Shows us bullying, sex, queer characters, double-edged relationships and eating disorders for what they are.
Haruma is the protagonist and is the girlfriend of the school bully, although she is less and less clear about what she saw in him. She usually defends Yamada, a gay boy who has a girlfriend just for show, from the harassment of his partner. Yamada confesses to Haruma that he has found a body and that she should tell the police, but he is unable to do. The river's edge hides many secrets.
— It has a live action from 2018 winner of the Japanese Academy Award for New Value of the Year.
♡ OTHERS MANGAS
— CHIWAWA-CHAN 1996
Chiwawa is a popular girl, but one day she turns up dead. Her friends gather to commemorate her and realize that they don't know anything about her, not even her real name or what kind of people she hung out with.
It has a live action from 2019
— TOKYO GIRLS BRAVO 1993
The protagonist has grown up in a family full of problems. When she decides to move to Tokyo she falls in love with its music and nightlife. She finally makes a big change that surprises even the most modern people out there.
Kyōko is heir to the change made by the women of the Year 24 Group in the manga, but now it is her turn to give voice to women whose concerns go beyond being good wives and mothers.
I was going to wait a few days to do this in case I read another manga but actually I’m not going to read more, this year is closed and my mind is made up so here:
As always I’m doing a separate list for manga that I read bu were not released this year. I finally managed to catch up completely on my backlog of english manga and not let it pile up again allowing more dedicated time to my Japanese backlog!! Had lots of unexpected and entertaining reading experiences so narrowing it down was hard but this is round 1 of the undisputed stand outs! (If I already wrote about them in the roundup comments will be skipped)
Kageki Shojo!!: The Curtain Rises by Kumiko Saiki (Seven Seas)
Kagen no Tsuki by Ai Yazawa (Shueisha)
I’ve already talked endlessly about Yazawa so I will just say; this was a really cool detour in her bibliography and the perfect graduation from Ribon. What do little girls love more than tragic ghost stories/mysteries that are a cautionary tale about giving up your entire self in the name of love?? Nothing!!
Ohana Holoholo by Shino Torino (Shodensha)
The “Anywhere But Here” series (compiled as bunkos under Yama e Iku and Sphinx) by Moto Hagio (Shogakukan)
I only wrote a short summary of this since its mostly untranslated last time I checked. If I’ve learned anything this year it’s that I think Moto Hagio is one of the best there is at short form manga and the ones from the 00′s, like the ones in this series, remain some of my favorites
Wata no Kuni Hoshi by Yumiko Oshima (Hakusensha)
I didn’t really think about how to describe Oshima manga, much less the adventures of Chibi neko….. Have you every imagined your pet cat as a tiny little cat sized human guy who goes on all kinds of adventures, some of which are coated in an air of magical realism? Depicted with delicate dreamlike art decorated with tons of effects? Either way you should read Wata no Kuni Hoshi hand have a delightful time.
Mushishi by Yuki Urushibara (Kodansha)
Otanko Nurse by Noriko Sasaki and Mitsue Kobayashi (Shogakukan)
While the hospital life and practice it depicted may already be a bit dated now, however its sense of humor and the lessons that the young Nitatori goes through on keeping her cool and be a good nurse even to patients that give her a hard time (or ones that are simply quirky) and all her misadventures I would say holds up, and serves as a fascinating time capsule. Not to mention it was a fun time!
Joshi Judo-bu Monogatari by Yuko Emoto and Makoto Kobayashi (Kodansha)
Next part is going to be some the single volume manga i enjoyed, and some of the comics I read that weren’t manga at all. See you then!
Like the title suggests, this is a 100-minute documentary piece on Hagio Moto, taking the form of a roundtable discussion. Subjects include Hagio and her personal life, discussion of her contemporaries of the 24-Year Group, inspirations such as Les Amities Particulieres, and a close look at a number of her key works including Thomas no Shinzou, Hanshin, Iguana no Musume, Otherworld Barbara and The Poe Clan.
Originally aired on NHK. Thanks to Jägermeister for raws. Also included is a complete Japanese subtitle file - any translator wishing to work on this can edit this directly and avoid the extensive work that would otherwise be involved in timing this sort of dialogue-heavy video. Ripping credit to Jägermeister
A group of women who revolutionized the world of shōjo manga and the vision of the female mangaka.
They are known as the Year 24 Group or as Forty-Niners since they were all born around the year 24 of the Shōwa era (1949)
The entrance of women to the dedication of manga as a profession was very slow, since until then being a mangaka was a well-accepted job only for men. Meanwhile, Japanese women were still tied to housework.
But Japan after losing World War II was occupied for 7 years by the United States, which caused changes in Japanese customs. Beate Sirota, an American defender of women's rights, introduced legal equality between men and women in the 1947 constitution. She also gave the right to marriage by mutual agreement and lastly she gave women the right to divorce, to own/buy property and to inherit. Thanks to Sirota, women were freed little by little from being housewives, if they wanted, and were able to dedicate themselves to jobs that were previously considered for men, more naturally.
During the 70s, after the student strikes, the scourge of modernity and the sexual revolution, the mangakas of the Year 24 Group began to debut and the manga stopped having molds.
The Magnificent Forty-Niners cast aside the innocence of the female mangaka that preceded them, yet are aware of their limitations, praise their achievements, and serve as an influence.
The women of the Year 24 Group were by no means conformists, as evidenced in their works and private lives, and made shōjo an exploratory category in which they included new genres that had never been touched before in this demographic. Until now, Shōjo was mainly (if not only) about the simple life of high school girls, it was just about the slice of life. But these ladies gave depth to the characters, filling them with philosophical or existential questions and on several occasions the girls stopped having the leading role. They introduced other genres such as science fiction, shōnen-ai (currently bl, love between two men) or bildungsroman and included elements such as the exploration of sexuality, genderqueer characters, adult women, vampires or rock and roll. And they dared to place their stories in places outside of Japan and in the past.
Moto Hagio was the core of the Year 24 Group and shared an apartment outside of Tokyo with another top Forty-Niner, Keiko Takemiya, for 3 years (1970-1973). Later the apartment became the Ōisumigakuen or Ōizumi Salon, a center where beginner mangaka girls will go to learn about manga, help each other and share ideas.
Gradually they gained popularity. Moto Hagio, Keiko Takemiya, Riyoko Ikeda, Yasuko Aoike, Toshie Kihara, Minori Kimura, Yumiko Oshima, Nanae Sasaya and Ryoko Yamagishi, all of them are part of the Year 24 Group whether they are more or less known in the West, in Japan they won their recognition.
— MŌTO HAGIO (1949-)
Currently she is the best known of the "Year 24 Group". Although she liked to draw since she was a child and in adolescence she was clear that she wanted to dedicate herself to manga, she did not have it easy since her mother didn't like it.
♡ The Poe Clan (1972-1976)
- Shōjo/josei (fantasy, horror)
- Spanish
♡ Otherworld Barbara (2002-2005)
- Josei (science fiction)
- English
—KEIKO TAKEMIYA (1950-)
Is dedicated to the teaching and dissemination of manga and also to preserve and reproduce manga with historical value.
♡ The Song of Wind and Trees (1976-84)
- Shōjo (shōnen-ai/bl)
- Spanish
♡ Tera e... (1977-1980)
- Shōnen (space opera)
- Spanish
—RIYOKO IKEDA ♡ (1947-)
♡ The Rose of Versailles (1972-1973)
Studied philosophy at university while drawing manga, although she finally had to leave his studies due to pressure.
- Shōjo (historical, romance)
- Spanish / english
♡ Oniisama e... (1973-1975)
- Shōjo (drama, slice of life)
—YASUKO AOIKE (1948-)
Debuted at the age of 15 by winning an award from a magazine. The vast majority of her works are or have shōnen-ai elements, since she grew up surrounded by strong men (her family had a construction company).
♡ From Eroica with Love (1976-2012)
- Shōjo (comedy, action, bl)
♡ Sons of Eve (1976-1979)
-shōjo (comedy, bl)
—RYOKO YAMAGISHI (1947-)
As a child practiced ballet, an element that is part of many of her works. And she introduced yuri as a genre in shōjo.
♡ Hi Izuru Tokoro no tenshi (1980-84)
- Shōjo (supernatural, historical)
♡ Shiroi Heya no Futari (1971)
- Shōjo (yuri)
—TOSHIE KIHARA (1948-)
The vast majority of her works are considered Josei, because they are not fanciful or humorous (there are exceptions). Some of her mangas have served as inspiration for musicals performed by the all-female Takarazuka Revue.
♡ Angelique (1977-1979)
- Shōjo (romance, historical)
♡ Mari to Shingo (1979-1984)
-Shōjo (bl, historical)
—NANAE SASAYA (1950-)
She is the youngest of four siblings. Her father wanted all his children to go to university and become teachers, but she gave it up to dedicate herself to manga. Is known for her horror stories with occult themes.
♡ Glass no penguin (1983)
- Josei ( Drama Slice of life)
♡ Makiko (1976)
- Shōjo (romantic comedy)
—YUMIKO OSHIMA (1947-)
Implanted new ways of making manga. Likes characters' thoughts being free on the page instead of in speech bubbles.
♡ Wata no Kuni Hoshi (1978-1987)
- Shōjo (fantasy, Romance)
♡ Gou Gou Datte Neko de Aru(1996-2011)
- josei (slice of life)
—MINORI KIMURA (1949-)
She debuted professionally at the age of 14 and, despite her very little recognition in the West, she is considered one of the brightest members of the "Year 24 Group". Some of her works are educational and deal with health issues.
♡ Umibe no Cain (1980-1981)
-shōjo (yuri)
♡ Ai-chan wo sagashite (2011)
- shōjo (slice of life)
The effort of each of them was not in vain. The women of the Year 24 Group have achieved great awards and recognition over the years. They were nominated for 10 years in a row for one of the most prestigious Science Fiction awards in Japan, the Seiun Awards, and won up to 6 times (1978 y 1988). Moto Hagio won the Seiun Award in 1980, 1983 and 1985. They have also been awarded another of the most prestigious awards, but this time it is for manga, the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award. Moto Hagio was the first person to receive the Osamu Tekuza Award for Excellence (1997). Some years later Ryoko Yamagishi and Keiko Takemiya also won it.
The Forty-Niners were the main and most relevant mangaka, but it doesn't mean that other female mangaka didn't arise during that time. Perhaps they didn't have such a revolutionary ideology or innovative way of making manga as the women of the Year 24 Group, but they also contributed to the world of manga (like Sumika Yamamoto with her manga Ace wo Nerae!)
The mark that these mangakas have left and continue to leave is not small at all. They have reinvented, innovated and set aside the limits. They made great strides despite having many things against them and thanks to all that, their works are classics today and all of them influence many current artists.
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