Rumiko Takahashi

Rumiko Takahashi
Nationality	Japanese
Area(s)	writer, penciller, inker
Notable works	Ranma ½ InuYasha Urusei Yatsura Maison Ikkoku

Rumiko Takahashi (高橋 留美子, Takahashi Rumiko, born October 10, 1957) is a Japanese mangaka.

Takahashi is one of the wealthiest women in Japan. [1] [2] The manga she creates (and its anime adaptations) are very popular in the United States and Europe where they have been released as both manga and anime in English translation. Her works are relatively famous worldwide, and many of her series were some of the forerunners of early English language manga to be released in the 1990s. Takahashi is also the best selling female comics artist in history; well over 100 million copies of her various works have been sold. She has twice won the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1981 for Urusei Yatsura and in 2002 for Inuyasha.

Career and major works

Born in Niigata, Japan, Rumiko Takahashi showed little interest in manga during her childhood. Though she was said to occasionally doodle in the margins of her papers while attending Niigata Chūō High School. Takahashi's interest in manga did not come until later. During her college years, she enrolled in Gekiga Sonjuku, a manga school founded by Kazuo Koike, mangaka of Crying Freeman and Lone Wolf and Cub. Under his guidance Rumiko Takahashi began to publish her first doujinshi creations in 1975, such as Bye-Bye Road and Star of Futile Dust. Koike often urged his students to create well-thought out, interesting characters, and this influence would greatly impact Rumiko Takahashi's works throughout her career.

Takahashi's professional career began in 1978. Her first published story was Those Selfish Aliens, a comedic science fiction story. During the same year, she published Time Warp Trouble, Shake Your Buddha, and the Golden Gods of Poverty in Shōnen Sunday magazine, which would remain the home to most of her major works for the next twenty years. Later that year, Rumiko attempted her first full-length series, Urusei Yatsura. Though it had a rocky start due to publishing difficulties, Urusei Yatsura would become very well known.

In 1980, Rumiko Takahashi found her niche and began to publish with regularity. At this time she started her second major series, Maison Ikkoku, in Big Comic Spirits magazine. Written for an older audience, Maison Ikkoku is a romantic comedy. Takahashi managed to work on Maison Ikkoku on and off simultaneously with Urusei Yatsura. She concluded both series in 1987, with Urusei Yatsura ending at 34 volumes, and Maison Ikkoku being 15.

During the 1980s, Takahashi became a prolific writer of short story manga. Her stories The Laughing Target, Maris the Chojo, and Fire Tripper all were adapted into original video animations (OVAs). In 1984, after the end of Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku, Takahashi took a different approach to storytelling and began the dark, macabre Mermaid Saga. This series of short segments was published sporadically until 1994, with the final story being Mermaid's Mask. Many fans contend that this work remains unfinished by Takahashi, since the final story does not end on a conclusive note.

Another short work left untouched is One-Pound Gospel, which, like Mermaid Saga, was published erratically. The last story to be drawn was published in 2001, however just recently she wrote one final chapter concluding the series.

Later in 1987, Takahashi began her third major series, Ranma ½. Following the late 80s and early 90s trend of shōnen martial arts manga, Ranma ½ features a gender-bending twist. The series continued for nearly a decade until 1996, when it ended at 38 volumes. Ranma ½ is popular amongst manga fans outside Japan.

During the later half of the 1990s, Rumiko Takahashi continued with short stories and her installments of Mermaid Saga and One-Pound Gospel until beginning her fourth major work, InuYasha. While Ranma ½, Urusei Yatsura, and Maison Ikkoku all were heavily seated in the romantic comedy genre, InuYasha was more akin to her dark Mermaid Saga. The series features action, romance, horror, fantasy, (folklore-based) historical fiction, and comedy. This series remains ongoing in Shōnen Sunday magazine and is as of this writing 52 volumes, making it her longest work by far.

Animation

In 1981, Urusei Yatsura became the first of Takahashi's works to be animated. This series first aired on Japanese television on October 14, and went through multiple director changes during its run. Most notable of these directors was Mamoru Oshii, who made Beautiful Dreamer, the second Urusei Yatsura movie.

Kitty Animation, the studio that animated Urusei Yatsura continued their cooperation and adapted Rumiko Takahashi's second work, Maison Ikkoku in 1986. The TV series ran for 96 episodes, 3 OVAs, a movie and also a live-action movie.

Maris the Chojo, Fire Tripper, and Laughing Target were all made into OVAs during the mid-80s. Her stories Mermaid's Forest and Mermaid's Scar were also made as OVAs in Japan on 1991.

In 1989, Kitty Animation produced its last major series, Ranma ½. The series went through ups and downs in ratings until Kitty Animation finally went out of business. Ranma ½ was never concluded in animated form despite being 161 episodes in length.

Sunrise was the first studio after Kitty Animation to adapt a major Rumiko Takahashi series. InuYasha debuted in 2000 and ended in 2004. The TV series went on for 167 episodes and spawned four major films. The anime ended before the manga did, thus wrapping up inconclusively. Sunrise Animation has expressed interest in finishing the series through OVAs once the manga series ends, but there are no set plans to continue InuYasha at this time.

The latest Rumiko Takahashi animation adapts many of her short stories from the 80s. "Rumiko Takahashi Anthology" features her stories The Tragedy of P, The Merchant of Romance, Middle-Aged Teen, Hidden In The Pottery, Aberrant Family F, As Long As You Are Here, One Hundred Years of Love, In Lieu of Thanks, Living Room Lovesong, House of Garbage, One Day Dream, Extra-Large Size Happiness, and The Executive's Dog. Also, a TV series of Mermaid Saga was produced in 2003 as well, animating 13 of her stories.

Popularity and impact on the western world

Outside Japan, Rumiko Takahashi continues to a popular and influential mangaka. Her works are especially prevalent in Europe, and most particularly in France , where most of her manga series (including Urusei Yatsura, which never finished its run in the U.S.) have been released.

Viz Media distributes most of Takahashi's series in the English-speaking world. They began to release her works via printed monthlies in the early 90s, beginning with Urusei Yatsura. Unfortunately it did not meet expectations and was discontinued. However, the remainder of her works all met with success, especially Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku. At the time, Ranma ½ was a costly property most manga/anime companies were wary to touch. Viz's sales skyrocketed with Ranma ½ and later InuYasha, which were collected into graphic novels as the monthlies were released. The Ranma ½ anime became one of the first big anime titles to gain popularity amongst English-speakers, and was one of the most widely-viewed anime before the introduction of anime on DVD. After the turn of the millennium however, Ranma ½'s popularity subsided considerably. Viz hit it big time by introducing the InuYasha anime on Adult Swim, where it gained massive recognition and ushered in a wave of anime available on cable network.

Today InuYasha is arguably her most popular work with both male and female teens and young adults, while Ranma ½'s continues to remain a favorite in the eyes of her long-time fans. Though not as recognized, both Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku have a small dedicated fanbase among older viewers. For many manga and anime fans, however, Rumiko Takahashi's works were their earliest exposures to the genre. Despite the fact that her works are often steeped in Japanese folklore and culture, her wide range of genres and sympathetic characters often make them universal to readers from around the world.

External links

• Furinkan.com, information about Rumiko Takahashi and her works
• Rumiko No Sekai French website on Rumiko Takahashi manga
• Rumiko Takahashi entry at Anime.com
• Takahashi's Work