Kyoko Okazaki
| Kyoko Okazaki | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Area(s) | Mangaka, Illustrator |
Notable works | Pink, River's Edge, Helter Skelter |
Kyoko Okazaki (冈崎京子 Okazaki Kyōko) born on 13 December, 1963, in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, is a Japanese mangaka (漫画家) and illustrator.[1] Okazaki's works are popular for their unorthodox style. Her manga often depict today's urban Japanese society and values, and her writings are studded with modern jargon. Okazaki's characters do not follow traditional notions of love and romance that are typical in Japanese girl mangas, such as innocence and the ethereality. Instead, her characters are bold and freewheeling, holding unconventional sets of values. Okazaki's most major works include Pink (1989), River's Edge (1993-1994), and Helter Skelter (1995-1996).[2]
Helter Skelter has been awarded the Award for Excellence in the cartoon division at the Media Art Festival in 2003 and has won Grand Prize for the 8th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2004.[3]
Her work has been translated into Chinese, German, and French.
On May 19, 1996, Okazaki was in a car accident, and has been in rehabilitation ever since. (Helter Skelter remains unfinished, due to the accident.)[4]
Biography
In 1983, while studying in Atomi University, Okazaki made her debut in 1983 with "Cartoon Burikko" (Byakuya Shobo), an erotic manga magazine primarily aimed for male adults. In the 80's and 90's, Okazaki released a large number of works in subculture magazines, comic magazines, and fashion magazines.[5] In 1994, Okazaki put on a solo exhibition at the grand opening of the experimental art space, P-House, in Tokyo. From 1993 to 1994, she did a serialization called River's Edge, in which she portrayed the conflicts and problems experienced by high-schoolers living in a Tokyo suburb; the series had a big influence on the literary world.[6]
Selected Bibliography
Manga (漫画)
| Name | Year |
|---|---|
| Virgin (ヴァージン) | 1985 |
| Take it Easy (テイク・イット・イージー ) | 1986–1987 |
| Pink (ピンク) | 1989 |
| Tōkyō Girls Bravo (東京ガールズ・ブラボー) | 1990–1992 |
| River's Edge (リバーズ・エッジ) | 1993–1994 |
| Helter Skelter (ヘルター・スケルター) | 1995–1996 |
Pink ピンク (1989)
Pink is a manga about a young girl named Yumi. During the day, Yumi works as a regular office lady (or "OL" オーエル), but by night, she works as a prostitute. Yumi needs her two jobs to make ends meet. She also needs the extra income to feed her unusual pet, a crocodile, which she keeps in her apartment. Working in an office is quite normal for young Japanese women, but keeping a pet crocodile, and being a prostitute makes Yumi stand out. In truth, few girls are like Yumi, however, many can empathize with her. Young women love their "something", symbolized by her pet crocodile, and they can also identify with Yumi's "wild at heart" nature. And although the average girl doesn’t work as a call girl, she often plays on her sexuality, and thus, almost everyone has a bit of Yumi in them.[7]
River's Edge リバーズ・エッジ (1993-1994)
River's Edge is a very deep and refreshing manga that presents a side of life not typically seen in manga. The story takes place in a suburban housing area, constructed during the period of high economic growth, and the series takes a very realistic look at the tough life of a number of high school teens in a small city. It deals with a number of real life issues such as homosexuality, rape, and murder. Troubled characters include a teen that is always treated like a social outcast, a sad young girl who becomes a slut, as well as several others, each suffering in their own individual way. All this works to create the hard angst these teens must endure.[8] A relatively conventional setting at first glance, betrays the reader’s expectation as the manga follows one of the character’s blank gaze on a corpse found in the grass of a nearby riverbed, without neither signs of fear nor reality. The emergence of the new generation – the so called "Shin-Jinrui" (literally, "new human species"), the bubble economy and its burst/destruction, the Tsutomu Miyazaki incident (Miyazaki killed 4 young girls by between 1988 and 1989, and became to be known as the "otaku" (オタク) murderer), are some phenomena of the period which signified the disintegration of the social cohesion, until then held together by the universally shared vision and values in reconstructing and modernizing the nation. Okazaki firmly established her position as a manga artist by acutely depicting the emptiness of modern life.[9]
Helter Skelter ヘルター・スケルター (1995-1996)
Helter Skelter features a beautiful model, whose body underwent a total cosmetic surgery, and illustrates the accelerating derailment of her success. Okazaki writes about the model's obsession, jealousy, and deprivation caused by her desire to acquire "beauty" and the overpowering economic and commercial circumstances surrounding such a desire.[10]