Yoko Kamio
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Yoko Kamio (神尾 葉子? born June 29, 1966) is a popular mangaka and writer who became famous for her Boys Over Flowers (花より男子 Hana yori dango?) series in the early 1990s. Her work has been translated and distributed in Asia, Europe and North America.
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[edit] Biography
Kamio Yoko readilly admits that she had no intention of becoming a professional manga artist when she was young. Kamio originally went to secretarial school but her love of drawing soon led her astray. She then eventually entered the professional mangaka field in 1989. Within the following years, Kamio published Suki Suki Daisuki, Ano Hi ni Aitai, and Meri-san no Hijitsu through Margaret Comics before she finally created Hana Yori Dango in 1992.
[edit] Hana Yori Dango
The Hana Yori Dango manga became established relatively quickly in Japan. Many people commended Kamio for her realistic portrayal of high school life and everyday violence through the Hana Yori Dango series.
Although Kamio Yoko was initially surprised by the confessions of high school violence stated in fan letters, she realized that Tsukushi's fiery character served as a role model for much of Japan's youth and helped others cope with school violence.
Kamio Yoko watched as the success of Hana Yori Dango's 1992 debut followed through with many more months on the best-sellers list. Voice CDs by SMAP and a Live Action movie about Hanadan charted the series success in the mid-1990s. By 1995, an animated series for Hana Yori Dango was already in progress and Kamio had also helped pick main leads for the anime show.
Hana Yori Dango ran in the Japanese Margaret magazine as well as the Korean Wink magazine. The series has also been published in Japanese, Chinese, Cantonese, Thai, Korean, French and English. The anime series has been broadcasted in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Italy, and has also been licensed and released in the United States. Additionally, it was also recreated in a Gameboy Color Game (only released in Japan) during the summer of 2001. With its ever-increasing popularity, HYD was then made into a popular live action TV series in Taiwan titled "Meteor Garden." The manga series finally ended in Margaret's August 2003 issue, and the 36th tankoubon which included the Akira special "Night of the Crescent Moon" was released in January 2004 as the manga's final volume.
Despite Hana Yori Dango's success, Kamio had originally planned to end the series by Spring 2000. However, in February 2000, a mangaka conference was held in Taipei, Taiwan where Kamio Yoko announced that she would continue writing Hana Yori Dango. At one point, she got so wrapped up in the Hana Yori Dango storyline, that she confessed to having dreams about Doumyouji. Of course, she said that "Falling in love with a character that I created is just disgusting..."
[edit] After Hana Yori Dango
Kamio has since gone on to her next project, called Cat Street. It's another shoujo drama/romance published by Shueisha and serialized in Monthly Bessatsu Margaret (Betsuma), with the first manga tankoubon volume released in April 25, 2005. As of the last update, the manga has released its 4th volume in March 24, 2006. A yomikiri was recently released in the 2006 issue 15 of Margaret Magazine showing an update on the adventures of Tsukushi Makino and the F4.
[edit] Manga works
- "Suki Suki Daisuki"
- "Ano Hi ni Aitai"
- "Meri-san no Hijitsu"
- "Boys Over Flowers"
- "Cat Street"
