Moto Hagio

Moto Hagio (萩尾 望都) is a manga artist born on May 12, 1949 in Ōmuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, though she currently lives in Saitama Prefecture. She is considered a "founding mother" of modern shōjo manga, especially shōnen-ai. She is also a member of the Year 24 Group. She has been described as "the most beloved shōjo manga artist of all time." In addition to being an "industry pioneer", her body of work "shows a maturity, depth and personal vision found only in the finest of creative artists".

Publishing career
Moto Hagio made her professional debut in 1969 at the age of 20 with her short story "Lulu to Mimi" in Nakayoshi. Nakayoshi's publisher Kodansha wanted "bright and lively" works, and rival publisher Shogakukan sought her out. Keiko Takemiya introduced Hagio to Takemiya's editor, Junya Matsumoto, who accepted all of Hagio's works that Kodansha had rejected. When Hagio began drawing manga, she cut large sheets of "manga paper" to B4 size, and she still uses a G-Pen and a Maru-Pen. When she began drawing manga, she used India ink and a brush, but now uses Copic markers. Later, for Shogakukan Publishing, she produced a series of short stories for various magazines. Two years after her debut, she published Juichigatsu no Gimunajiumu 11月のギムナジウム (The November Gymnasium), a short story which dealt openly with love between two boys at a boarding school. The story was part of a larger movement by female manga artists at the time which pioneered shōnen-ai, a genre of girls' comics about love between young men. In 1974, Hagio developed this story into the longer Thomas no Shinzō (The Heart of Thomas). She was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1976 for her science fiction classic Juichinin Iru! (They Were Eleven) and her epic tale Poe no Ichizoku (The Poe Family). In the mid 1980s, Hagio wrote her first long work - Marginal. Prior to writing Iguana Girl in 1991, Hagio had not set her works in contemporary Japan. Moto Hagio had a role in the 2008 film Domomata no Shi (Death of Domomata). On June 11, 2009, a party was held in Moto Hagio's honor, "celebrating her 40th year as a professional manga artist". Approximately 200 people attended.

Personal life
Hagio is a science fiction fan, and considers Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein to have influenced her, and she has adapted Ray Bradbury's short story "R is for Rocket" into manga format.

Works

 * Ruru to Mimi, 1969
 * Seireigari, 1971–1974
 * 11-gatsu no Gymnasium, 1971
 * Poe no Ichizoku, 1972–1976
 * Tottemo Shiwase Moto-chan, 1972–1976
 * Thomas no Shinzou, 1973–1975
 * They were Eleven, 1975–1976
 * Alois, 1975
 * Hyaku Oku no Hiru to Sen oku no Yoru, 1977–1978
 * Star Red, 1978–1979
 * Mesh, 1980–1984
 * Houmonsha, 1980
 * A-A', 1981
 * Hanshin, 1984
 * Marginal, 1985–1987
 * Flower Festival, 1988–1989
 * Aoi Tori, 1989
 * Umi no Aria, 1989–1991
 * Roma e no Michi, 1990
 * Abunai Oke no Ie, 1992–1994
 * Zankokuna Kami ga Shihai suru, 1993–2001
 * Barbara Ikai, 2002–2005

Works in English
Little of her work has been translated from Japanese. Following is a short list of those which have been translated:


 * A, A', which is currently out of print and includes three stories titled A, A' (A, A Prime), 4/4 (Quatre-Quarts), and X+Y parts one and two (all originally published in 1981).


 * They Were Eleven (original date of publication 1975), which was part of the 1996 anthology Four Shōjo Stories. They Were Eleven is available on DVD as an anime, in both dubbed and subtitled formats.  Like most anime based on manga, there are various minor changes and omissions.


 * Hanshin (original date of publication 1984), a short story, which was published in issue 269 of The Comics Journal alongside an interview with Moto Hagio conducted by Matt Thorn.

A, A' and They Were Eleven have science fiction settings, and both They Were Eleven and X+Y include transgender elements. The science fiction aspects in particular have led to Hagio's work appealing to manga readers who do not generally like shōjo manga.

A forthcoming anthology, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, will collect the following stories:


 * “Bianca” (1970)
 * “Girl on Porch with Puppy” (1971)
 * “Autumn Journey” (1971)
 * “Marié, Ten Years Later” (1977)
 * “A Drunken Dream” (1980)
 * “Hanshin” (1984)
 * “Angel Mimic” (1984)
 * “Iguana Girl” (1991)
 * “The Child Who Comes Home” (1998)
 * “The Willow Tree” (2007)

These were selected by translator Matt Thorn to be a representative sample of her whole career, with the input of a mixi fan club for Hagio.

Video game works
Moto Hagio did the character designs for Quintet's video game Illusion of Gaia.

Awards

 * 1976: 21st Shogakukan Manga Award for Poe no Ichizoku and They Were Eleven
 * 1980: 11th Seiun Award for Star Red
 * 1983: 14th Seiun Award for Gin no Sankaku (Silver Triangle)
 * 1985: 16th Seiun Award for X+Y
 * 1997: 1st Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize (Award for Excellence) for Zankoku na kami ga shihai suru (A Cruel God Reigns)
 * 2006: 27th Nihon SF Taisho Award for Barbara Ikai (Otherworld Barbara)
 * 2010: Comic-Con's Inkpot Award