Naoko Takeuchi

Naoko Takeuchi (武内直子), born March 15, 1967, is a manga artist who lives in Tokyo, Japan. Takeuchi's works are widely admired by anime/manga fans. She is a well-known mangaka in the United States. Her most popular work, Sailor Moon, has been widely reprinted and marketed in North America. Takeuchi is an avid traveler and has visited the United States many times. She attended San Diego Comic-Con in 1998.

Early life
Naoko Takeuchi was born to Kenji and Ikuko Takeuchi. She has a younger brother named Shingo. She used their names in the manga of Sailor Moon and mentions this in interviews and several comic strips she did in the place of author notes.

She attended Kofu Ichi High. She wore sailor suits and was in the astronomy and manga clubs. This experience later heavily influenced her work, Sailor Moon as well as previous manga such as Love Call and Rain Kiss. She wanted to be a manga artist at this age, however her father, Kenji, said that in case she did not make it that she should find another profession. This is when she went to college for a degree in chemistry.

Takeuchi graduated from Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy, where she received a degree in chemistry. She became a licensed pharmacist. Her senior thesis was entitled "Heightened Effects of Thrombolytic Actions Due to Ultrasound."

Working for Kodansha
Naoko Takeuchi then worked for Kodansha starting at the age of 19 when she published Love Call which received an award. She worked steadily on one-shot pieces until Maria. Maria was her first serial comic which was loosely based on Daddy-Long-Legs and her friend Marie Koizumi, who helped her write it.

She again had another serial with The Cherry Project which ran for three volumes which was about skating. Upon completing The Cherry Project she wanted to do a manga on outer space and girl fighters. Her editor Fumio Osano (nicknamed Osa-P) asked her to put the fighters in Sailor Suits, and Sailor V was born. When Sailor V was going to be turned into an anime she reworked the series and added four other Sailor Soldiers. This became Sailor Moon which was a hit. While she worked on Sailor Moon she also simultaneously worked on Sailor V. However the magazine that Sailor V was running in was canceled. The project to turn Sailor V into an anime was canceled with the magazine.

She then worked on PQ Angels. This gained a fair amount of popularity but was suddenly canceled due to Kodansha losing seven pages of manuscript. It is possible that it was meant to be turned into an anime since there was mention of Toei having the manuscript.

PNP establishment
PNP stands for Princess Naoko Planning. She established this company name to manage her properties for mainly Sailor Moon. Later this encompassed Togashi's work as well. She runs it by herself. This name shows up on several musical credits such as Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu.

Leaving Kodansha
Naoko Takeuchi was upset at the loss of seven pages of the PQ Angels manuscript in 1997. The manga was originally slated to become a tankoubon, but with the manuscript pages lost it became impossible. Osano Fumio also left her for a shounen magazine. Then the plans for the Materials Collection were canceled. Naoko Takeuchi left Kodansha. She went to Shueisha hoping to find out more about the manga industry and if manuscripts are often lost.

It was around this time she met Yoshihiro Togashi.

Working for Togashi and marriage
In her short comic strip Princess Naoko Takeuchi Back-to-Work Punch!!, she states that she met Yoshihiro Togashi at a meeting and had a meeting arranged between them by Megumi Ogata, voice of Sailor Uranus as well as Togashi's character Kurama. She worked for him as an assistant (doing screentone) and a manager on Hunter x Hunter Volume 1. However the work and the demands were more than she expected so she ended up quitting.

Around this time she conceived of the idea for Toki*Meka which eventually turned into Toki*Meca. Togashi had a similar idea at the same time as her, but it was never fully realized. He helped somewhat with Toki*Meka at this point in developing the idea by drawing some concept sketches, which Naoko Takeuchi showed in Toki*Meca volume 1.

They dated and were married in 1999. They have a son, born in January 2001, whose real name they choose not to disclose, but whom they have nicknamed "Petit Ouji," which means "little prince" in combined French and Japanese.

Return to Kodansha
Sailor Moon's license was about to expire. Kodansha eventually made a deal with Takeuchi and she returned in 1999 to make the Materials Collection. Her first serialized manga after her return was and made Love Witch. Love Witch was cancelled for unknown reasons. Takeuchi also started to work on the reprints of Sailor Moon and Sailor V.

She also made a one-shot Toki*Meka.

Establishing of official website
Naoko Takeuchi also established with the help of Bandai the Sailor Moon official website. The establishment of the website coincides with the establishment of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, the Sailor Moon live action series. She posted updates such as character biographies, pictures and whatever she was working on. After the end of PGSM the website was drastically changed and stripped. It now contains animated versions of the reprinted manga and flash animations and profiles. It still is up and continuing.

PGSM involvement
Naoko Takeuchi was heavily involved in the Live Action Sailor Moon Series, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. She, for example designed Sailor Luna's costume. Naoko Takeuchi in an interview had stated that she was interested in learning more about the anime industry. This culminated in the creation of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. The series plot displays a plot heavily reliant on the manga and also explores many themes that the manga was unable to explore.

She showed up at the official conference with a fist up, meaning good luck in Act Zero.

During the time she worked on PGSM, no new manga were released.

Return to drawing manga
After the series PGSM wrapped up she worked on Toki*Meca. During Toki*Meca Fumio Osano returned to be her editor. During this time she worked more closely with managing PNP and gave talks to college students. During this time she also wrote a children's book titled Oboo-nu- to Chiboo-nu- as a birthday present to her son. Her husband illustrated the children's book. She made mention of it in the back of volume 1 of Toki*Meca. She still works on the website updating about once a month with new flash animations or profiles.

Manga
The following is a list of Naoko Takeuchi's works, both major and minor, since her debut:
 * Chocolate Christmas (チョコレート・クリスマス Chokorēto Kurisumasu, 1987-1988):
 * A story about a girl that falls in love with a DJ over Christmas. It was collected into a single tankobon volume.
 * Maria (ま・り・あ Ma-ri-a, 1989-1990):
 * A story loosely based on the book Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster.
 * The Cherry Project (Theチェリープロジェクト The Cherī Purojekuto, 1990-1991):
 * A figure skating-themed manga, spanning 3 volumes, involving the young skater Cherry's quest to become a professional skater and win the heart of a boy. The series was released in 3 collected volumes between 1991 and 1992. One of its characters also appears in Sailor Moon.
 * Codename: Sailor V (コードネームはセーラーV Kōdonēmu wa Sērā Bui, 1991-1997):
 * This series follows the adventures of costumed "magical girl" Sailor V. It was the direct predecessor to (and something of a prototype for) Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, and introduced Minako Aino, alias "Sailor V," who would become a supporting character in the latter series. The series was concluded after the author had already finished Sailor Moon, and featured an ending that tied the two series together. Originally released in 3 volumes, Codename: Sailor V was re-released in 2004 in a deluxe two-volume "Renewal Edition" (新装版 Shinzōban) format.
 * Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (美少女戦士セーラームーン Bishōjo Senshi Sērāmūn, 1992-1997)
 * Known to American audiences simply as Sailor Moon, this manga is Naoko Takeuchi's most famous work, which spawned an anime, several films, stage musicals, a live-action television series and video games of various genres. A fusion of styles between the mahō shōjo and sentai genres, Sailor Moon tells the story of Usagi Tsukino, a girl who discovered one day that she was the reincarnation of a celestial heroine fighting for love and justice. This series was largely responsible for the late-1990s resurgence of "magical girl" anime and manga. The series was originally released in 18 volumes, but was re-released in 2003 and 2004 in a deluxe 12-volume "Renewal Edition" (新装版 Shinzōban) format, with two supplementary volumes containing side stories to the main work. Characters from her previous work, Codename Sailor V, return in this one.
 * Miss Rain (ミス・レイン Misu Rein, 1993):
 * A collection of 5 short manga, including the title work.
 * Prism Time (プリズム・タイム Purizumu Taimu, 1986-1997):
 * A collection of one-shot stories from early works to those from the late 1990s. It is available in 2 volumes, released in 1995 and 1997, respectively.
 * PQ Angels (ＰＱエンジェルス PQ Enjerusu, 1997):
 * Features two alien girls, able to turn into cockroaches, who are searching for their princess. The series was a complete disaster for Takeuchi: it was discontinued abruptly after only 4 chapters, and Kodansha lost the proofs of the portion that had been written. For obvious reasons, it has only appeared in its original serialization, from September to December 1997.
 * Princess Naoko Takeuchi's Return-to-Society Punch!! (1998-?):
 * A collection of short strips detailing what Takeuchi did after Sailor Moon. It ran for a number of years under a changing title, giving details about her post-Sailor Moon slump and recovery, as well as her meeting, marrying, and starting a family with fellow manga creator Yoshihiro Togashi. The comic ran in Shueisha's Young You magazine, rather than a Kodansha publication, and has not been collected since its original serialization. There are similar "____ Punch!" comic strips in the same format at the end of some of the Sailor Moon "Renewal Edition" volumes.
 * Toki☆Meka! (とき☆メカ! Toki☆Meka!, 2001):
 * A one-shot story about a robot (Mecha), her creator, and their adventures.
 * Love Witch (ラブ ウィッチ Rabu Witchi, 2002):
 * A story where a girl receives a perfume bottle and becomes a witch, but with a heavy price. It was discontinued after 3 chapters and one side story, with no explanation. It has yet to be reprinted in any sort of compilation.
 * Toki☆Meca! (とき☆めか! Toki☆Meca!, 2005-2006):
 * A serialized version of the original one-shot, begun after the completion of the Sailor Moon and Sailor V re-releases. The first portion ran from the January to April 2005 issues of Nakayoshi, after which the author went on hiatus, promising that she would return to the series later. The second phase of the series was begun in November 2005. One collected volume, released in August 2005, has been published thus far. The serialization officially ended in May 2006. This makes Toki☆Meca! the first series that Takeuchi has completed since Sailor Moon and Codename wa Sailor V.

Illustrations

 * Mermaid Panic Volumes 1-3 (written by Marie Koizumi)
 * Atashi no Wagamama (written by Marie Koizumi)
 * Zettai, Kore o Ubbatte Miseru (written by Marie Koizumi)

Written books

 * Oboo-nu- to Chiboo-nu- (illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi)
 * A children's book written for her son's birthday.

Song lyrics
Takeuchi wrote the lyrics for a number of songs featured in the Sailor Moon anime and live-action series. They are mainly character-based image songs, but do include a few theme songs. These include:
 * Ai wo Shinjiteru ("Believe in Love") &mdash; Image song for Sailor Moon
 * Chikara wo Awasete ("Combining Power") &mdash; Image song for Taiki/Sailor Star Maker
 * Ginga Ichi Mibun Chigai na Kataomoi ("Unrequited Love a Station Apart in the Galaxy") &mdash; Image song for Seiya/Sailor Star Fighter
 * Honoo no Sogekimono (Flame Sniper) &mdash; Image song for Sailor Mars
 * Initial U &mdash; Image song for Sailor Uranus
 * Katagoshi ni Kinsei ("Venus Over my Shoulder") &mdash; PGSM image song for Sailor Venus
 * Kirari*SailorDream! ("Sparkling Sailor Dream!") &mdash; Theme Song for Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
 * Luna! &mdash; Image song for Luna
 * Mayonaka Hitori ("Alone At Midnight") &mdash; Image song for Yaten/Sailor Star Healer
 * Over Rainbow Tour &mdash; PGSM image song for Sailor Moon
 * Princess Moon &mdash; Second Ending Theme
 * "Rashiku" Ikimasho ("I'll Go With My Looks") &mdash; Ending theme from Supers
 * Route Venus &mdash; Image song for Sailor Venus (Sailor Moon R)
 * Sailor Star Song &mdash; Theme song to Sailor Stars
 * Sailor Team no Theme (Sailor Team's Theme)
 * Senshi no Omoi (Feelings of a Soldier) &mdash; Image song for Sailor Neptune
 * We Believe You &mdash; Image song for Sailor Jupiter

Awards
She has won several awards including the 2nd Nakayoshi Comic Prize for Newcomers, for “Yume ja Nai no Ne,” in 1985. She also won for "Love Call" which won Nakayoshi's New Artist award which debuted in the Nakayoshi Deluxe September 1986 issue. In 1993 she won the 17th Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo for Sailor Moon.