Kyoko Mizuki

Kyoko Mizuki (水木 杏子) is one of the pen names of Keiko Nagita (名木田 恵子). She is a Japanese writer who is best-known for being the author of the manga and anime series Candy Candy.

Kyoko Mizuki won Kodansha Manga Award for Best Shōjo Manga for Candy Candy in 1977 with Yumiko Igarashi.

Keiko Nagita won Japan Juvenile Writers Association Prize for Rainette, Kin Iro no Ringo (Rainette - The Golden Apples) in 2007.

Her short story Akai Mi Haziketa is printed in Japanese Primary School Textbook for 6th grade (Mitsumura Tosho Publishing Co.,Ltd.).

Her picture books Shampoo Ōji series (art by Makoto Kubota) was adapted into anime television series in October 2007.

Biography
When she was 12 years old, her father died. Then she created "imaginary family Andrews" to relieve her loneliness and wrote their stories on a notebook. Mizuki said "I feel Andrews family have watched me affectionately. They are the origin of my story writing".

She spent a few years as an actress of Shiki Theatre Company in her late teens, and some of her works reflect this.

In eleventh-grade, she won a prize short story contest for young girls' magazine Jogakusei no Tomo. After selling her short story Yomigaeri, Soshite Natsu wa to the magazine when she was 19 years old, she decided to become a full-time writer.

In those days she was a frequent contributor of poems to Koukou Bungei magazine, famous poet Katsumi Sugawara appreciated her talent and she joined his poetry club. When she was 20, she published a collection of poems Kaeru privately. 5 years later, her Poetical Works Omoide wa Utawanai was published by Sanrio Company, Ltd..

She wrote short stories and love stories for young girls' magazines, and Kodansha commissioned her to write stories for their shōjo manga magazine Shōjo Friend. In the 1970s, she wrote many shōjo manga stories as Ayako Kazu, Akane Kouda, Kyoko Mizuki and Keiko Nagita.

In 1975, she wrote the story of freckled hearty girl, Candy Candy for monthly Nakayoshi. She said "I lost my mother when I was 21, then I was all alone in the world. To write the story healed my sorrow". The manga was adapted into anime television series in 1976 by Toei Animation. Since then Candy Candy have made her one of the more successful female manga writer.

The last episode of Candy Candy was written at Domaine De Beauvois, a chateau-hotel in France. Mizuki said "I wanted to say good-bye to Candice in beautiful place. If possible, I wanted to go to the U.K. When I was into the room, tears welled up in my eyes because a picture of fox hunting was hung on the wall. Fox hunting--it took Anthony’s life. When I remember Candice, autumn days at the beautiful hotel came to my mind. The hotel was like the villa of Ardray family."

Since 1980, she is mainly writing juveniles and love stories for young girls as Keiko Nagita. Her Fūko to Yūrei series is especially popular. Music for Fūko to Yūrei series was composed by Toru Okada (岡田 徹) who is a member of Japanese famous rock group Moonriders, the album called Siriau Maekara Zutto Suki 知りあう前からずっと好き was released in 1995.

In 2001, she returned to publishing with the concluding part of Fūko to Yūrei.

She won Japan Juvenile Writers Association Prize 2007 for Rainette, Kin Iro no Ringo, a love story of a Japanese girl and a Belarusian boy who was exposed to radiation of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

May 2008, she wrote a story for Shōjo manga after an interval of 18 years. The manga Loreley was drawn by Kaya Tachibana.

She has a husband and a daughter, they enjoy vacation at their cottage in Prince Edward Island every summer. Terry Kamikawa, a student of Anne of Green Gables and hostess of Blue Winds Tea Room in P.E.I, is her best friend.

She has a collection of heart shaped objects, a part of her collection is shown on Aoitori Bunko official site.

Manga

 * Sanremo ni Kanpai サンレモにかんぱい (as Keiko Nagita, art by Waki Yamato) 1970
 * Brandenburg no Asa ブランデンブルグの朝 (as Keiko Nagita, art by Waki Yamato) 1970
 * Le Grand Anne Gou wa Yuku ル・グラン・アンヌ号はゆく (as Keiko Nagita, art by Waki Yamato) 1970
 * Greenhill Monogatari グリーンヒル物語 (as Keiko Nagita, art by Yasuko Aoike) 1970-1971
 * Lorient no Aoi Sora ロリアンの青い空 (as Keiko Nagita, art by Yoko Shima) 1974-1975
 * Candy Candy キャンディ・キャンディ (as Kyoko Mizuki, art by Yumiko Igarashi) 1975-1979
 * Etruria no Ken エトルリアの剣 (as Keiko Nagita, art by Kyoko Fumizuki) 1975
 * Miriam Blue no Mizuumi　ミリアムブルーの湖 (as Keiko Nagita, art by Yasuko Aoike) 1975
 * Hoshi eno Kaidan 星への階段 (as Akane Kouda, art by Akemi Matsuzaki) 1975
 * Byakuya no Nightingale 白夜のナイチンゲール (as Keiko Nagita, art by Yoko Shima) 1976-1977
 * Bara no Ki　薔薇の樹 (as Kyoko Mizuki, art by Chikako Kikukawa) 1978
 * Premier Muguet プルミエ・ミュゲ (as Kyoko Mizuki, art by Yoko Hanabusa) 1979-1981
 * Kirara Boshi no Daiyogen きらら星の大予言 (as Kyoko Mizuki, art by Yū Asagiri) 1980-1981
 * Sunday's Child  サンデイズチャイルド(as Kyoko Mizuki, art by Tsubasa Nunoura) 1980-1981
 * Tim Tim Circus ティム・ティム・サーカス (as Kyoko Mizuki, art by Yumiko Igarashi) 1981-1982
 * Loreley ローレライ (as Kyoko Mizuki, art by Kaya Tachibana) 2008

Novels
As Keiko Nagita
 * Candy Candy キャンディ・キャンディ 1978
 * Umi ni Otiru Yuki 海におちる雪 1980
 * Night Game ナイトゲ－ム 1985
 * Moonlight Express ム－ンライト・エクスプレス 1986
 * Fūko to Yūrei series ふ－ことユ－レイ (art by Yumi Kayama) 1988-2002
 * Umizikan no Marin 海時間のマリン 1992
 * Akai Mi Haziketa 赤い実はじけた 1999
 * Hoshi no Kakera 星のかけら 2000-2001
 * Tenshi no Hashigo 天使のはしご 2002-2003
 * Koppu no Naka no Yuuzora コップのなかの夕空 2004-2005
 * air 2003
 * Rainette, Kin Iro no Ringo レネット　金色の林檎 2006
 * Ballerina Jikenbo series バレリーナ事件簿 2006-2008
 * Birthday Club series バースディクラブ (art by Yu Azuki) 2006-

Poems
As Keiko Nagita
 * Kaeru 還る 1969
 * Omoide wa Utawanai 思い出は歌わない 1974
 * Otanjoubi ni お誕生日に (art by Yoko Sano) 1975
 * Fifty フィフティ 2004

Essays
As Keiko Nagita
 * Mouitido Utatte もういちど歌って 1978
 * Nagita Keiko Hitoritabi 名木田恵子ひとり旅 1980
 * Anne no Shima, Kazedayori アンの島・風だより 1993 collaboration with Terry Kamikawa
 * Islander Monogatari, Anne no Sima no Hitobito アイランダ－物語　アンの島の人々 1997

Picture books
As Keiko Nagita
 * kodansha Ohimesama Ehon4 Ningyohime 講談社おひめさま絵本4 にんぎょひめ (art by Makoto Takahashi) 1971
 * Nemutai Kirin ねむたいキリン (art by Keiji Nakamura) 1979
 * Monmonku wa Yasasii モンモンクはやさしい (art by Makoto Obo) 1979
 * Shampoo Ōji no Bouken シャンプー王子のぼうけん (art by Makoto Kubota) 2004
 * Shampoo Ōji to Kitanai Kotoba シャンプー王子ときたないことば (art by Makoto Kubota) 2005
 * Shampoo Ōji to Daiakutou シャンプー王子と大あくとう (art by Makoto Kubota) 2006

Lyrics
As Keiko Nagita
 * Candy Candy キャンディ・キャンディ (composition: Takeo Watanabe, performance：Mitsuko Horie)
 * Ashita ga Suki あしたがすき (composition: Takeo Watanabe, performance：Mitsuko Horie)
 * Futari kiri no Lullaby ふたりきりのララバイ (composition: Juichi Sase, performance：Ruo Megimi)
 * Tazunebito futagoza 尋ね人ふたご座 (composition: Juichi Sase, performance：Ruo Megimi)
 * Ame no Suizokukan 雨の水族館 (composition: Satsuya Iwasawa, performance：Ruo Megimi)
 * Shabondama Love しゃぼんだまラブ (composition: Masami Koizumi, performance：Ruo Megimi)
 * Shiriau Maekara Zutto Suki 知りあう前からずっと好き (composition: Toru Okada, performance：Yoko Ishida)
 * Shizuku wa Anata no Sign しずくはあなたのサイン (composition: Toru Okada, performance：Mitsuko Horie)
 * Uwasa Shitteruwa 噂知ってるわ (composition and performance：Miyuki Yokoyama)
 * Shampoo Ōji no Bouken シャンプー王子の冒険 (composition: Hironobu Kageyama, performance：Ikuko)
 * Shampoo Ōji no Komoriuta シャンプー王子の子守唄 (composition: Hironobu Kageyama, performance：Mayu Miyauchi)

So What is the Future of Candy Candy?
This is a commonly-asked question by many Candy Candy fans around the globe eagerly waiting for a sequel of Candy Candy that continue her adventures or a sequel that would give Candy Candy series a closed ending instead of the open ending it received in the manga and anime. In response to her fans, Kyoko Mizuki wrote the following messages in her guestbook, which she deleted from her personal website after the Japanese Supreme Court trials were over (This messages were translated by the work of loyal fans of the manga and anime series).

(quoted from her overseas guestbook)
 * Kyoko Mizuki's Message to Overseas Fans on November 27, 2001

"On October 25, the declaration of ruling from the Supreme Court was issued finally that I've been longing for. According to the judgment, which matched both the Tokyo District Court and the Tokyo High Court decision, I was confirmed . This means nothing has changed from what I used to be 25 years ago when Candy Candy was published serially in the monthly magazine, Nakayoshi. However, I just feel like I received a key to to open when I was confirmed as the author under the law.

''This case made me heartbroken continuously, but on the other hand, I received a lot of unexpected gifts from it. I will tell each of you the stories when I will close this website in the near future. Above all, I was amazed and unexpected to realize myself that I started to think and feel like writing a "New Candy Story". I really didn't imagine I would feel that way before this case happened''.

''When I started to find out nobody could stop Igarashi's unlawful act, the idea of a "New Candy Story" appeared and Toei Animation dropped me a hint. This is to say, they asked me whether it is possible to ponder on a "New Candy Story" without using the old (original) Candy that Igarashi used to draw. However their suggestion tended to be very modest, because they knew it depended on me. That means whether I could bid farewell to drawings of Candy by Igarashi completely. They seemed to think that I could only start to write the after I said good bye to them without any regret''.

''I replied to them "I will not write any sequel of Candy." Oh, yes... I was really devoted to our work, Candy Candy by all means which Igarashi and I created together''. I still regard Candice White Ardlay as the girl herself who was drawn by Igarashi, especially for the manga. ''Candy who has been loved by many fans was born from Igarashi's drawings. If Candy's sequel would be released with new drawings by someone else, it might be hard to accept for those devoted fans''. Having respect for fans feelings, I made up my mind to be devoted to Candy's drawings by Igarashi no matter what happened.

Then "It is impossible to write Candy's sequel for me. But I can write a new story of Candy based on original Candy's world story, I replied. What do I mean by a new story of Candy... might be the warp, and  would be the woof. I will weave them up into a new story.

''Any type of readers, not only old fans who used to read original Candy Candy, but also new fans who has never read it before will enjoy this story. It has to be that kind of story, I really hope, so. And if the new story would be accepted by many fans and become a success, both old and new story of Candy would be alive together. That will not hurt you all. That's that I thought''.

''However, I took back what Toei and I had been planning for the story in the midst of consideration. I had been doubtful while we were carrying forward the project''.



''I thought I would like to return myself to my right mind. When I wrote the original Candy's story, I felt "something invisible power took my hand to write."''. ''It was really pure and natural feelings without any little piece of muddiness. I found myself that I could only start to write when I could return to that kind of feeling I used to have''.

'' Without such a pure spirit, I would have no excuse to those characters of the story. I'm not the finest story creator, but all characters that I've created were born from such feelings.''

I wish I can create <the new Candy story from a stainless mind. ''I don't consider whether it's going to be a manga or an animation at all right now. Just...'' I will write because I just want to! Now I hope I will release the story as a style of novel. If the work will turn out great, the story might turn into something else.

''Igarashi might interfere in the new Candy story. Most of all publishing companies who don't want to have any trouble with it might refuse to publish my novel. It is no problem for me to write the new story of Candy under the law, I thought.'' However, I think everything depends on whether the new Candy story that I'm going to write comes out great or not. I wish I can work with a company and an editor who has grit.

This case has given great grief to many Candy fans. Writing new story of Candy makes amends for the past...? I don't figure out it yet.

But the seed of the story keeps swelling day by day.

''A couple of decade later, at the new . Who build that house?'' Who live there? And what kind of story comes out from it...

I'm just wondering.... Someday, I will tell you..."

(quoted from her overseas guestbook)
 * Kyoko Mizuki's Message to Overseas Fans on April 28, 2002 (translated by Cotton Candy)

"To all of you, overseas fans,

''First of all, I have to make my deeply apologies from bottom of my heart for all Candy Candy fans, because this entire of Candy Candy trials have disappointed and depressed you to know it. I would you like to know, I wish you would enjoy only the Candy world as a work and how deeply I feel painfully to think about this for you''.

Today, I will describe my feelings to show you plainly and frankly.

''I have been afraid to tell you this what I'm going to say, because it might be too much sorrowful for you. However, I think over what I've been through and now I found it caused things make so ambiguous.''

''People who have common sense, it is quite natural for you to think previously legal Candy Candy items like animations and manga could be come back on the market right after the Supreme Court judgment. What on earth, think about it with your common sense, it is completely nonsense to dispute to the highest court whether the person who had written the story 25 years ago hold the copyright or not, in spite of the publisher company have treated me as the author during the past 25 years.''

It is hard to understand for most of you that it could be possible to dispute at the point whether Mizuki is the author or not, which goes without saying.

This thing will show you the affair's root has been corrupt already.

As you've already known, Igarashi had broken contract to Mizuki.

If the contract breach is the only problem, it would be possible for me to make a re-contract including penal regulations with her when she admits her guilt.

Worse still, Igarashi denied me, not the author, in front of my eyes, she testified and insisted "I draw Candy Candy based on the story I wrote all by myself, and Mizuki's story is not the original" when the court examined Igarashi as a witness.

Still I have a nightmare of its scene many times, over and over.

I'm afraid the work of Candy Candy is no longer alive after Igarashi's testimony.

''I've believed that Candy Candy is the work which its words(story) and drawings are inseparably related, as the court judgment says. If she cares about the work, Candy Candy like always do, we had to respect each other like I always tried to do. But she completely destroyed our relationship all by herself. And even after the Supreme Court judgment, she's never changed her insistence. That means the work, Candy Candy is also destroyed. This is the root of this affair.''

The reasons why TOEI, KODANSHA and other companies cannot help refusing Candy Candy, instead of it is still nice work, are spread illegal merchandises all over the world, which I've already told again and again, and its own root.

''The work, which the relationship between the author and the illustrator has already lost, cannot exist on the market anywhere. It might cause to another new trouble, if it would be there.''

''The main purpose of a company is making a profit, you know. But a good company where human is working there has a high moral sense.''

Nothing could be changed in new without her settlement of an affair which has been tyrannized over by Igarashi herself.

I regard my story of Candy Candy as almost stolen and fail in the attempt by her, and illegal merchandises which have Candy's soul are all pilferage from me.

It is up to you whether you will buy them or not, depends on your way of thinking and life.

''It will turn 6 year-old for this affair on May 26. During this dispute, I've changed my feelings so much. First a couple of years, I was tried to the work be alive very hard. However, now I refuse to see Candy's face which I used to love, I cannot look her straight because too much stress to see her.''

''People around me, my families and friends always urge me to forget about Candy. And they also say to me Candy will shorten my life. They worry and care about me very much. It would be true.''

''I've been thinking Candy Candy is the work which story and drawings are inseparable related for a long time, but the story was just given me back. That makes me feel little bit better and easier.''

''I'm sorry for Candy Candy fans. I really apologize to you for all this happened. When I know how much you, overseas fans love this work, I feel so much painful. I cannot tell you enough.''

I hope Candy will be still there your side and you will keep loving her in your heart.

''I hate to use the word, DESPAIR. I will prefer to say SEE YOU SOMETIME, or MAYBE IN THE FUTURE... to all of you.''

I was going to keep overseas guestbook little bit longer than others, but now I decided to close here at the end of May as same as other 2 BBSs for Japanese fans will be closed.

I'm really sorry for that."
 * Kyoko Mizuki's Message on June 5, 2002 regarding the Future of the Candy Candy Sequel (translated by ITOMARU)

"I have a vague plan for the future.

The foundation of the story was nearly completed, some editors showed deep interest in the plan.

The only anxiety was the course of this case, but now I made up my mind to do without restraint.

Though I say it myself, the story has great attraction for me, an editor gave me encouragement to write the story even if without anecdotes about Candy.

But the story will be enjoyed by Classic Candy Candy fans, then I won't omit it.

''If "the harvest time" comes, no one can stop me from writing the story. I think, someday, my characters will be anxious that they go out into the world.''

I can't say when it is published, but I will never impair Candy's image which was formed by me with Ms. Igarashi because I never want to hurt Candy and Candy lovers."