Chica Umino

Chica Umino (羽海野 チカ) is the pen name of an anonymous Japanese female mangaka, designer and illustrator born in Adachi, Tokyo.

Umino is noted for being the author and creator of the Honey and Clover series, for which she received the Kodansha Manga Award in 2003, and which has been adapted into an anime series, produced by J.C.Staff.

Personal
Chika Umino was born on August 20 in Adachi, Tokyo. She graduated from the Tokyo Metropolitan Art and Craft High School. Her pen name comes from her favorite location Umi no Chikaku no Yūenchi (海の近くの遊園地), which is also the title of her dōjinshi works prior to her debut.

Umino likes Harry Potter and anime by Hayao Miyazaki and refers to herself an otaku.. After the anime adaption of Honey and Clover, she remained in touch with Hiroshi Kamiya and Mikako Takahashi, the voices of Takemoto and Yamada respectively.

Career
In 2000, Umino's most notable work, Honey and Clover, began serialization in Shueisha's manga magazine, CUTiEcomic. The series' first fourteen chapters were published in CUTiEcomic; serialization was later moved to Young YOU. With the demise of Young YOU in 2005, the series moved to the magazine Chorus, where it continued its run until the series ended in July 2006 with 64 chapters. Umino received the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for Honey and Clover in 2003, which was adapted into an anime series produced by J.C. Staff.

Umino's most recent work is March Comes in Like a Lion (３月のライオン), which began serialization in Hakusensha's seinen manga magazine, Young Animal. In 2009, she provided the character designs for original anime series, Eden of the East, by director Kenji Kamiyama.

Umino has also illustrated "Tobira o Akete" and the Glass Heart series, including "Boukensha-tachi", "Netsu no Shiro" and "Love Way."

One-shots

 * Sora no Kotori
 * Hoshi no Opera

Series

 * Honey and Clover
 * March Comes in Like a Lion

Books

 * Honey and Clover: Official fan book vol.0
 * Honey and Clover Illustrations