Miho Obana

Miho Obana (小花 美穂) is a shōjo manga artist born in Tokyo, Japan. She is close friends with Megumi Mizusawa, Ai Yazawa, and Wataru Yoshizumi.

She began her manga career as an assistant to Momoko Sakura, creator of Chibi Maruko-chan. She debuted in 1990 with the (one-shot manga) Mado no Mukō, which was published in the autumn 1990 issue of Ribon Bikkuri. Soon, stories from her started appearing in Ribon Original and in the regular Ribon magazine too.

Other notable manga by Miho Obana include Kodomo no Omocha (10 volumes, for which she won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo in 1998; the official English title is Kodocha), Partner, (3 volumes) and Andante (3 volumes). Partner is especially noted for its dark, mature, and almost disturbing tone, which is very rare in a Ribon series.

Her most recent manga is Honey Bitter, which has run in Cookie since February 2004. Also in 2004, she made a foray into the world of josei manga, writing several manga for the josei magazine Chorus. She has been on maternity leave for the past year, but will be returning soon, as Honey Bitter is expected to start up again in the Dec. 26 issue of Cookie.

Other works include Mizu no Yakata; a spin-off of Kodocha, Neko no Shima, Pochi, Setsunai ne, and Shiranami no Gensō.

Works

 * Shiranami no Gensō (白波の幻想) - 1992
 * Setsunai ne (せつないね) - 1993
 * Kono te wo Hanasanai (この手をはなさない) - 1994
 * Kodocha: Sana's Stage (こどものおもちゃ) - 1994
 * Mansion of Water (水の館) - 1999 (side story to Kodocha: Sana's Stage)
 * Neko no Shima (猫の島) - 1996
 * Partner (パートナー) - 1999
 * Andante (Andante アンダンテ) - 2001
 * Pochi (POCHI ポチ) - 2003
 * Aruyōde Nai Otoko (あるようでない男) - 2003
 * Honey Bitter (Honey Bitter ハニービター) - 2004