Naoko Takeuchi

Naoko Takeuchi
Born	(1967-03-15) March 15, 1967 Kofu city in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
Occupation	mangaka
Nationality	Japanese
Period	1985 to present
Genres	fiction
Subjects	shōjo manga
Spouse(s)	Yoshihiro Togashi
Influences Leiji Matsumoto, Kimiko Uehara, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sailor Moon anime,
Influenced Miwa Ueda Ken Akamatsu
[[1] Official website]

Naoko Takeuchi (武内直子 Takeuchi Naoko, [take.u͍tɕi na.oko]) (born March 15, 1967), a manga artist (mangaka), lives in Tokyo, Japan. Takeuchi's works have a wide following among anime and manga fans: she has become a well-known mangaka worldwide. Her most popular work, Sailor Moon, rose to become as of 2010 one of the most recognized manga and anime products to date.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

Early life

Naoko Takeuchi was born to Kenji and Ikuko Takeuchi. She has a younger brother named Shingo. She used the names of her family members in the manga of Sailor Moon, and mentions this in interviews and in several comic-strips which she produced in place of author-notes.

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

Takeuchi graduated from Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy, where she received a degree in chemistry. (Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy merged with Keio University in 2006.) As of 2010 the buildings still exist. She became a licensed pharmacist. Her senior thesis had the title "Heightened Effects of Thrombolytic Actions Due to Ultrasound".

While a tertiary student, Takeuchi did miko work at Shiba Daijingu shrine not far from the university which she attended. This experience later became the ground-work for one of her characters in Sailor Moon, Rei Hino.

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 writing Maria. She based this work, her first serial comic, loosely on Daddy-Long-Legs and on her friend Marie Koizumi, who helped her write it.

Takeuchi had another serial with The Cherry Project, which ran for three volumes and dealt with 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 thus began Sailor V. When plans began to turn Sailor V into an anime she reworked the series and added four other Sailor Soldiers. This became Sailor Moon, which proved a hit. While she worked on Sailor Moon she also simultaneously worked on Sailor V. However the magazine that ran Sailor V 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 got suddenly canceled due to Kodansha losing seven pages of manuscript. It is possible that it would have become an anime: Takeuchi has mentioned that Toei had the manuscript.

PNP establishment

"PNP" stands for "Princess Naoko Planning". Takeuchi established this company to manage her properties, mainly Sailor Moon. Later this encompassed Yoshihiro Togashi's work as well. Takeuchi runs the company herself. Its name shows up on several musical credits such as Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu.

Leaving Kodansha

Naoko Takeuchi felt upset at the loss of seven pages of the PQ Angels manuscript in 1997. Kodansha had originally planned for the manga to become a tankōbon, but with the loss of the manuscript pages this became impossible. Osano Fumio also left her for a shōnen magazine. Then the plans for the Materials Collection were canceled by Kodansha. Naoko Takeuchi left Kodansha: she went to the publisher Shueisha, hoping to find out more about the manga industry and whether manuscripts often get lost.

In 1998 Takeuchi visited the United States and attended San Diego Comic Con. With assistance from Mixx Entertainment she answered questions — mainly about Sailor Moon. She also asked the audience if they liked the occult, which was most likely the beginnings of Love Witch. She also that year published the first Sailor Moon property since leaving Kodansha, Sailor Moon Infinity Collection Art Book with limited releases.

Working for Togashi and marriage

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

Around this time Takeuchi conceived the idea for Toki*Meka, which eventually turned into Toki*Meca. Togashi had a similar idea at the same time as her, but never fully brought it to fruition. 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, then 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 Ōji," which means "little prince" in combined French and Japanese.

Return to Kodansha

With the imminent expiration of the Sailor Moon license, Kodansha eventually made a deal with Takeuchi, and she returned in 1999 to make the Materials Collection. Her first serialized manga after her return started: Love Witch. Love Witch was cancelled by Kodansha 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

With the help of the toymaking company Bandai, Naoko Takeuchi established the Sailor Moon official website. The establishment of the website coincides with the start 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.

As of 2010 the website continues to function.

PGSM involvement

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Naoko Takeuchi became heavily involved in the live action Sailor Moon Series, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (PGSM). For example, she designed Sailor Luna's costume.^{[citation needed]} Naoko Takeuchi in an interview had stated that she had an interest 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 Takeuchi released no new manga.

Return to drawing manga

After the series PGSM had wrapped up, Takeuchi worked on Toki*Meca. During Toki*Meca Fumio Osano returned and became her editor. At the same time she worked more closely with managing PNP and gave talks to college students. Simultaneously she 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 it about once a month with new flash animations or profiles.

She had a child in 2009. It is not confirmed if it is a boy or a girl.

Works

Manga

The following list contains 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 who falls in love with a DJ over Christmas. It appeared collected into a single tankōbon 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 quests to become a professional skater and to 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 directly preceded (and became something of a prototype for) Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, introducing Minako Aino, alias "Sailor V," who would become a supporting character in the latter series. Takeuchi concluded the series she had already finished Sailor Moon; Sailor Vfeatured 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 became Naoko Takeuchi's most famous work, and 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 discovers one day her identity as 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. It has therefore 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 started 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: 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. Though mainly character-based image songs, they include a few theme songs. These include:

• Ai wo Shinjiteru ("Believe in Love") — Image song for Sailor Moon
• Chikara wo Awasete ("Combining Power") — Image song for Taiki/Sailor Star Maker
• Ginga Ichi Mibun Chigai na Kataomoi ("Unrequited Love a Station Apart in the Galaxy") — Image song for Seiya/Sailor Star Fighter
• Honoo no Sogekimono (Flame Sniper) — Image song for Sailor Mars
• Initial U — Image song for Sailor Uranus
• Katagoshi ni Kinsei ("Venus Over my Shoulder") — PGSM image song for Sailor Venus
• Kirari*SailorDream! ("Sparkling Sailor Dream!") — Theme Song for Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
• Luna! — Image song for Luna
• Mayonaka Hitori ("Alone At Midnight") — Image song for Yaten/Sailor Star Healer
• Over Rainbow Tour — PGSM image song for Sailor Moon
• Princess Moon — Second Ending Theme
• "Rashiku" Ikimasho ("I'll Go With My Looks") — Ending theme from Supers
• Route Venus — Image song for Sailor Venus (Sailor Moon R)
• Sailor Star Song — Theme song to Sailor Stars
• Sailor Team no Theme (Sailor Team's Theme)
• Senshi no Omoi (Feelings of a Soldier) — Image song for Sailor Neptune
• We Believe You — Image song for Sailor Jupiter

Awards

Takeuchi 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.

References

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