[ main ]   Episode Guide   TV Anime Summary   Movies & Specials   Seiyuu / Voice   Senshi Guide   Enemy Guide   Others Guide   SailorV Characters   Parallelsailormoon   Takeuchi Naoko   Sailormoon   Codename SailorV   Filmcomics   Extra Info.   SM FAQ   SM Insight   Rumors to avoid

The first thing one thinks of when they read manga is how wonderful the artwork. But also how funny, tragic, or sweet the story is. Naoko Takeuchi is one of the most popular manga artists with young girls (and boys too, so I've heard ^_~). It's true that there are currently other more currently famous mangaka (manga artists), like Naoko's friend Fujishima Kosuke, author of Aa! Megamisama (and artist for some of Japan's most popular RPGs, like Tales of Phantasia for PlayStation). He drew a little picture of two young girls on page 155 of SM manga 10, which Naoko encourages readers to look for. Also well known is Naoko's other friend Yoshizumi Wataru. Naoko drew two panels of students at a school called Morinomiya on page 35 of the first manga of Mint na Bokura by Yoshizumi. Dispite the many other artists around, I'm sure all Sailormoon fans will agree that Takeuchi-sensei is one of the best. It's the characters she creates that make her work so cherished. From the crybaby Usagi to the focused and determined Cheri, Naoko has made characters that everyone can relate to.    Naoko was born on March 15th (Pisces) in Yamanashi-ken. Her blood-type is A. She is a graduate of Kyouritsu Chemical University. She currently lives in Azabu Juuban in Tokyo, the same area where Usagi lives in the manga (yes it is a real place). She is married to Togashi Yoshihiro (author of Yuu Yuu Hakusho) who mentions their wedding in the fifth volume of Hunter x Hunter. Naoko describes herself as being most like Usagi (Sailormoon); clumsy, carefree, a bit of a crybaby, and full of dreams. She also noted that Michiru's character (Sailorneptune) is exactly the opposite from that of Usagi's and herself. Although Naoko sees herself as lacking refinement, it's good to know she shares the same high spirits and dreams as the characters we have grown to love.    You don't have to take a fans word on the fact that Naoko is an excellent story writer and artist. She won the Second Nakayoshi New Artist Manga Award in 1986 for her manga Love Call (which can be found in the second volume of Prismtime). From there she went on to create other manga; Prismtime (her two volume collection of short story manga), Chocolate Christmas, Ma ri a, The Cherry Project, Miss Rain, Codename wa SailorV, PQ Angels, and of course Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon. Her most current works are TokiMeka, a short manga that appeared in a recent issue of Nakayoshi gekkan, and Love Witch, also appearing monthly in Kodansha's Nakayoshi.