is a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
freelance
manga artist
A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan.
Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...
and
illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
. She is best known for her ''
Witch Hat Atelier
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kamome Shirahama. It has been serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ' since July 2016, with its chapters collected into twelve volumes as of June 2023. The series follows a girl na ...
'' series. She has created variant covers and other illustrations for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
,
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
, and stories in the ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' franchise. She did the character designs for
''The Elder'', part of the ''Star Wars: Visions'' short film series released in 2021, and she wrote the 2022 manga adaptation for it.
She has won and been nominated for multiple awards, including the
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
, the
Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...
, the
Kodansha Manga Award
is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...
, the
Manga Taishō
The is a Japanese comics award recognizing achievement in manga. It is awarded annually to a manga series published in the previous calendar year of eight or fewer collected volumes in length. The Manga Taishō was founded with the aim of re ...
, the Daruma d'or manga at the
Japan Expo Awards, the Mangawa Award, and the
Prix Babelio.
Biography
Shirahama was born on May 7.
She graduated from the design program at the
Tokyo University of the Arts
or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...
.
She works using analog tools such as pencils, pen and ink, and colored pencils rather than digital tools.
Influences on her work include ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'' and ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' novels, which she read in junior high school,
as well as the
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
and
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
styles.
Her art style has multiple influences, including
Alphonse Mucha
Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorat ...
,
Mœbius
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Bandes dessinées, Franco-Belgian ''bandes dessinées'' (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim under the pseu ...
,
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
, and
Moto Hagio
is a Japanese manga artist. Regarded for her contributions to ''shōjo'' manga ( manga aimed at young and adolescent women), Hagio is considered the most significant artist in the demographic and among the most influential manga artists of a ...
.
Her debut story was , published by
Enterbrain
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on 30 January 1987 as . Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strategy ...
in
''Fellows!'' in 2011.
She made her multi-part story publishing debut with ''Eniale & Dewiela'' in ''Fellows!'' in 2012.
The series ran for two years, ending in July 2015, and was collected in three volumes released in June 2013, June 2014, and July 2015.
The series was translated into French and released by
Pika Édition Pika Édition is a French publisher headquartered in Vanves, specializing in manga. Founded as a daughter company of Media System Editions, it was taken over by Hachette Livre in 2007.
Distribution
''Pika Édition'' publications are distributed in ...
in 2019.
She began doing variant covers and other illustration and concept work for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
,
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
, and ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' comics in 2015 after her art was noticed at
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006.
History
The New York Comic Con is a f ...
, working on titles such as ''
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra'', ''
Deadpool
Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...
'', and ''
Batgirl and the Birds of Prey
''Batgirl and the Birds of Prey'' was a monthly ongoing American comic book series published by DC Comics and written by Julie Benson and Shawna Benson, starring the eponymous team. A one-shot was initially released in July 2016 as part of the ...
''.
''
Witch Hat Atelier
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kamome Shirahama. It has been serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ' since July 2016, with its chapters collected into twelve volumes as of June 2023. The series follows a girl na ...
'' began serialization in Kodansha's ''
Monthly Morning Two
Monthly usually refers to the scheduling of something every month. It may also refer to:
* ''The Monthly''
* ''Monthly Magazine''
* ''Monthly Review''
* ''PQ Monthly''
* ''Home Monthly''
* ''Trader Monthly''
* ''Overland Monthly''
* Menstruation
...
'' manga magazine in July 2016.
When the first
collected volume was released in January 2017, the manga was so popular it became hard to find copies in stores.
In June 2022, her ''Star Wars'' manga short work,
''The Elder'', was published in ''
Big Gangan
Big or BIG may refer to:
* Big, of great size or degree
Film and television
* Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks
* ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show
* ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television sh ...
''.
She also did the
character designs for the animated version of the story.
Bibliography
* in
''Fellows!'' (2011, one-shot,
Enterbrain
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on 30 January 1987 as . Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strategy ...
)
* in ''Fellows!'' (2013–2015, 3 volumes,
Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to:
*Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group
**Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker
**Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...
)
* ''
Witch Hat Atelier
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kamome Shirahama. It has been serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ' since July 2016, with its chapters collected into twelve volumes as of June 2023. The series follows a girl na ...
'' (2016–present, 10 volumes (),
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
)
** ''
Witch Hat Kitchen
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kamome Shirahama. It has been serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ' since July 2016, with its chapters collected into twelve volumes as of June 2023. The series follows a girl na ...
'' with art by Hiromi Satō (spin-off series, 2019–present, 4 volumes (),
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
)
*''I Am Gandhi'' with text by
Brad Meltzer
Brad Meltzer (born April 1, 1970) is an Americans, American novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator, and comic book author. His novels touch on the political thriller, legal thriller and conspiracy fiction genres, while he has also writte ...
(2018,
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House.
On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...
, )
* (November 2019, Kodansha, )
* in (July 2021, Kodansha, )
* ''
Star Wars: Visions: The Elder'' (May 25, 2022, in the June 2022 issue of ''
Big Gangan
Big or BIG may refer to:
* Big, of great size or degree
Film and television
* Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks
* ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show
* ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television sh ...
'',
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
)
Cover art
* (April 2011,
Ohzora Publishing
, also known as Ohzora Shuppan is a josei manga, ''josei'' manga publisher in Japan, founded in 1990. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, it publishes Japanese manga, manga magazines and comic anthologies. The company is headed by . Kitawaki also ran ...
, )
* (July 2011, Enterbrain, )
* ''
Batgirl and the Birds of Prey
''Batgirl and the Birds of Prey'' was a monthly ongoing American comic book series published by DC Comics and written by Julie Benson and Shawna Benson, starring the eponymous team. A one-shot was initially released in July 2016 as part of the ...
'', variant covers for issues #1-19, 21-22 (2016–2018,
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
)
* ''
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra'', cover art for issues #5-6, 9-13, and collected volume #2 (2017–2018,
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
)
* ''
Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', cover art for issue #2 (May 2018, Marvel Comics)
* ''
Nightwing
Nightwing is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character has appeared in various incarnations; the identity was adopted by Dick Grayson when he left his role as Batman's vigilante partner Robin.
Although ...
'' (2016 series), variant cover for issue #52 (November 2018, DC Comics)
* ''
Shazam!'' (2018 series), variant cover for issue #6 (June 2019, DC Comics)
* ''
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
'' (2016 series), variant cover for issue #63 (January 2019, DC Comics)
Reception
Jérôme Briot of ''
Zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological g ...
'' magazine praised the "swirling graphics and rare elegance" in ''Eniale & Dewiela'', citing Shirahama's artistic inspiration from
Alphone Mucha-esque
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
style.
The French website, Manga-News, said the storyline sometimes moved too quickly, jumping straight into the story without any setup. Because the individual stories in the series are fairly short, big ideas are often left unexplored. Despite those flaws, Shirahama often surprised them with "a lot of imagination and crazy little ideas...surprises...
ndeven a little emotion". The site praised her mixing and tweaking of various religious themes throughout the series, the chemistry between the two polar-opposite main characters, the quality of the artwork, and design and composition of the pages.
James Davis Nicoll at
Tor.com
''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction.
From 20 ...
described Shirahama's artwork in the ''
Witch Hat Atelier
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kamome Shirahama. It has been serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ' since July 2016, with its chapters collected into twelve volumes as of June 2023. The series follows a girl na ...
'' manga as "sumptuous" and "evocative", and gave her "high marks for plausible magic".
Rebecca Silverman at
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
praised Shirahama's subtle characterization, stating that "all of the characters have layers to their personalities". She goes on to praise the "strong writing
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
is ably enhanced by truly beautiful artwork", stating that "you don't want to miss" it.
Her work on ''
Witch Hat Atelier
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kamome Shirahama. It has been serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ' since July 2016, with its chapters collected into twelve volumes as of June 2023. The series follows a girl na ...
'' was described as "breathtaking" by Kelly Chu, who compared it favorably with the
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and ha ...
film ''
Spirited Away
is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film, and Mitsubishi and distribut ...
''.
The
Young Adult Library Services Association
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...
(YALSA) of the
American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
ranked ''Witch Hat Atelier'' as one of the "Top 10 Graphic Novels for Teens" in 2020 and 2021.
Her art was described by the French website, Manga-News, as "striking" and having an "extensive visual look", with "sharp shading imitating and engraving style".
As of April 2022, the manga series had over 2.5 million copies in circulation worldwide.
Selected awards and honors
Shirahama has been nominated for and won multiple awards.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirahama, Kamome
Eisner Award winners
Fantasy artists
Harvey Award winners
Japanese women illustrators
Science fiction artists
Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (General)
Women manga artists
Writers who illustrated their own writing
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people