is a female Japanese shōjo

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 ...

from

Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...

. She graduated from the School of Art and Design at the

University of Tsukuba is a public university, public research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. It is a top 10 Designated National University, and was ranked Type A by the Japanese government as part of the Top Global University Pro ...

with a major in sculpture. In 2006, Suenobu's

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series, ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' won 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 ...

for best shōjo manga. ''Life'' and her manga series ''

Limit Limit or Limits may refer to: Arts and media * ''Limit'' (manga), a manga by Keiko Suenobu * ''Limit'' (film), a South Korean film * Limit (music), a way to characterize harmony * "Limit" (song), a 2016 single by Luna Sea * "Limits", a 2019 ...

'' were adapted for broadcast as live-action television drama series.

Bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

is a recurring theme in her stories.

Works

* (2001

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 ...

). In this single volume manga, Suenobu portrays how the female protagonist, fifteen-year-old Sawako Yarimizu, copes with the changes in her life when her friends and classmates suddenly switch to

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

her, after she is seen having, coerced, sex in an empty classroom, during their third year in

Middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

. Serialized in three instalments in the September to November 2001 issues of ''

Bessatsu Friend , formerly known as , is a Japanese Shōjo manga, manga magazine published by Kodansha, aimed at teenage girls. It was originally conceived as a , or companion magazine, to ''Shōjo Friend'', which is no longer published. ''Bessatsu Friend'' i ...

'', the ''

tankōbon is the 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 cultur ...

'' volume was released on November 9, 2001. * (2002 Kodansha). A twenty volume manga focused on Ayumu Shiiba. To cope with fatigue and the pressures of achieving good grades, Ayumu resorts to

self-harm Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...

, especially after falling out with a middle school friend, and starts to isolate herself. In high school she becomes the target of

mobbing Mobbing, as a sociological term, means bullying of an individual by a group, in any context, such as a family, peer group, school, workplace, neighborhood, community, or online. When it occurs as physical and emotional abuse in the workplace, suc ...

but endures and gradually finds strength and solace by developing a strong bond with classmate Miki Hatori. A short post-script about dealing with self-injury written by Susan M. Axtell Psy.D. was printed in English translations of ''Life'' as published by

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

. * (2003 Kodansha). Published as a single volume, on January 8, 2003, this collection contains the eponymous story, about an ostracised and bullied school girl, bundled with three of Suenobu's other one-shot manga, including her debut, . * (2009 Kodansha). A six volume story of survival after a bus crash on a school trip. * (2013 Kodansha). In this story Suenobu depicts the battles of female protagonist Hikari, who from an early age aspires to become a professional ''shōjo manga artist'', a cartoonist with a target audience of primarily teenage girls. Serialized in the March 2013 to April 2015 issues of ''Bessatsu Friend'', ''Hope'' was collected in six ''tankōbon'' volumes. The first book was released on May 13, 2013. The final volume came out on April 13, 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suenobu, Keiko Manga artists Women manga artists Living people 1979 births People from Kitakyushu University of Tsukuba alumni Japanese female comics artists Female comics writers Japanese women writers