is the
pen name of , a Japanese
manga artist and photographer. Noted for her works in the ladies' manga genre that feature ''
ecchi
is a slang term in the Japanese language for playfully sexual actions. As an adjective, it is used with the meaning of "sexy", "dirty" or "naughty"; as a verb, means "to have sex", and as a noun, it is used to describe someone of lascivious ...
'' themes and subject material, Morizono has been called the "Queen of Ladies' Manga"
and noted by
Rachel Matt Thorn
Rachel Thorn (formerly Matt Thorn; born May 12, 1965) is a cultural anthropologist and an associate professor in the Department of Manga Production at Kyoto Seika University's Faculty of Manga in Japan.
She is best known in North America for ...
as "the most popular and respected creator of erotic manga for women".
Biography
Morizono was born Hiroko Mizoguchi on December 25, 1957, in
Tokuyama (now
Shūnan),
Yamaguchi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 km2 (2,359 sq mi). Yamaguchi Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture t ...
,
where she drew
manga as a child. In 1977, she married and began work as an
office lady
An office lady ( ja, オフィスレディー, Ofisuredī), often abbreviated OL (, ), is a female office worker in Japan who performs generally pink-collar
A pink-collar worker is someone working in the care-oriented career field or in field ...
, but departed the job after a year.
In 1981, she divorced her husband and made her professional debut as a
manga artist with ''Crazy Love Hisshouhou'' published in the manga magazine ''
Shōjo Comic
, formerly published under its full name until December 2007, is a ''shōjo'' manga magazine published semimonthly in Japan by Shogakukan since 1968.
The manga featured in ''Sho-Comi'' are later compiled and published in book form (''tankōbon' ...
''.
She won a
Shogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being given since ...
for new artists that same year.
From 1981 to 1986, Morizono primarily created
''shōjo'' manga (girls' comics) and
gag cartoon
A gag cartoon (also panel cartoon, single-panel cartoon, or gag panel) is most often a single-panel cartoon, usually including a caption beneath the drawing. A pantomime cartoon carries no caption. In some cases, dialogue may appear in speech bal ...
s for
''seinen'' manga (young men's comics) magazines. As ladies' manga began to incorporate more mature elements such as
erotica
Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use ...
and
S&M in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Morizono began to create manga for the genre exclusively. During this period, she began publishing under the name "Milk" as a pen name that was "catchy and feminine". Between 1986 and 1995, Morizono published over 35
paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...
s and earned the nickname of "the Queen of Ladies' Manga".
In 1991, Morizono published the
erotic manga series ''Peacemaker'' in ''Midori'', a ''shōjo'' manga magazine published by
Kodansha. The series received complaints from the police,
parent–teacher association
A parent–teacher association/organization (PTA/PTO), parent-teacher-friend association (PTFA), or parent–teacher–student association (PTSA) is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parent ...
s, housewife groups, and politicians, and prompted Kodansha to pressure the editors of ''Midori'' to cease publishing works deemed "harmful". Kodansha refused to publish ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes of Morizono's manga unless ''Peacemaker'' was revised, which Morizono refused; ultimately, neither Morizono nor Kodansha earned royalties from ''Peacemaker'', and the series was not renewed despite its popularity. As a result, Morizono began primarily publishing works through
Shodensha
is a Japanese publisher of mostly non-fiction magazines and books, though it has recently begun publishing light novels and manga, including magazines which contain both. Shodensha publishes magazines such as '' Feel Young'' (a josei all-manga m ...
, a smaller company that published a ''tankōbon'' of ''Peacemaker'' in its uncensored form.
Morizono was married to manga artist until his murder in 2010. She published an
autobiographical manga on Murasaki's death, , in the digital manga magazine ' in 2017.
In addition to her manga work, Morizono also works as a photographer.
Style
Morizono is known for her "glamorous and media-friendly" public persona and describes her art as ''
etchi'', a term broadly used to describe works that are erotic but not explicitly
pornographic
Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults, . Though sex figures heavily into her manga, her works do not render genitalia or pubic hair, and typically feature significant plot and character development in addition to
sex scene
Sex in film, the presentation of aspects of human sexuality, sexuality in film, specially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or suggest sexual behavior have been criticized by religi ...
s. Recurring elements in her work include "wealthy,
jet-set
In journalism, jet set is a term for an international social group of wealthy people who travel the world to participate in social activities unavailable to ordinary people. The term, which replaced "café society", came from the lifestyle of tra ...
young women" who find themselves in a variety of sexual scenarios, foreign settings, and
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
characters. Unlike many manga artists who both write and illustrate their manga, Morizono frequently does not write her material, opting to instead work with new and unestablished writers with whom she shares 30 percent of the series' royalties.
Works
The following works have been published by Morizono:
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morizono, Milk
1957 births
Japanese female comics artists
Japanese erotic artists
Living people
Manga artists
Women manga artists