is a Japanese

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 ...

. She debuted in 1989 at the age of 18 with the short story "Pajama de Ojama" (, "An Intrusion in Pajamas") and has since published more than 50 volumes of one-shots and long-running

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. One of her most popular titles is ''

Fushigi Yûgi , also known as ''Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play'' or ''Curious Play'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. It tells the story of two teenaged girls, Miaka and Yui, who are pulled into ''The Universe of th ...

''. In 1998, Watase won the 43rd

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, 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 ...

in the (girls') category for ''

Ceres, Celestial Legend ''Ceres, Celestial Legend'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. It was originally serialized in Shōgakukan's magazine ''Shōjo Comic'' from May 1996 to March 2000, with its chapters collec ...

''. In 2008, she began her first (boys') serialization, '' Arata: The Legend''. In 2019, Watase came out as

X-gender X-gender () is a third-gender that differs from M, for male, or F, for female. The term ''X-gender'' came into use during the later 1990s, popularized by queer organizations in Kansai, specially in Osaka and Kyoto. The term is used in place of ...

, a Japanese

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

gender identity. Following the announcement, an editor for

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

Shojo Beat ''Shojo Beat'' is a manga magazine formerly published in North America by Viz Media. Launched in June 2005 as a sister magazine for '' Shonen Jump'', it featured serialized chapters from six manga series, as well as articles on Japanese cult ...

imprint clarified that Watase's

pronouns In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts o ...

in English are "she" and "her".

Early career and methods

Watase developed an interest in drawing manga at a young age. However, Watase did not receive any formal training until after high school when she went to a private art school. There she were taught how to draw manga, but because her first short story, "Pajama de Ojama", had already debuted, Watase quit in the middle of it. Watase prefers to work with more traditional methods, because she believes the traditional methods have more feelings. Despite finding new media jarring, Watase has expressed a desire to work with new media as well. While Watase mostly works with colored inks and markers, she has used digital programs such as

Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...

to enhance traditional work.

Issues in career

In a 2014 blog post, Watase detailed some of the issues that she faced as a manga artist. A former editor for '' Arata: The Legend'' continuously asked Watase to redraw scenes that he did not like or understand. Watase was doing redraws all day and pulling late nights just to meet the next morning's deadlines. Because of the constant cycle, Watase began to lose interest in working on the manga for the fans or even the story. She was simply working to try and get it approved for the weekly publication.

Works

Watase Yuu Flower Comics

* ''

'' – 18 vols. * '' Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden'' – 12 vols. * '' Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Ibun'' – (oneshot) * '' Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki'' – ongoing, first vol. released in April 2018 * ''

Shishunki Miman Okotowari is a Japanese manga created by Yuu Watase and serialized in the manga magazine ''Shōjo Comic''. There are two sequels to this manga, ''Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari'' and ''Shishunki Miman Okotowari Kanketsuhen''. Plot summary Followi ...

'' – 3 vols. * ''

Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari is a Japanese manga created by Yuu Watase and serialized in the List of manga magazines, manga magazine ''Shōjo Comic''. There are two sequels to this manga, ''Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari'' and ''Shishunki Miman Okotowari Kanketsuhen' ...

'' – 3 vols. * ''

Shishunki Miman Okotowari Kanketsu Hen is a Japanese manga created by Yuu Watase and serialized in the manga magazine ''Shōjo Comic''. There are two sequels to this manga, ''Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari'' and ''Shishunki Miman Okotowari Kanketsuhen''. Plot summary Followi ...

'' – 1 vol. * ''Epotoransu! Mai'' – 2 vols. * ''

'' (''Ayashi no Ceres'') – 14 vols. * ''

Appare Jipangu! is a manga by Yuu Watase. Set in Japan during the Edo period, it follows the life of Yusura, who as a baby, was found under a cherry tree with the "Kongoumaru" (a staff that turns blue when people are sad) by her side. Now fifteen years later ...

'' – 3 vols. * ''

Imadoki! is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. The manga is five volumes long. It has been licensed in North America by Viz Media. Plot Yamazaki Tanpopo moves from Hokkaidō to Tokyo in order to begin high school in an entirely ...

'' – 5 vols. * ''

Alice 19th is a Japanese ''shōjo'' manga written by Yuu Watase. It appeared as a serial in the manga magazine ''Shōjo Comic''. The heroine's name (Alice), and her encounter with a white rabbit (Nyozeka) starts the storyline. Watase has written that ...

'' – 7 vols. * ''

Absolute Boyfriend is a six-volume manga series by Yuu Watase, first serialized in ''Shōjo Comic''. Chuang Yi licensed it for an English language release in Singapore, with the first volume released in March 2005. Viz Media licensed the series for an English ...

'' (''Zettai Kareshi'') – 6 vols. * ''

Sakura-Gari is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. As the author's first boys' love (BL) series, it follows the relationship between a poor student and his aristocratic benefactor, who hides a dark secret. ''Sakura-Gari'' was ...

'' – 3 vols.

Shōnen Sunday Comics

* '' Arata: The Legend'' (''Arata Kangatari'') – 24 vols.

Watase Yuu Masterpiece Collection

# ''Gomen Asobase!'' # ''Magical'' # ''Otenami Haiken!'' # ''Suna no Tiara'' # ''Mint de Kiss Me''

YuuTopia Collection

# ''Oishii Study'' # ''Musubiya Nanako''

Yuu Watase Best Selection

# ''Sunde ni Touch'' # ''Perfect Lovers''

Watase Yuu Flower Comics Deluxe, Kanzenban, Shogakukan Bunko

Bunkoban

* ''Fushigi Yūgi Bunko'' – 10 vols. * ''Ayashi no Ceres (Ceres, Celestial Legend) Bunko'' – 7 vols. * ''Alice 19th Bunko'' – 4 vols. * ''Zettai Kareshi Bunko'' – 3 vols. * ''Imadoki! Bunko'' – 3 vols. * ''Shishunki Miman Okotowari Bunko'' – 3 vols.

Kanzenban

* ''Fushigi Yūgi Kanzenban'' – 9 vols.

Flower Comics Deluxe

# ''Shishunki Miman Okotowari'' # ''Shishunki Miman Okotowari/Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari'' # ''Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari'' # ''Pajama de Ojama'' # ''Mint de Kiss Me'' # ''Epotoransu! Mai''

Artbooks

* ''Watase Yuu Illustration Collection Fushigi Yūgi'' * ''Watase Yuu Illustration Collection – Part 2 Fushigi Yūgi Animation World'' * ''"Ayashi no Ceres" Illustration Collection Tsumugi Uta ~Amatsu Sora Naru Hito o Kofutote~'' * ''Yuu Watase Post Card Book I'' * ''Yuu Watase Post Card Book II''

Novels

* ''Shishunki Miman Okotowari'' – 4 vols. * ''Fushigi Yūgi'' – 18 vols. * ''Ayashi no Ceres'' – 6 vols. * ''Fushigi Yūgi: Genbu Kaiden'' – 1 vol. * ''Absolute Boyfriend'' – 6 vols. * ''Masei Kishin Den (Illustration)'' * ''Yada ze! (Illustration)'' * ''Piratica (Illustration)''

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Q&A at Anime Expo 2000
(defunct; link via the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

)
Interview with ''Shonen Sunday''
(defunct; link via the Wayback Machine) {{DEFAULTSORT:Watase, Yuu 1970 births Living people Manga artists from Osaka Prefecture People from Kishiwada, Osaka Non-binary artists Non-binary writers