Sakumi Yoshino (吉野朔実, Yoshino Sakumi, February 19, 1959 – April 20, 2016) was a Japanese manga artist and literary critic. She became known for her shōjo manga in Bouquet magazine in the 1980s and 1990s. In the late 1990s, she also started drawing seinen manga and publishing essays on film, manga and literature.

Sakumi Yoshino
Born(1959-02-19)February 19, 1959
Died(2016-04-20)April 20, 2016
NationalityJapanese
Occupation(s)Manga artist
Literary critic

Life and career edit

Yoshino was born in 1959 in Osaka. She developed a passion for drawing while in elementary school and became an avid manga reader, becoming especially fond of shōjo manga and artists from the Year 24 Group such as Moto Hagio, Ryoko Yamagishi and Yumiko Oshima.[1] Initially, Yoshino did not aspire to become a manga artist or work for a company after high school. When a classmate of hers began a career as a professional manga artist, however, she decided to give it a try as well.[2]

Yoshino had an independent start in the industry, occasionally providing temporary assistance to other manga artists but not regularly, and did not attend art school.[3] Her first work as a professional manga artist was the short story "Utsu Yori Sō ga Yoroshii no!", which appeared in the January 1980 issue of Bouquet.[4][5] A few years into her career, she developed a passion for drawing rather than just seeing it as a way to make ends meet and moved to Tokyo to fully focus on her career in 1985.[6] She was one of the most prominent artists working for Bouquet in the 1980s and 1990s, creating series such as Shōnen wa Kōya wo Mezasu and Juliet no Tamago for the magazine.

When the editorial team of Bouquet changed and the magazine was eventually shut down at the end of the 1990s, Yoshino switched from Shueisha to publishing with Shogakukan. With Shogakukan, she drew short stories and series both for the magazine Petit Flower and its successor Flowers, both of which had a similar target group of young women as the magazine she previously worked with, and the seinen manga magazine Big Comic Spirits, which had adult men as its main target group. In 2002, she created the cover illustration for the first issue of Flowers.[7] She also became an active film and literature critic, publishing essays and predictions of horse racing.[7] Her book-related essay manga Yoshino Sakumi Gekijō ran for 20 years in a literary magazine.

In 2003, Yoshino approached the seinen magazine Monthly Ikki, which then had recently become a standalone monthly magazine, to draw the series Period. She felt that Monthly Ikki would allow her to write what she wanted as the manga revolved around the theme of violence in different forms.[8]

Yoshino died in 2016 at the age of 57 due to illness. A few days after her death, the June issue of Flowers published her short story "Itsuka Midori no Hanataba ni" posthumously and an interview with her as part of the magazine's 15th anniversary.[9]

Style edit

Yoshino considers manga artists Yumiko Oshima and Moto Hagio as her greatest influences.[7] Similar to these two artists, mother-daughter relationships are a recurring theme for Yoshino.[10]: 246 

Yoshino preferred drawing short stories and episodic series such as Itaike na Hitomi over continuous series as she was fatigued by committing to character development and solving issues coming up in the story line. Her preference for short stories was also due to their capacity to incorporate sudden and violent breaks in storytelling, which allowed her to conclude a manga abruptly the need for extensive justification.[3]

While her work for female readers features an irregular panel layout, she arranges panels in separate squares in her work for seinen magazines.[11]

Legacy edit

Yoshino's work has been translated into Chinese and Korean[12] and will be translated into French in 2024.[13] Her short story Kioku no Gihō was adapted into a live-action film in 2020.[6]

Works edit

Series edit

Title Year Notes Refs
Groovy Night (グルービーナイト) 1981 Serialized in Bouquet
Published by Shueisha in 1 vol.
[14]
Gekka no Ichigun (月下の一群) 1982–1983 Serialized in Bouquet
Published by Shueisha in 3 vol.
[15]
Happy Age 1984–1985 Published by Shueisha in 2 vol. [16]
Shōnen wa Kōya wo Mezasu (少年は荒野をめざす) 1985–1987 Serialized in Bouquet
Published by Shueisha in 6 vol.
[17]
Juliet no Tamago (ジュリエットの卵) 1988–1989 Serialized in Bouquet
Published by Shueisha in 5 vol.
[18]
La Masquera 1990 Published by Shueisha in 1 vol. [19]
Itaike na Hitomi (いたいけな瞳) 1990–1993 Serialized in Bouquet
Published by Shueisha in 8 vol.
[20]
Eccentrics 1993–1994 Published by Shueisha in 4 vol. [21]
Boku Dake ga Shitteiru (ぼくだけが知っている) 1994–1998 Serialized in Bouquet and Bouquet Deluxe
Published by Shueisha in 5 vol.
[22]
Renaiteki Shunkan (恋愛的瞬間) 1996 Serialized in Bouquet
Published by Shueisha in 5 vol.
[23]
Yoshino Sakumi Gekijō (吉野朔実劇場) 1996–2016 Essay manga
Serialized in Hon no Zasshi
Published by Hon no Zasshisha in 11 vol.
[9]
Tōko (瞳子) 2001 Serialized in Weekly Big Comic Spirits
Published by Shogakukan in 1 vol.
[24]
Period 2003–2014 Serialized in Monthly Ikki
Published by Shogakukan in 5 vol.
[25]
Tōmei Ningen no Shissō (透明人間の失踪) 2003 Serialized in Flowers
Published by Shogakukan in 1 vol.
[26]

Short story collections edit

Title Year Notes Refs
Ōsama no Dinner (王様のDINNER) 1985 Short story collection published by Shueisha in 1 vol. [27]
Tenshi no Koe (天使の声) 1988 Short story collection published by Shueisha in 1 vol. [28]
Gūrudo wo Kiki Nagara (グールドを聴きながら) 2000 Short story collection published by Shogakukan in 1 vol.
Includes "Gūrudo wo Kiki Nagara", "haRmony", "Kodomo wa Nakanai", "Shu" and "Dry Ice"
[5]
Kuribayashi Kanae no Hanzai (栗林かなえの犯罪) 2001 Short story collection published by Shogakukan in 1 vol.
Includes "Kuribayashi Kanae no Hanzai", "Daremoinai Nohara de", " Pinhōru Keibu - Tennen no Tenmado", "Private Virus"
[29]
Kioku no Gihō (記憶の技法) 2002 Short story collection published by Shogakukan in 1 vol. [30]
Itsuka Midori no Hanataba ni (いつか緑の花束に) 2016 Short story collection published by Shogakukan in 1 vol.
Includes "Mother", "Itsuka Midori no Hanataba ni", "Ryū no Otsukai", "Unmei no Hito", "Hana no Yōdatta"
[31]

Short stories edit

Title Year Notes Refs
"Utsu Yori Sō ga Yoroshii no!" (ウツよりソウがよろしいの!) 1980 Short story published in Bouquet [4]
"Tasogare Complex" (たそがれコンプレックス) 1980 Short story published in Bouquet [4]
"Henjin in the Onshitsu" (変人 in the 温室) 1980 Short story published in Bouquet [4]
"Kin'iro no Rakuyō no Furishikiru…" (金色の落葉のふりしきる…) 1980 Short story published in Bouquet [4]
"Yuki no Niwa yori Mezameyo" (雪の庭よりめざめよ) 1981 Short story published in Bouquet Deluxe
"Papillon Road" (パピヨン・ロード) 1981 Short story published in Bouquet
"Tristan" 1983 Short story published in Bouquet Deluxe
"Ōsama no Dinner" (王様のDINNER) 1984 Short story published in Bouquet Deluxe
"Zanmu" (残夢) 1985 Short story published in Bouquet Selection
"Tenshi no Koe" (天使の声) 1988 Short story published in Bouquet
"Suika" (水瓜) 2007 Short story published in Flowers
"Itsuka Midori no Hanataba ni" (いつか緑の花束に) 2016 Short story published in Flowers [9]

References edit

  1. ^ King, Fraser & Yoshino 2010, p. 114, 116.
  2. ^ King, Fraser & Yoshino 2010, p. 122.
  3. ^ a b King, Fraser & Yoshino 2010, p. 123.
  4. ^ a b c d e "ぶ~け、ぶ~けせれくしょん、ぶ~けデラックス、目次 -1980-". We Love BOUQUET!. Archived from the original on February 15, 2003. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "グールドを聴きながら 吉野朔実 - 小学館eコミックストア 公式配信". 小学館eコミックストア (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  6. ^ a b "吉野 朔実(漫画家)". Mangapedia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  7. ^ a b c "吉野朔実". Flowers. January 2003. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  8. ^ King, Fraser & Yoshino 2010, p. 121.
  9. ^ a b c "Period Manga Creator Sakumi Yoshino Passes Away at 57". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  10. ^ Aoyama, Tomoko (2015). "Narratives of Mother-Daughter Reconciliation: New Possibilities in Ageing Japan". In Lisa Raith; Jenny Jones; Marie Porter (eds.). Mothers at the Margins: Stories of Challenge, Resistance and Love. Cambridge Scholars. pp. 245–260. ISBN 9781443879163.
  11. ^ King, Fraser & Yoshino 2010, p. 126.
  12. ^ King, Fraser & Yoshino 2010, p. 129.
  13. ^ "Akata annonce trois nouveaux titres pour la collection Héritages, 15 Juillet 2023". manga-news.com (in French). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  14. ^ "グルービィナイト". Media Arts Database. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  15. ^ "月下の一群 1/吉野朔実". 集英社コミック公式 S-MANGA. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  16. ^ "HAPPY AGE前編 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  17. ^ "少年は荒野をめざす1 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  18. ^ "ジュリエットの卵1 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  19. ^ "LA MASCHERA1 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  20. ^ "いたいけな瞳1 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  21. ^ "ECCENTRICS1 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  22. ^ "ぼくだけが知っている1 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  23. ^ "恋愛的瞬間1 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  24. ^ "瞳子(とうこ) 吉野朔実 - 小学館eコミックストア 公式配信". 小学館eコミックストア (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  25. ^ "Period1集 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  26. ^ "透明人間の失踪 吉野朔実 - 小学館eコミックストア 公式配信". 小学館eコミックストア (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  27. ^ "王様のDINNER1 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  28. ^ "天使の声 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  29. ^ "栗林かなえの犯罪 吉野朔実 - 小学館eコミックストア 公式配信". 小学館eコミックストア (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  30. ^ "記憶の技法 - メディア芸術データベース". mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  31. ^ "吉野朔実作品集 いつか緑の花束に | 吉野朔実 – 小学館コミック". shogakukan-comic.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-07-27.

Bibliography edit