Wonderful Writers: Arina Tanemura
Hi All! Wonderful Writers is a weekly segment that comes out every Wednesday! Every week I spotlight and discuss one of my favorite authors, books by them, and talk about their writing styles and such. I hope you’ll enjoy. Feel free to participate as well by writing your own post and as always you are welcome to use the meme/pic if you’d like (just remember to credit me).
About: Tanemura is a Japanese manga artist and writer who mainly creates shōjo manga (aimed towards females). Her debut work was a one-shot work titled The Style of the Second Love, which was later reprinted in her anthology work Short-Tempered Melancholic. Tanemura gained popularity with the 1997 publication of I.O.N, which is a high school romance story with a supernatural twist.
The majority of her manga has been published in English by Viz Media and some her most notable series in America includes The Gentleman’s Alliance Cross and Full Moon O Sagashite, which has also been adapted into an anime series.
What I’ve Read (So Far):
- Full Moon o Sagashite (complete series)
- The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross #1-3
Why She’s a Wonderful Writer:
Tanemura is a talented writer who also creates some of the most beautiful and intricate artwork I’ve seen in any manga. Each character, landscape, and movement is drawn with careful precision and it truly brings her stories to life.
Though shojo manga is aimed particularly at a younger female demographic, I feel that her stories can be enjoyed by women of all ages. Her female protagonists are usually presented with some kind of obstacle or situation which they must overcome. Such as her admirable character, Mitsuki, from Full Moon. She dreams of becoming a singer, but she is afflicted with sarcoma, which is curable only through a surgery that could ruin her vocal cords, and she could lose her ability to sing. Through she is presented with a challenge, she never gives up, and these kinds of messages shown in Tanemura’s works sends positive messages to her readers.
Have you ever read Tanemura’s works before? If so, comment below with your favorite book/series and tell me why you enjoy it!
