Now, I don't know exactly why I'm making this page, since I've only really looked at three of her series. ^_^ But I might as well, ne?

Watase Yuu, the creator of Fushigi Yuugi , was born on March 5 ( a Pisces, like me ^_^ ) in Osaka ( which seems to explain the recurrence of characters like Tasuki who speak in Kansai-ben. I think I read somewhere that she had to coach Tasuki's seiyuu on Kansai-ben. ^_^ ) What, no year of birth? OF COURSE NOT! What lady gives that out, once they pass the age of 20? ^_^ I believe she was born in 1970, though.

In her Free Talks and Mini-Biography-things on the inside of the manga volumes, she usually draws herself with a strange frowning mask on. ( Kind of like Chichiri, only...different. ^_^ )

*Nyan-Nyan pops up* Maybe she's as old as Taiitsukun and we have to naosu-naosu her face!
*POW!*
AIYA!


Picture taken from fushigiyuugi.com
Now where was I? Oh yeah, Watase-sensei. When she draws herself with the mask off, it's either this really cute muchkin-face - see left - or this long-haired pretty face who looks exactly like Aya from "Ayashi No Ceres." Strange. ;^_^ You can see this face on Tasuki No Miko's Ayashi No Ceres Page - it's the blonde head in the banner. ^_^



She debuted in the 3rd issue of Shoujo Comics in 1989. The work was called, "Dropping in with Pajamas On." ;;;^_^ ( "Pajama de Ojama"). She finished FY in 1996 (?) and is currently working on a series called "Ayashi No Ceres" ( "The Unearthly Ceres." ) ( You ought to have seen me trying to tell my parents what I was reading.
Of course, the entire dialogue above makes much more sense if you read it out loud. "Ceres" is hard to pronounce unambiguously, but maybe just for me. ^_^ ) Oh, and Adiye means, "Tart", roughly. It's one of those cute nicknames Indian mothers give to their daughters. Okay, maybe not so cute. ^_^

Ayashi No Ceres seems to be more of a horrific fantasy love story than FY was. Not to say that FY was completely light-hearted, or that ANC is completely lacking in humor ( actually - it's pretty funny sometimes ^_^ ) but it's more immediate, the unsettling elements. ANC is the story of Aya Mikage, a girl whose life is completely changed when on her 16th birthday she discovered that she is the descendant of Ceres, a heavenly maiden with massive powers and a nasty grudge against her family. When you see a mummified hand in the first 10 pages of a series, you know weird shit is gonna happen. And it does. There are 5 volumes out, and counting. I'm working on a page for it, check back later. ^_^

The other series I glanced at briefly was "Epotoransu! Mai" ( Um....maybe "Epotrance! Mai"...? Epotoransu is supposed to be a nonsense word. ) This is light-hearted, again, one of those magical love stories. Mai is your typical genki stupid ditz heroine who gets a magical electronic notebook ( um, like a palmtop computer? ) for her birthday. She randomly types, "Epotoransu", and a virtual boy pops out of the machine and calls her "Mistress." The boy, Takuma, was summoned by that phrase, and he can help her get the love of the boy she likes. ( he's got special functions, like the ability to transform her into whoever she likes ). Stuff happens. ^_^ I think there were only 2 volumes of this, and it finished. It's really cute, though. ^_^

Wait, I stand corrected, she's got another series running now called "Appare Jippangu". I have *no* clue what it's about, besides the fact that I think "Jippangu" was what Marco Polo called Japan...or something like that.

I'm hardly an expert on Watase Yuu, but here are some great pages on her. ^_^




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