Minori Kimura

Not to be confused with the Brazilian kickboxer Minoru Kimura.

Minori Kimura
樹村 みのり
Born (1949-11-11) 11 November 1949 (age 75)
Saitama Prefecture, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Area(s)Manga artist
Notable works

Minori Kimura (樹村 みのり, Kimura Minori, born 11 November 1949 in Saitama Prefecture[1]) is a Japanese manga artist. Critics and scholars often count her among the Year 24 Group, a nebulous group of female artists considered to have revolutionized shōjo manga (Japanese comics for girls) in the 1970s.[2][3][4]

She made her professional debut in 1964 at the age of 14 with her short story Picnic (ピクニック, Pikunikku), published by Shueisha in the Spring Break Special issue of Ribon.[1][5][6] During her school breaks, Kimura continued writing short stories published in magazines such as COM and Ribon Comic.[5] Her stories' settings throughout the 1960s and early 1970s were varied, including places like Auschwitz, Vietnam, and the slums of Rio de Janeiro. She covered topics interesting to young girls, elaborately drawing out the feelings and motivations of her characters.

After graduating from college, Kimura took a short break from creating manga before returning with Okurimono (贈り物, "Gift"), published by Shogakukan in Bessatsu Shōjo Comic in 1974. The short story discussed the struggles of elementary school life. She later published Nanohana Hatake no Kochiragawa (菜の花畑のこちら側, "This Side of the Rapeseed Blossom Field"), a short story about four young college girls living together. Nanohana caused her to gain wider popularity. From that point, Kimura generally published manga in shōjo (aimed at teenage girls), seinen (aimed at young men), and ladies' comics (aimed at adult women) magazines published by Akita Shoten and Kodansha.

In recent years,[timeframe?] Kimura has published fewer works, with most of her releases being reprints of older works. She has also created several health-related manga. One of her works finished its run in 2008 in Mugenkan [ja], a magazine published by Asahi Sonorama.

Rachel Thorn, an anthropologist noted for her work on shōjo manga, called Kimura "one of the most brilliant and largely forgotten members of the [Year 24 Group]".[7] Thorn praised her for creating manga with "explicitly social and feminist messages"[7] and for addressing "issues of interest to women, including sexuality, work, and health."[4]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Kotobank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ANN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Thorn 2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Thorn 2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Mangapedia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kudan Shobō was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Manga Recon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).