Mangaka You Should Know: Peach-Pit

Posted by Guest Author on Mar 27, 2008 in Comic Books |

If you’re into anime at all, you’ve probably heard of its most famous manga creators Shirow Masamune (Ghost in the Shell), CLAMP (Magic Knight Rayearth, X, Tsubasa Chronicle), and Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2, InuYasha). You may even know Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball Z), Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina), and the godfather of manga himself, Osamu Tezuka (Astroboy, Black Jack). But these are only the most famous few drops in a sea of manga creators: Here is one of picks for the ten mangaka you really need to know— and keep an eye on:

Peach-Pit

This twosome has long been a hit amongst hardcore anime fans for their cult series Rozen Maiden, about a collection of living dolls that have to fight to become “Alice.” The series has proven to be extremely viral, and its characters are arguably more popular than the actual series itself.

Unfortunately for Rozen Maiden fans, a dispute between Peach-Pit and the editors at Rozen Maiden‘s magazine, Monthly Comic Birz, led to the series getting a sudden an anticlimactic ending. Fans hope that the dynamic duo will continue the series elsewhere, but there is no news.

Rozen Maiden‘s demise hasn’t stopped Peach-Pit in their tracks, however. Their horror-comedy manga Zombie-Loan was developed into an anime in summer 2007, and the magical girl series Shugo Chara! is airing as an anime right now. Both of these series are also still on-going as manga as well. Long-time fans may also remember Peach-Pit’s first series in the U.S., DearS, a sci-fi/comedy anime and manga about aliens on earth.

Peach-Pit, which consists of Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara, offers beautiful bishoujo art and unquestionable style— whether the style is the cute, often plaid-clad magical girl works in Shugo Chara! or the Victorian-esque gothic Lolita looks of Rozen Maiden. Combine that with characters that fans love (or love to hate) and you’ve got a pair of manga queens.

Gia Manry is a Portland, OR-based professional writer specializing in pop culture/entertainment writing. Read up on more of her work at giapet.net or hire her at GiaManry.com.

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