Wolf Guy Japanese title: ウルフガイ (Warufu gai) Made in collaboration with: Kazumasa Hirai Vintage: 198X Wolf Guy is a series created by Kazumasa Hirai, perhaps best known in the West as the creator of 8 Man one of the earliest anime series to be brought to America in 1965 as 8th Man or occasionally Tobor the 8 Man. Hirai is also the creator of Genma Wars which is best known in the West via the early 1990s film adaptation Harmagedon directed by Rintaro with character designs by Akira's Katsuhiro Otomo. This is not Takahashi's first involvement with Hirai. Her doujinshi work Thus, Half of Them Are Gone was inspired by his work. For this collection of work, Takahashi provided a number of full-color cover illustrations to the novels as well as dozens of black and white interior illustrations as well. Wolf Guy had two novels translated into English by Edward Lipsett in the mid 1980s complete with Takahashi illustrations intact. This is interesting because this pre-dates Viz's licensing Urusei Yatsura for publication in America. Wolf Guy is actually a series of stories covering a number of different novels. The "Adult Wolf Guy" series contains 11 novels from 1969 through 1979. Simultaneously there is the "Wolf Guy" series of 19 books which were published intermitantly from 1971 through 1995. The 30 volume "Moonlight Magic" series and sundry "Wolf Guy Extra Volumes". Wolf Guy follows the adventures of Akira Inugami, a Japanese-American exchange student who is also a werewolf. After transfering into a school overrun by the children of Yakuza who bully and even attempt to murder Inugami his is pressed into violent retaliations against them. Inugami befriends his homeroom teacher who he saves from an attempted rape early in the series. Inugami soon finds himself at odd with the son of a powerful Yakuza don named Dou Haguro who both loves and envies Inugami.

---

Moeyo Ken Japanese title: 機動新撰組 萌えよ剣 (Kidou Shinsengumi Moeyo Ken) Made in collaboration with: Oji Hiroi Vintage: 2002 Following the success of Hiroi's Sakura Wars he developed another project that followed in a similar media footprint. Moeyo Ken began as a Playstation 2 visual novel style game and then quickly became a series of OVAs followed by a television series. Takahashi was brought on to provide character designs and consequently each following media incarnation kept her designs as their template. The series has gone on to even have a series of pachislot machines made featuring animation of the characters. The series follows the daughters of the famous historical Shensengumi (New Select Brigade) a group of Edo-era policemen/samurai who were active in Kyoto from 1863-1869. In Moeyo Ken the daughters act as an enforcement arm of licensing and patroling supernatural creatures in Japan. While the series is set in the late 1800s is features mecha, battlesuits and other contemporary anime concepts making it a mix of supernatural, historical and science fiction.

---

Japan Railways - Marin Japanese title: ＪＲ京葉線 マリン (JR Keiyousen - Marin) Made in collaboration with: Japan Railways Vintage: 1990 In order to promote JR Keiyo Railways new "Bay City Line" Takahashi was commissioned to design a mascot for the trainline- a cute young woman name Marin. Takahashi provided various images of Marin in a JR East uniform to plaster on trains and signage to promote the opening of the new railway that would take riders from Tokyo to Soga and back. Additionally images of Marin in casual clothing, out on the town for the evening and surfing were also used in advertising of the time. Branding material of the day stated that Marin was 22 years old and worked as an office lady in Makuhari. She was said to have many friends and was not in a relationship at the time. Much of the campaign material such as admission tickets and timetables were disgarded after the campaign ended and consequently very little of the original signage exists today. Most of what is available includes JR Orange Cards with Marin's image on them as well as stickers and smaller items.

---

The Young Lady Novelist - Haruna's Casefiles Japanese title: お嬢さま作家・春菜の事件簿 (Ojousama sakka - Haruna no jikenbo) Made in collaboration with: Tomoko Konparu Vintage: 1989 Tomoko Konparu was responsible for writing the screenplay for Urusei Yatsura's 5th film and consequently she wrote her first novel- a novelization of Urusei Yatsura. From this she began to write other novels of original material. From 1989 through 1993 she released an annual mystery novel with Takahashi serving as illustrator. The four novels in the series were Mystery at the Tower of London (1989), Twilight on Hollywood Boulevard (1990), Mystery on the Hong Kong Tour (1991) and Mystery at the Great Buddha of Nara (1992). The novels follow romance novelist Haruna Nijo who stumbles into various mysteries during her world travels (international travel was a hobby shared by Tomoko Konparu who studied foreign languages at Sophia University). Joining her on her travels is her cousin Hayata Nijo who helps her in her amateur detective work. Similar to her work on Wolf Guy Takahashi provided color illustrations for the covers and numberous black and white illustrations for the interiors of each novel. In addition to her novelization of Urusei Yatsura Konparu also wrote novelized adaptations of Mermaid Saga and Inuyasha.

---

My and Sakura's Dangerous Relationship Japanese title: ぼくと桜のアブナイ関係 (Boku to Sakura no abunai kankei) Made in collaboration with: Hiroko Odaka Vintage: 1995 Written by the 1995 "Shogakukan Novelist Contest" winner, My and Sakura's Dangerous Relationship is a series of three books that Takahashi provided color covers for as well as numberous interior black and white illustrations. The story follows Sakura Mikumo a struggling young writer who frequently writes herself as the protagonist of her novels. The love interest, Kaoru Dodo, is a younger student fresh out of high school who falls for Sakura. Subsequent stories in the series involve Yakuza abductions of ronins trying to get into college and more romantic shenanigans.

---

Comic Gekiga Cram School Japanese title: Comic 劇画村塾 (Comic Gekiga Sonjuku) Made in collaboration with: Kazuo Koike Vintage: 1984 Kazuo Koike, the prolific writer of many manga such as Lone Wolf and Cub with Goseki Kojima, Lady Snowblood with Kazuo Kamimura, Crying Freeman and Wounded Man both with Ryoichi Ikegami. Koike opened his "manga cram school", Gekiga Sonjuku in order to help revive the art of manga which he considered to be faltering in the late 1970s. The school first opened in 1977 with the manta that "characters come first". Rumiko Takahashi was a graduate of the 1977 first year class and other notable creators followed such as Hideyuki Kikuchi (Vampire Hunter D, Demon City Shinjuku and Wicked City), Yuji Horii (creator of Dragon Quest and Earthbound / Mother video games), Tetsuo Hara (Fist of the North Star) and Naoki Yamamoto (Dance 'til Tomorrow). Takahashi never forgot the lessons she learned from Koike and once she found success with Urusei Yatsura she was asked to provide the covers of the 1984 Gekiga Sonjuku magazine- Comic Gekiga Cram School. Each issue has a full-color illustration of an original character (each girl having some sort of animal characteristic like mouse ears or antlers). Throughout the years Koike would conduct interviews with Takahashi and she even gave lectures to his future students alongside his collaborator (and Takahashi's favorite mangaka) Ryoichi Ikegami. The illustrations Takahashi provided were later turned into a calendar.

---

Flower of the Red Tengu Japanese title: 花の紅天狗 (Hana no Kurenai Tengu) Made in collaboration with: Kazuki Nakashima Vintage: 1996 Produced by Kazuki Nakajima and directed by Hidenori Inoue Flower of the Red Tengu is a stage play that was performed originally in 1996 and then revived again in 2003. Takahashi provided the poster artwork as well as a second promotional drawing. The play is said to be "manga-like" with eccentric characters that were typically not seen in theatrical performances at the time. The play revolves around a struggling theater troupe and a rival group that hopes to steal away the play-within-a-play Flower of the Red Tengu. The "official" English name of the piece is Renaissance of the Scarlet Phantom.

---

Lovesickness Japanese title: 愛の病気 (Ai no byoki) Made in collaboration with: Hiroshi Iwai & Satoko Akiyama　 Vintage: 1983 Two psychologists examine relationships and healthy and unhealthy kinds of love and human interactions. This is a straightforward popular psychology book from the '80s which is interspersed with drawings illustrating the text provided by Rumiko Takahashi.

---

Otsbell & the Elephant Japanese title: オツベルと象 (Otsuberu to sou) Made in collaboration with: Kenji Miyazawa Vintage: December 1, 1993 This story was originally published in Shogaku Sanensei (小学三年生)) 1991 Volume 10. Takahashi provided illustrations (a semi-colored cover and a number of black and white illustrations for the interior) for this novelized adaption of Kenji Miyazawa's successful play. The play was also later adapted loosely into a manga series by Yuta Kayashima. This story was ultimately collected in 1993 as part of a three volume boxset with two other Miyazawa stories illustrated by Machiko Satonaka (里中満智子) and Motoka Murakami (村上もとか). Miyazawa was little known when he died in 1933 but a major reevaluation of his work occured in the 1990s thanks in large part to the success of his Night on the Galatic Railway which was adapted into a successful anime series.

---

Dynasty Warriors Japanese title: 真・三國無双 (Shin-Sangoku Muso) Made in collaboration with: Koei Tecmo Vintage: 2014 The long running video game beat'em up franchise Dynasty Warriors had a trading card game that debuted in 2014 entitled Shin-Sangoku Muso. Takahashi provided illustrations for three of the characters cards pictured here. A number of other mangaka also contributed illustations including Hiromu Arakawa and Tetsuo Hara. Like the video game series the card game is based on the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong.

---

A Willow in the Wind Japanese title: 柳に風 (Yanagi ni Kaze) Made in collaboration with: Furuta Arata Vintage: 2004 Takahashi provided the cover illustration for actor Furuta Arata's collection of short stories. Arata is an actor in the Shinkansen troupe, the same group that staged Flower of the Red Tengu which Takahashi illustrated a poster for. Arata is also a radio DJ and has another connection with Takahashi- he played Genma Saotome from Ranma ½ in the live-action adaptation and appeared in the 20th Century Boys live-action films as well.

---

Madame Kumagami Japanese title: 熊耳夫人 (Kumagami Fujin) Made in collaboration with: Tomoji Shinoda Vintage: 2004 This is the third in a series of "adult light novels" a line branded "Theater Novel Series". The first volume (Magashi Prince) is illustrated by Machiko Satonaka while the second (Souji Okita) is illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami. Madame Kumagami is a historical romance based on the true story from 12th century China (the Southern Song Dynasty). Takahashi's work includes the color cover and five interior illustrations featuring the main character Li Xiaohua who married General Kumagami at the age of sixteen.

---

Manga College Japanese title: 漫画カレッジ (Manga Carejji) Made in collaboration with: Shonen Sunday Vintage: 1982 This three volume special series deals with breaking into the manga industry and has illustrations from various artists that were published in Shonen Sunday during the early to mid-1980s. The volumes also contain address of various smaller manga/doujinshi imprints, discussions about the process of making manga and other "how to get started" ideas and discussion. Takahashi provided color illustrations for the covers and some black and white interior drawings as well.

---

The Time We Spoke Endlessly About the Things We Loved -Rumic World vs Wolf Land- Japanese title: 語り尽せ熱愛時代 (Kataretsuse netsuai jidai) Made in collaboration with: Kazumasa Hirai Vintage: 1984 This is a 173 page conversation between Takahashi and Kazumasa Hirai (discussed above due to Takahashi illustrating portions of his Wolf Guy series). There are sparse illustrations in black and white in this book, mostly taken from Takahashi's work for Hirai.

---

The Gentle World of Rumiko Takahashi Japanese title: 高橋留美子の優しい世界 (Takahashi Rumiko no Yasashii Sekai) Made in collaboration with: Kazumasa Hirai Vintage: 1985 Once more Kazumasa Hirai (Wolf Land, 8 Man) discusses the work of Rumiko Takahashi. In this book he analyzes Maison Ikkoku which had not yet completed its serialization (this was published in 1985, the manga would not end until two years later). He then also delves into the second Urusei Yatsura film, Beautiful Dreamer. The book had two alternative covers, both by Takahashi featuring Wolf Guy related imagery.

---

Hideki Noda and Rumiko Takahashi: 80's Tale Japanese title: 野田秀樹と高橋留美子: 80年代の物語 (Noda Hideki to Takahashi Rumiko: 80 nendai monogatari) Made in collaboration with: Masaki Enomoto Vintage: 1992 A book that deals with the 1980s era success of mangaka Rumiko Takahashi and Hideki Noda who ran the theater company "Yume no Yuminsha". The Takahashi portion primarily deals with Maison Ikkoku and talks about the transforming mediascape of the 1980s. Some of the analysis of Maison Ikkoku deals with the number motif and extrapolates that to discuss relationships reduced to numbers.

---

Yume Genjitsurugi Nosaimon Japanese title: 夢源氏剣祭文 (Yume Genjitsurugi Nosaimon) Made in collaboration with: Kazuo Koike Vintage: 2016 Originally published over a span of time in newspapers, this multi-volume work was later collected and published. Takahashi provided the cover illustration for this volume, though other mangaka handled previous volumes.The story is set in the Heian Era and deals with a mother and her daughter, Ibaraki, following after the father who had gone on to the city looking for work. The mother is killed and the young daughter is poisoned by the demon Kurozo.

---

Ms. Lyricist Japanese title: Ms. リリシスト (Ms. Ririshisuto) Made in collaboration with: Yuho Iwasato Vintage: 2016 Ms. Lyricist is a collection of the work of lyricist Yuho Iwasato to celebrate her 35 year career. Iwasato was born in Niigata (the same prefecture as Rumiko Takahashi) and has been a prolific songwriter since the 1980s. She is a close friend of Miki Imai, Yoko Kanno, Maaya Sakamoto and Akino Arai. Takahashi provided the album artwork. Iwasato has written iconic anime songs including "The Real Folk Blues" from Cowboy Bebop, "Love is Changing" from Flame of Recca, "Northern Cross" from Macross Frontier and "Doridori" from Pokemon XY.

---

Change the World Japanese title: Change the World Made in collaboration with: V6 Vintage: 2001 V6 provided the first opening theme song for the Inuyasha anime and in a show of marketing synergy Rumiko Takahashi illustrated the band alongside her protagonist as an insert illustration for the single release of the their hit song.

---

One Day One Dream Japanese title: One Day One Dream Made in collaboration with: Tackey & Tsubasa Vintage: 2004 As she did for V6, Rumiko Takahashi illustrated an insert image for Tackey & Tsubasa's Inuyasha tie-in song, "One Day One Dream". The image was actually a sticker that was included in the first pressings of the single release.

---

NGT48 First Anniversary Japanese title: NGT48 First Anniversary Made in collaboration with: NGT48 Vintage: 2017 The idol group NGT48 (from Niigata, Takahashi's home prefecture) was celebrating their first year as a group with this blu-ray. This is a three disc set featuring two complete concerts and behind the scenes footage of the first anniversary promotional event. Takahashi illustrated Lum on the cover to celebrate the success of her fellow Niigatans.

---

Corona and Manga Japanese title: コロナと漫画 Made in collaboration with: Kazushi Shimada Vintage: September 29, 2021 When the global pandemic began to spread across the world in 2020, it affected everyone in different ways. The manga industry was no exception, as magazine publications were delayed, anime productions had to be placed on hiatus, and creators had to navigate new ways to keep themselves and their staffs say with social distancing. Manga writer and editor Kazushi Shimada conducts extensive interviews with Tetsuya Chiba, Inio Asano, Rumiko Takahashi, Mitsuru Adachi, Kazuhiro Fujita, Fujihiko Hosono and in his final interview before his passing Takao Saito.

---

×

3 / 16

4 / 16

5 / 16

6 / 16

7 / 16

8 / 16

9 / 16

10 / 16

11 / 16

12 / 16

13 / 16

14 / 16

15 / 16

16 / 16

17 / 16

18 / 16

19 / 16

20 / 16

21 / 16

22 / 16

❮ ❯