Miracle☆Girls by Akimoto Nami (Vol. 1, Kodansha, 1991)

"1994 Club Nakayoshi koshiki members techo" planner (April 1994)

Les Mille Fleurs by Akimoto Nami

Miracle Girls (1991) by Nami Akimoto

miracle girls by nami akimoto from smile mag

Abt 2000s 2010s shoujo mangakas..

Are they still active in Japan? Or the lack of info about their new works on mainstream intl..is them retiring?

Or those 90s 00s shoujo artist just changed artstyle?

Or maybe my info is warped bcoz there are just a handful shoujo anime now. Compares to pre2012s

Hi, thank you for your question!

I’d say it does depend on the mangaka. Wataru Yoshizumi has a series that started in 2019 and appears to be ongoing. I know that Mia Ikumi tragically passed away from a Subarachnoid hemorrhage this year, but did the artwork for the Tokyo Mew Mew Re-turn manga in 2020 not long before her passing. However, even she hadn’t put out any works for many years until then. Pink Hanamori also has an ongoing Mermaid Melody sequel in Nakayoshi, but this seems to be the most recent thing she’s done since 2008. Mihona Fujii resumed the GALS! manga in 2019 after it seemingly ended in 2002. Arina Tanemura is also still active. Nakahara An of Kirarin Revolution fame finished her latest series in 2020. Nami Akimoto released quite a few works as recently as 2021, though they seem to mostly be single-volume releases. These are just a few examples, but in my experience, some of the most prolific mangaka from around that time are still active, but they usually come out with a new series every few years and tend to maybe have one ongoing manga currently running in a magazine (Tanemura and Yoshizumi). Others may not release anything for years, but may end up releasing a reboot/revival for one of their most famous and nostalgic works (such as in the case of Ikumi and Hanamori). One manga artist that comes to mind who seems to keep releasing very consistently over the years since around the mid 2000s is Ema Toyama. Her works have seemed oddly inescapable within the past 10 or so years. I do occasionally find mangaka for some series that are outright no longer active, though I’m struggling to think of any off the top of my head at the moment.

There could be various reasons for why mangaka take long breaks in between series or just outright quit after some time. As everyone knows, being a mangaka is extremely demanding and stressful work. Miho Obana, for instance, released her last work in 2010 and has a past history of tendonitis which she has gone on hiatus for before. It’s not unusual for the work to lead to health problems due to the extremely strict deadlines and heavy amounts of stress. There could also be other personal issues in their life that need tending to.

Another thing that could be affecting your perception could also be the number of series released where you live. Arina Tanemura still seems to be popular enough in the west (or at least well known enough), but I swear a lot of the popular shoujo mangaka from the 90s and early 2000s seldom get works released here anymore (at least where I live, in the United States. I’m not sure if its different where you live). I was actually relatively surprised (but pleasantly so) to see that Marmalade boy was getting an English re-release by Seven Seas. There’s seemingly such a limited number of shoujo series that get released outside of Japan and I feel that what is readily available where we live might not accurately reflect the reality of who is and is not still active. When you haven’t seen a work released from one of your favorite mangaka from that time period in a long time, it can make you wonder what they’re currently doing, and if they’re even still making manga at all. You also make an interesting point about how there are even fewer shoujo anime adaptations than there once were, but I feel that we’re starting to see a small change in that, and I hope that it continues. I could get into another rant about why we’re seeing such a lack in shoujo adaptations today, but I’ll refrain from doing so.

I’ll admit I’m certainly no authority on the matter and I worry my answer won’t be very helpful. There are certainly people who could give a much more informed, in-depth answer, but I hope I could at least provide some insight, if any at all.

Urakyu Chapter 13

Nami Akimoto

Nakayoshi September 2000

(personal collection)

Akimoto Nami (author of Miracle Girls)

Miracle Girls by Nami Akimoto (manga - vol.3, 1992)

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Series: URUQ Artist: Akimoto Nami Publication: Nakayoshi Magazine (01/2003) Details: Nakayoshi All Stars 2003 Calendar (March) Source: Scanned from my personal collection

"Nakayoshi all-star nigiyaka tree seal" stickers (December 1991)

Miracle Girls by Akimoto Nami

Hanamaru Company (1988) by Nami Akimoto

Nami Akimoto - Nakayoshi Art Book (x)

Series: Les Mille Fleurs

Artist: Nami Akimoto

Publication: Nakayoshi (03/1998)