Cover to the first tankoubon of Nana (2000).

Ai Yazawa (矢沢あい, Yazawa Ai^?, born March 7, 1967 in Hyogo Prefecture) is a popular girls' manga author in Japan. Her pen name comes from Japanese singer Eikichi Yazawa, of whom she is a fan. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 384 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (768 × 1200 pixel, file size: 270 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Cover of the Japanese volume 1 of the manga Nana by Ai Yazawa This image is of the cover of a single issue... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 384 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (768 × 1200 pixel, file size: 270 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Cover of the Japanese volume 1 of the manga Nana by Ai Yazawa This image is of the cover of a single issue... A Tankōbon compilation book is a set of manga issues which have been collected into a volume for a given author. ... Serialized in Cookie Shojo Beat(ends serialization in August) Original run November 15, 2002 – Still running No. ... March 7 is the 66th day of the year (67th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Hyōgo Prefecture (兵庫県 Hyōgo-ken) is located in the Kinki region on Honshu island, Japan. ... Manga )   (pl. ... A pen name or nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. ... Eikichi Yazawa (矢沢永吉 Yazawa Eikichi, born September 14, 1949 in Hiroshima) is a Japanese rock singer. ...

Yazawa started her mangaka publishing life in 1985; throughout 15 years of publishing, she wrote over 10 series in Ribon. While her finished manga continued to be published in Japan by Shueisha, publishers of Ribon and Cookie (in which Nana is serialized), series like Paradise Kiss now appear in other magazines such as Zipper, published by Shodensha. Mangaka ) is the Japanese word for a comic artist. ... Ribon (りぼん) is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha, first issued in August 1955. ... Shueisha ) is a major publisher in Japan, headquartered in Tokyo. ... There are two Cookie magazines: One is a Japanese manga (further explained below), and the other is a moms and kids fashion-style magazine from Conde Nast, found here Cookie is a Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha. ... Serialized in Cookie Shojo Beat(ends serialization in August) Original run November 15, 2002 – Still running No. ... Serialized in Zipper Original run April, 2000 – March, 2004 No. ...

Yazawa's most famous manga include Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (I'm Not an Angel), Gokinjo Monogatari (Neighborhood Story), Paradise Kiss, and Nana. All five volumes of Paradise Kiss have been released in English by Tokyopop. Nana is now running in Shojo Beat and being released by Viz. In Japan it continues to run in Cookie and is currently up to 69 chapters, plus three side story chapters about different characters' early lives. Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (天使なんかじゃない; Im not an angel!) is a shōjo and romance manga created by Ai Yazawa. ... Gokinjo Monogatari (ご近所物語 Neighborhood Story) is the prequel to Paradise Kiss - one of the most popular manga by Ai Yazawa, a popular mangaka in Japan. ... Serialized in Zipper Original run April, 2000 – March, 2004 No. ... Serialized in Cookie Shojo Beat(ends serialization in August) Original run November 15, 2002 – Still running No. ... Serialized in Zipper Original run April, 2000 – March, 2004 No. ... For the music movie, see Tokyo Pop. ... Serialized in Cookie Shojo Beat(ends serialization in August) Original run November 15, 2002 – Still running No. ... Shojo Beat is a shōjo manga magazine published in North America by VIZ Media. ... Viz is a method of introducing a list or a series. ...

Yazawa's works are most popular among women and young girls. The storylines generally are centered on young women and their relationships, something with which that fanbase identifies with. The characters are always very stylish, and she is known especially for her hip sense of fashion. Another key point is her strikingly unique, often rebellious characters, who tend to be juxtaposed against the more traditional ones. Fashion illustration by George Barbier of a gown by Jeanne Paquin, 1912, from La Gazette du bon ton, the most influential fashion magazine of its era. ...

She has also published three artbooks.

Works (in chronological order)

• 15-nenme (1986)
• Love Letter (1987)
• Kaze ni Nare! (1988)
• Escape (1988)
• Ballad Made Soba ni Ite (1989, 2 volumes)
• Marine Blue no Kaze ni Dakarete (1990-1991, 4 volumes)
• Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (1992-1995, 8 volumes)
• Usubeni no Arashi (1992)
• Gokinjo Monogatari (1995-1998, 7 volumes)
• Kagen no Tsuki (1998-1999, 3 volumes)
• Paradise Kiss (2000-2003, 5 volumes, published by Shodensha)
• Nana (2000-present, still in progress, 17 volumes in Japan so far)
• Princess Ai (2004-2006, 3 volumes) (Note: Ai Yazawa contributed character designs for the book, but is not the creator or artist.)

Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (天使なんかじゃない; Im not an angel!) is a shōjo and romance manga created by Ai Yazawa. ... Gokinjo Monogatari (ご近所物語 Neighborhood Story) is the prequel to Paradise Kiss - one of the most popular manga by Ai Yazawa, a popular mangaka in Japan. ... Kagen no Tsuki ) is a three-volume manga series by Yazawa Ai. ... Serialized in Zipper Original run April, 2000 – March, 2004 No. ... Serialized in Cookie Shojo Beat(ends serialization in August) Original run November 15, 2002 – Still running No. ... Princess Ai is a manga co-created by Courtney Love, Ai Yazawa, Misaho Kujiradou, and DJ Milky (a pen name for Stu Levy), is published in English by TOKYOPOP. The story deals with an amnesiac girl named Ai who was torn from her homeland, and awakens in present-day Tokyo. ...

External links

• Ai Yazawa fan site
• Ai Yazawa fan site in English and Italian
• Ai Yazawa fan site in Chinese
• Ai Yazawa fan site in French and English

• official NANA site (Japanese)
• official Cookie magazine site (Japanese)
• official NANA anime site (Japanese)
• official NANA movie site (Japanese)
• official Paradise Kiss site (Japanese)
• official Paradise Kiss anime site (Japanese)
• official Gokinjo Monogatari anime site (Japanese)