Name: Yuu Watase (渡瀬悠宇)
General: Yuu Watase was born on March 5th, 1970 in Osaka Japan. At a young age she dreamed of becoming a manga artist, but was more interested in the shonen manga (boy comics.) Although she never finished high school, she moved on to become a very popular and influential manga artist.
Style: Although shojo, Yuu Watase's works tend to seem somewhat ambiguous. There are many fight scenes and such, but the stories often seem to revolve around the ideals of love, family and friendship like other shojo manga. In Fushigi Yugi there were many fight scenes, and in Ceres alot of the plotline seemed more atune to Horror than shojo manga; on top of that, Imadoki is a lighthearted high-school drama. This just goes to show that she is able to create stories in many popular genres.
Art: Yuu Watase's art can be considered extremely realistic for manga art, and very detailed. She often taked extra care in drawing the hands and the clothes. Her illustrations portray characters beautifully. Although the art in Fushigi Yugi is breathtaking, it is quite easy to see the evolution of Watase's art throughout her published works. As time goes on, the art simply become more refined and more clean.
Works: Fushigi Yugi, Ayashi no Ceres, Alice 19th, Imadoki, FY: Genbu Kaiden, Zettai Kareshi, Appare Jippangu
