Makoto Tateno Week Kicks Off

Tateno sensei

Looking at my review shelf, I see I have a LOT of Tateno yet to cover on it, and to share some of the greatness that is Makoto Tateno, I decided to do Makoto Madness Week. I have already reviewed Happy Boys 1 and 2, How to Capture a Martini, Yellow Omnibus 1 and Angelic Runes. This week, I shall take a look at Blue Sheep Reverie 1 and 2, Steal Moon, Hate to Love You, Ka Shin Fu, Yellow Omnibus 2, Yellow Episode 2 vol 1, Hero Heel vol 1, How to Control a Sidecar, and Yokan: Premonition vol 1.

Toyama City, birthplace of Makoto Tateno

But just who is Makoto Tateno? I decided to find out. Well, it is pretty obvious she is a mangaka, But what about the rest? A quick look on the web doesn’t seem to reveal much unless you look beyond the surface of the information. Tateno sensei was born on 23^rd of March in Toyama City. Toyama city is the capitol of Toyama Prefecture, which is located along the Sea of Japan on the island of Honshu. It is not an overly large city, but it is not a small one either as these things go, having a population that is quoted at 420,804 or 338.85 persons per square kilometre.

Toyama has been of strategic regional importance since ancient times as this feudal fortification demonstrates.

This is in itself interesting, given the settings she typically uses in her manga. Knowing these acts, and viewing pictures of the area she was born and raised in, explains much about the realistic feel of the locations encountered in her stories. They have a distinctly urban feel, but usually lack the urban upward and outward sprawl of say Tokyo or Osaka. This is unsurprising, as the very best writers write from what they know, weaving fact with illusion to tell a well crafted story.

Mickey and Kazyua was her first series.

In 1986, Tateno made her début with Japanese publisher Hakusensha with her shoujo one shot offering “ Yurarete Tamago Boys” followed by the series Mickey and Kazuya, which was serialised in the publisher’s Hana to Yume magazine. She continued working in the shoujo field under contract until striking out freelance on her own, with a strong desire to write BL. A look at the publication dates for her BL titles show that 2001 was her break out year in this genre, with Koyoi wa Kimi to Chi no Kiss o being picked up by publisher Shinshokan for their Dear+ magazine and now licensed to Doki Doki as the upcoming title A Bloody Kiss Tonight, scheduled for an early November street date. Also writing under the pen name of Shinjuku Tango for her doujinshi titles, she has remained a highly popular and prolific writer with over 90 titles and 30+ series under her belt.

Japanese cover for Bloody Kiss Tonight, her 2001 BL break out title now due out in early November 2010 under Digital Manga's Doki Doki imprint.

Most of here in the West are perhaps more familiar with her BL works, which have been licensed here in the West, though with Happy Boys,  Angelic Runes, King of Cards,  and Red Angel, we are beginning to see some of her shoujo works trickle out though they are not yet as popular with Western manga fans. While the genres may differ, the one thing they all have in common is not only Tateno’s lovely signature art, but her wit. Tateno’s dry wit is a subtle presence in all her works, lightening up heavier pieces without resorting to buffoonery or chibi panels. If the character is foolish in his decisions, she allows us to see this as part of his character and general actions, without pratfall type jokes to make it obvious. It is said that one is always heavily influenced by those whose works e most admire, so just who does she credit for this? In an interview with Graphic Novel Reporter, she cited tow major influences: Go Nagai, specifically with Cutie Honey which featured the first female protagonist in a shonen manga, and the legendary Osamu Tezuka, whose works are still finding their way into new licenses in the West ( MW, Black Jack, Swallowing the Earth). Fans of Tateno’s would do well to check these out, or else miss out on some truly fantastic classic manga that resonates with today.

Osamu Tezuka is named as one of her major manga influences. Read him and find out why.

As for the current debacle with scanlator sites, believe it or not, Graphic Novel Reporter asked her this at the 2009 Yaoi Con, which pre-dated the coming of Mangageddon:

How do you feel about fan translations of your stories being distributed via the Internet without the books having been officially licensed in America?
Buy books. Buy, buy, buy. [Smiles]
So there you have it. Makoto Tateno, her influences, some reviews past and forthcoming of her works, and her request to please buy, and not read or do scanlations. Just get yourself to a book retailer already, there is some good stuff to be read, again and again.