is a shōjo

Shojo

The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 manga artist

Mangaka

is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...

 born in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan.

She began her manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 career as an assistant to Momoko Sakura

Momoko Sakura

, pen name , is a Japanese manga artist from Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture. She is the creator of the long-running manga Chibi Maruko-chan , based on her own childhood, and the more surreal fantasy anime series Coji-Coji, which ran from 1997 to 1999...

, creator of Chibi Maruko-chan

Chibi Maruko-chan

is a shōjo manga series by Momoko Sakura, later adapted into an anime TV series by Nippon Animation, which originally aired on Fuji Television from January 7, 1990 to September 27, 1992. The series depicts the simple, everyday life of a little girl nicknamed Maruko and her family in suburban...

. She debuted in 1990 with the (one-shot manga) Mado no Mukō, which was published in the autumn 1990 issue of Ribon Bikkuri. Soon, stories from her started appearing in Ribon Original

Ribon Original

Ribon Original was a shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha. It was a sister magazine of Ribon, and was published from 1981 until 2006. New and up-and-coming Ribon manga artists often had their first short stories published in this magazine...

and in the regular Ribon

Ribon

is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are Nakayoshi and Ciao. Its target audience is young girls roughly 9–13 years old. In 2009, the magazine's circulation was 274,167, down from the previous year's circulation numbers of 330,000...

magazine too.

Other notable manga by Miho Obana include Kodomo no Omocha (10 volumes, for which she won the Kodansha Manga Award

Kodansha Manga Award

is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...

 for shōjo in 1998; the official English title is Kodocha), Partner

Partner (manga)

is a shōjo manga by Miho Obana. Partner stands out from Obana's other work as much darker than her old work. High school freshmen and twins, Nae and Moe, and Ken and Takeshi, enjoy their lives as students and close friends...

, (3 volumes) and Andante

Andante (manga)

is an romance-based shōjo manga by manga artist Miho Obana that was serialized in Ribon magazine from May 2001 through July 2002. A compilation version was published by Shūeisha....

(3 volumes). Partner

Partner (manga)

is a shōjo manga by Miho Obana. Partner stands out from Obana's other work as much darker than her old work. High school freshmen and twins, Nae and Moe, and Ken and Takeshi, enjoy their lives as students and close friends...

is especially noted for its dark, mature, and almost disturbing tone, which is very rare in a Ribon series.

Her most recent manga is Honey Bitter

Honey Bitter

is a shōjo manga by Miho Obana.-Plot summary:Honey Bitter revolves around a girl named Shuri who was mistreated by her ex boyfriend, Riki. She grew a hate for men in general after she had broken up with him, and wanted to start over fresh with her life...

, which has run in Cookie since February 2004. Also in 2004, she made a foray into the world of josei

Josei

also known as or , is a term that refers to the target demographic of manga created mostly by women for late teenage and adult female audiences. Readers range from 15-44. In Japanese, the word josei means simply "woman", "female", "feminine", "womanhood" and has no manga-related connotations at...

 manga, writing several manga for the josei magazine Chorus

Chorus (magazine)

is a Japanese josei manga magazine published by Shueisha.- Current :# Kyaria Kogitsune Kin no Machi # Samurai Kaasan # Higepiyo # Chikutaku Bonbon # Yottsu no Kisetsu...

. She has been on maternity leave for the past year, but will be returning soon, as Honey Bitter is expected to start up again in the Dec. 26 issue of Cookie.

Other works include Mizu no Yakata; a spin-off of Kodocha, Neko no Shima, Pochi

Pochi

is a one-volume manga by Miho Obana. It has also been released in Spain by Planeta DeAgostini, bundled as an extra with Obana's other work Mizu no Yakata.-Plot synopsis:...

, Setsunai ne, and Shiranami no Gensō.

Works

- 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1994

• • - 1999 (side story of Kodocha) - 1996 - 1999 - 2001 - 2003 - 2003 - 2004

External links

• "BarOBANA" - Official site
• "The other side of Miho Obana" - Fansite
• Profile at The Ultimate Manga Guide