Akimi Yoshida

Akimi Yoshida (吉田 秋生) is a Japanese manga artist.

Career
She is a graduate of Musashino Art University. She made her professional debut in 1977 with the short story Chotto Fushigi na Geshukunin (ちょっと不思議な下宿人), published in Bessatsu Shōjo Comic magazine. Her following series were critical successes. Her series Sakura no Sono was adapted as a live-action film in 1992.

Yoshida is best known for the crime thriller series Banana Fish, which she published between 1985 and 1994. The series was reprinted many times and received an anime adaptation produced by MAPPA in 2018.

Style
While publishing mainly in shōjo manga magazines, her drawing style has often been compared to the aesthetics of shōnen manga. Yoshida herself reacted to this in an interview with a magazine in 1982: "Being a secret shojo manga artist suits me just fine. Hidden in some little corner of the world, staying out of people's way, I can actually do some pretty outrageous things. Which is really great. [...] So, yeah, you men can just shut up. Girls, let's just have our own fun right here."

Reception
She is a three time recipient of the Shogakukan Manga Award – for Kisshō Tennyo in 1983 and for Yasha in 2001, both in the shōjo manga category, and for Umimachi Diary in 2015 in the general manga category. In 2002, Yasha was among the jury-selected works at the Japan Media Arts Festival 2002. In 2007, she received an Excellence Award for manga at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival for Umimachi Diary, which was later adapted into a feature film titled Our Little Sister. In 2013, she was awarded the 6th Manga Taishō, again for Umimachi Diary.

Despite her work being solely published in shōjo manga magazines, she also has a broad readership among fans of shōnen manga.

Short story collections

 * Yumemiru Koro wo Sugite mo (夢みる頃をすぎても), 1983

Anime

 * Bobby's Girl (ボビーに首ったけ), 1985, character designer

Art books

 * California Tuning, 1982
 * The Making of Bobby's Girl, 1985
 * Angel Eyes: Illustration Book Banana Fish, 1994 (1st ed.), 2018 (reprint)
 * Double Helix: Illustration Book Yasha, 2003