ABOUT HIGURI YOU!

THE ARTIST
Higuri You is one of my all time favorite manga artists. Her artwork is always amazing and her stories enthralling. She's also one of the more prolific artists of all time. Since her professional debut in 1993, she has published numerous stories for publishers such as Princess, Eyes, Bonita, and Asuka. Besides professional manga work, she also has quite an amazing collecting of art drawn for novels or doujinshi. Many of her stories draw on tales of historical or fantasy Europe, with swords and magic and dragons and men in tights. Along these lines, almost all of her stories involve themes of homosexual relationships between two men. Not that I think it would offend anyone who reads any of the OTHER manga on my page, but just making sure.

For more on Higuri You, check out her Japanese HP at:

http://www.diana.dti.ne.jp/~higuri

For some great Higuri You Winamp skins, visit Mako-chan at our sister page:

http://www.senshigakuen.com/gravity

THE WORKS
Below is a list Higuri-sensei's major manga works, in roughly chronological order. For any further information or questions, feel free to e-mail me.

"Azel Seimaden"
Seishinsha
Episode 0 of Higuri-sensei's longest and most well known major works, Seimaden. But it actually all started out in this little unknown ditty (you remember "Seishinsha" comics, right?). It was later reprinted for Asuka Comics DX.

"Sento no Hishin"
Asuka Comics DX
In one of Higuri-sensei's first works, a teenage guy is raised with his adopted family, only to find out years later that he's actually a demon boy (horn and all). Lots of magic and chanting and blood and destroying large amounts of Kyoto in this one. The art is a bit rough, but still great Higuri You.

"Seimaden"
Asuka Comics DX, Volumes 1-10
This ten volume manga series is Higuri-sensei's longest and most well known work. This story is the war between human and demon and demon, centering around the love of a demon for a human girl. Lots of magic and romance and fighting in this one. Truly an amazing tale that has something for everyone. Technically starts in her earlier work "Azel Seimaden," but evolved slightly into "Seimaden," which focuses more on the story of demon Laures than the human successor of Azel, Rod.

"Ludwig II"
Asuka Comics DX, Volumes 1-3
I like to refer to "Ludwig II" as a historical fiction yaoi romance manga. Based loosely on the real life King of Bavaria, Ludwig II, this manga tells a tale of love and madness amidst the opulence of the court. This is one of my favorite stories from Higuri You, both in the truly moving story, and in the amazingly beautiful and detailed artwork. Higuri-sensei also spent a surprising amount of time on her research, so the story, while still fiction, will have more historical basis than you'd expect.

"Lost Angel: Shitsuraku Tenshi"
Bonita Comics Special
I don't expect many people to have heard of Bonita Comics, but "Lost Angel" is a great, stereotypical Higuri-sensei manga. Beautiful artwork, priests, Catholic schoolboys, fallen angels, evil nuns... this one has everything. In one line, it's the story of the relationship between a young schoolboy and an angel who is less fallen than "lost."

"Kamen no Romanesque"
Asuka Comics DX
The first of Higuri-sensei's very few stories not written by herself, "Kamen no Romanesque" is perhaps one of the few Higuri You works known far more widely in Japan than elsewhere. Why? It's based on a play for the all-women's Takurazuka theater. Like many Takurazuka plays, and Higuri-sensei works for that matter, it centers around a love triangle in an opulent and romanticized Europe. Unlike Takurazuka theater, there's no singing and the men look like, well, men. Also included are three other short stories, all from the very beginning of Higuri-sensei's career. Fun to see how far she's come.

"Zoku-Cutlass-"
Cain Series, Volumes 1-2
Otherwise known as "Cutlass version 1.0", this series is almost exactly the same as "Cutlass-Shounen-tachi no Toki-" which ran in Zero Comics. In this tale, tough but soft-hearted Tokimaru follows his step-brother Tsubasa when he is pulled into another world. There, Tsubasa must learn about the secret binding himself, his missing mother, and a pirate named Shroud.

"ZEUS"
Asuka Comics DX, Volumes 1-2
This is a story of dreams and schoolboys and secret organizations and psychic powers. Sara hasn't seen his older brother, Sui, for years, but is still bound by to him by their powers, the marks on their hands, and mysterious dreams. For some reason, this story turned out far different than how I had always imagined it, but I was quite fond of how it ended.

"Ramen Ikaga!?"
Asuka Comics
Higuri-sensei's hysterical comedy manga about poor Sumire who accidentally proposes to the Prince of Planet Cup o' Noodle while trying to make dinner. It's really odd but quite funny, too. Another short story, basically a yaoi Midas tale, is also stuck on at the end.
"Ramen Ikaga!?" Translations:
The "Enter the Prince of Ramen" Story
The "Proposal War" Story
The "Aim to be an Idol" Story

"Shinkyoku"
Cain Comics
This manga tells the tale of fallen angel Lucifer as he revives and starts trouble for two people during Hitler era Germany. He seems to be doing nothing but evil and bad deeds, but there's a reason that he's a fallen angel, after all. This is one of the least known Higuri You works, but somehow one of my favorites. Two short stories are also stuck on the end for fun.

"Gorgeous Carat"
Eyes Comics, Volumes 1-4
In historical France, a noble son named Florian saves his family's name and fortune the only way he knows how: by handing himself over to a rich Count. However, said Count turns out to be none other than the infamous burglar, Noir, who's after an item that only Florian can find for him. This is definitely one of my favorite series of all time. There's something that's just so amazingly engrossing about this story. After Eyes Comics exploded, Higuri-sensei finished up the storyline and ended the series at 4 volumes.
"Gorgeous Carat" Translations:
Chapter 1: The Flame of Magar
(Volume 1) Part 1a | Part 1b
Chapter 2: Petit Noel's Situation
Part 2a | Part 2b | Part 2c
(Volume 2) Part 2d | Part 2e
Chapter 3: The Blue Devil of Maghreb
Part 3a | Part 3b | Part 3c | Part 3d
(Volume 3) Part3e | Part 3f | Part 3g | Part 3h | Part 3i
(Volume 4) Part 3j | Part 3k | Part 3l | Part 3m | Part 3n

"Tenshi no Hitsugi-Ave Maria-"
Princess Comics
A classic romance tale. Two men fight for the love of a beautiful girl. One is an Archduke, the other a demon with his soul indebted to someone even worse. Okay, so it's at least classic for Higuri You. This is actually another "historical" manga, based on the suicide of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Rudolph in 1889... a suicide that lead to Archduke Ferdinand becoming the heir, the man who's assassination lead to WWI. I really liked the story, but the ending... upset me to say the least. And I'm not just saying that because I cry at the drop of a hat, either. A somewhat unusual ending that will make you blink in the least.

"Tenshi no Bara no Hanataba o"
Asuka Comics DX, Volumes 1-2
Written by Kai Sakura, "Tenshi no Bara" is the tale of a young boy named Sei, recruited for the idol model group, N'est-ce pas. As it turns out, the group is only a cover for three young men who are guardians searching for their "Maria." As you may have guessed, Sei is said Maria, transforming into a beautiful young woman whenever he smells a rose. But they aren't the only ones after their Maria... This manga ended too fast for my taste, and I was quite disappointed that they didn't draw it out a bit. I really liked it, and I think everyone can love the American bad guys (they even DIE with English sound effects~!).

"Cutlass-Shounen-tachi no Toki"
Zero Comics, Volume 1
This series originally started in Cain Comics, but was later bought out by Zero Comics (a magazine for Biblos). But instead of just continuing the series, Higuri-sensei actually started over from the beginning and rewrote the whole thing. It's still about step-brothers Tokimaru and Tsubasa, fighting/cooperating with pirate Shroud to discover the secret that Tsubasa's mother left him. But the story becomes a bit more complex, plain killing off Tsubasa's mom and adding in more baddies to stir up trouble. Because Higuri-sensei was doing too much work, however, she stopped working on Cutlass version 2.0 after only one volume... dammit, I'm never going to see the end of this stupid series...

"Flower"
Bonita Comics
This series is extremely unusual for Higuri-sensei: no magic, no history, not even any homosexuality. It's the quiet little story about a high school girl named Mayu, who meets and falls in love with a handsome professional body artist named Shou. The manga tells the tale of their love, then goes back to show the somewhat parallel romance between Shou and Aya, his ex-girlfriend who looks exactly like Mayu. Not only is the story very sweet and quiet, but Higuri-sensei also does some very interesting things with story telling, especially in part 2. I didn't really like it at first, but now I can read it all the time.

"Cantarella"
Princess Comics, Volumes 1~7
In yet another Higuri-sensei work set in European past, this story follows the life of Cesare Borgia in Renaissance Italy with Micheletto Chiaro, a man who is both Cesare's best friend, and the man who will kill him. It's a work based on the historical Borgia family, although it takes it's own Higuri twist on the story. For example, I don't think that Cesare Borgia was ACTUALLY spawn of Satan. Higuri-sensei's latest ongoing work, complete with men in tight and pointy shoes and not-so-subtle homosexual vibes. Mmmmmm, Higuri goodness!

"MY LITTLE LOVER"
Aoba Comics
This manga is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. It's entirely about the daily life of Higuri-sensei's precious Papillion named, appropriately, "Papi." Watch as Papi eats, and sleeps, and goes on walks, and bites Higuri-sensei's assistants when they try to give him his medicine. Extremely cute, very hysterical.

"Gakuen Heaven"
Biblos Comics
This series actually started out as a Boy's Love Love-Sim game (the type where you guide the main character to eventually win the love of another character). After commissioning Higuri-sensei to draw artwork for the PC and PS2 versions, game producer SPRAY got her to do a manga for Biblos Comics, too. The story is rather plotless, much like the games I assume, but still beautiful and tons of fun. Be warned that as Higuri-sensei's first true Boy's Love work, there are some rather graphic sex scenes.

"Gorgeous Carat-GALAXY-"
Birz Comics
I joked that this sequel to Gorgeous Carat would be about Noir and Florian in space, but that is, of course, a lie. It's about a Russian pixy.


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