Ryoko Yamagishi

Ryoko Yamagishi (山岸 凉子, Yamagishi Ryōko; born September 24, 1947, in Kamisunagawa, Hokkaido) is a Japanese manga artist. She is one of the Year 24 Group, a collection of female artists who innovated shōjo (girls') manga throughout the 1970s.^[1][2] Her major works include Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi and Maihime Terpsichora.

Ryoko Yamagishi 山岸 凉子
Born	(1947-09-24) September 24, 1947 (age 77) Kamisunagawa, Hokkaido, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Area(s)	Manga artist
Notable works	Shiroi Heya no Futari Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi Maihime Terpsichora
Awards	1983 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo manga Grand Prize, 11th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize

Life and career

Ryoko Yamagishi was born on September 24, 1947, in Kamisunagawa, Hokkaido, Japan.^[3][4] As a child, she studied ballet, which plays a part in many of her works. When she read the manga of Machiko Satonaka in 1964, she decided to pursue becoming a manga artist. Although her parents did not agree with this, in 1966 she entered a competition in Shōjo Friend and was a semi-finalist. She applied to Kodansha and sent some short stories to COM. In 1968, after completing her art studies in Hokkaido, she moved to Tokyo and applied for Shueisha. The next year, she made her professional debut with Left and Right, a short story published in Ribon Comic, a spin-off of Ribon.^[3]

In 1971, she released the one-shot manga Shiroi Heya no Futari, which tells the story of a romance between two students at an all-girls boarding school in France. It was published by Shueisha in Ribon Comic and is regarded as the first yuri (female-female romance) manga.^[5]

Style and themes

Her works normally have occult themes, although her most popular are Arabesque, about Russian ballet, and Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi.^[6] According to Yoshihiro Yonezawa, Yamagishi's style is influenced by Art Nouveau.^{[7][full citation needed]}

Reception

In 1983, she won the Kodansha Manga Award in the shōjo manga category for Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi.^[8]

She worked on Maihime Terpsichora, which was nominated for the 9th annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2005^[9] and won the 11th annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2007.^[10] It was also among the jury-selected works of Japan Media Arts Festival 2002.^[11]

Her work was exhibited at the Yayoi Museum [ja] in Tokyo from September to December 2016.^[12]

Works

Serializations

List of serialized manga by Ryoko Yamagishi

Title	Year(s)	Notes	Ref(s)
Arabesque [ja]: Part 1 (アラベスク（第1部）)	1971–1973	Serialized in Ribon Published by Shueisha in 4 volumes	[13]
Arabesque: Part 2 (アラベスク（第2部）)	1974–1975	Serialized in Hana to Yume Published by Hakusensha in 4 volumes	[13]
Metamorphosis Den [ja] (メタモルフォシス伝)	1976	Serialized in Hana to Yume Published by Hakusensha in 2 volumes	[14][15][16]
Yōsei-ō [ja] (妖精王)	1977–1978	Serialized in Hana to Yume Published by Hakusensha in 5 volumes Adapted into an OVA by Madhouse in 1988	[17][18]
Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi (日出処の天子)	1980–1984	Serialized in LaLa Published by Hakusensha in 11 volumes Based on the life of Prince Shōtoku	[19]
Yamato Takeru (ヤマトタケル)	1986–1987	Serialized in Monthly Asuka Published by Kadokawa Shoten in 1 volume Based on the kabuki play by Takeshi Umehara	[20][21]
Fūin (封印)	1994–1995	Serialized in LaLa Published by Hakusensha in 2 volumes Re-released as Tutankhamun volumes 1–2	[22][23]
Tutankhamun (ツタンカーメン)	1996–1997	Serialized in Comic Tom [ja] Published by Ushio Publishing [ja] in 2 volumes Combined with Fūin for a total of 4 volumes	[22][23]
Oni (鬼)	1995–1996	Serialized in Comic Tom Published by Ushio Publishing in 1 volume	[24][25]
Ao no Jidai [ja] (青青の時代)	1998–2000	Serialized in Comic Tom Plus Published by Ushio Publishing in 4 volumes	[26]
Hakuganshi (白眼子)	2000	Serialized in Comic Tom Plus Published by Ushio Publishing in 1 volume	[27][28]
Maihime Terpsichora (舞姫 テレプシコーラ)	2000–2006	Serialized in Da Vinci Published by Media Factory in 10 volumes	[29][30]
Maihime Terpsichora: Part 2 (舞姫 テレプシコーラ（第2部）)	2007–2010	Serialized in Da Vinci Published by Media Factory in 5 volumes	[29][30]
Wilis (ヴィリ)	2006–2007	Serialized in Da Vinci Published by Media Factory in 1 volume	[31][32]
Kesaran Pasaran (ケサラン・パサラン)	2011–2012	Serialized in Da Vinci Published by Media Factory in 2 volumes	[33][34]
Revelation: Keiji (レベレーション（啓示）)	2014–2020	Serialized in Morning Published by Kodansha in 6 volumes Based on the life of Joan of Arc	[35][36]

Selected one-shots

List of selected one-shot manga by Ryoko Yamagishi

Title	Year	Notes	Ref(s)
Left and Right (レフトアンドライト)	1969	Published in Ribon Comic Debut work	[3][37]
Shiroi Heya no Futari (白い部屋のふたり)	1971	Published in Ribon Comic First manga to portray a lesbian relationship	[5][38]
Ame to Cosmos (雨とコスモス)	1971	Published in Ribon	[39]
Siren (セイレーン)	1977	Published in Hana to Yume	[40]
Pupe Shimōnu (プぺ・シモーヌ)	1977	Published in Hana to Yume	[40]
Harpy (ハーピー)	1978	Published in Petit Comic
Kuro no Helen (黒のヘレネ―)	1979	Published in Hana to Yume Based on the story of Helen of Troy	[41]
Yasha Gozen (夜叉御前)	1982	Published in Petit Comic	[42]
Hiruko (蛭子)	1985	Published in Petit Flower

Art books

List of art books by Ryoko Yamagishi

No.	Title	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN
1	Yamagishi Ryōko Gashū: Terasu (山岸凉子画集 光)	September 27, 2016 (2016-09-27)[43][44]	978-4-309-27755-4
Released in conjunction with Yamagishi's first full-scale art exhibition at the Yayoi Museum [ja] in Tokyo.[45]
2	Yamagishi Ryōko Genga-shū: Kanaderu (山岸凉子原画集 奏)	March 2020 (2020-03)[46][47]	—
Released in celebration of Yamagishi's 50th anniversary as a manga artist. Includes 20 art reproductions, printed from high quality, color corrected scans of the originals, stored in a cloth-lined box.[46]