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Akimi Yoshida
Kisshou Tennyo, a supernatural horror story, ran from March 1983 to July 1984 in Betsucomi, and was collected into four volumes of manga. Following this success, Yoshida-san then published the first installment of Banana Fish in the May 1985 issue of Betsucomi. Banana Fish instantly became wildly popular, and its popularity continued even after its final installment in April 1994. Banana Fish was originally collected into nineteen tankoubon, but Yoshida also published a collection of spin-off stories in one volume, Private Opinion, that also proved to be a bestseller. She also published Angel Eyes, a collection of special illustrations from Banana Fish, which was actually saturated with fanservice for Ash fangirls. Akimi Yoshida's other popular manga series is YASHA, of which I know nothing about except that it apparently stars two bishounen with great hair. Judging from the title, however, I'm guessing that there's something supernatural involved in the story? YASHA began its run in the July 1996 issue of Betsucomi, switched to Flowers in June 2002, and finally concluded in August that same year, ultimately spanning a total length of twelve tankouban. Akimi Yoshida is also famous for her series Lover's Kiss, which also ran in Betsucomi from April 1995 to February 1996. Yoshida's next manga serial, Eve no Nemuri (subtitled YASHA the Next Generation), began its run in the August 2003 issue of Shougakukan's monthly manga magazine Flowers. I believe that Eve no Nemuri finished its run in 2005 after spanning five collected tankouban. (Or at least, the series has not appeared in Flowers for quite some time now, which makes me think that it's finished.) The back of Viz's original English editions of Banana Fish vols. 1 and 2 have a short interview with Akimi Yoshida, in which she discusses her interests and hobbies, and also why she decided to become a manga artist. Akimi Yoshida Feature ArticleThe following article is from Animerica Extra February 2003. These pages were originally scanned and posted here.
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Akimi Yoshida published her first short manga story, Chotto Fushigina Geshukunin ("A Slightly Strange Neighbor") in the March 1977 issue of Bessatsu Shoujo Comic (Betsucomi) magazine. Since then, she has published, well, a whole lot of stuff. Yoshida seems to be best known for her famous serials Kisshou Tennyo, Lover's Kiss, Banana Fish, and YASHA.
