Naoko Takeuchi

Naoko Takeuchi (born March 15, 1967) is a Japanese manga artist, most famous for creating *Sailor Moon*, a series that became one of the most popular manga ever. She won the 1993 Kodansha Manga Award for *Sailor Moon*. She is married to Yoshihiro Togashi, the creator of *YuYu Hakusho* and *Hunter × Hunter*. Takeuchi was born in Kofu, Yamanashi, to Kenji and Ikuko Takeuchi, and has a younger brother named Shingo. She later gave her relatives’ names to *Sailor Moon* characters, a detail she mentioned in interviews and comic strips that replaced author notes. She attended Kofu Ichi High School, where she wore a sailor uniform and joined both the astronomy and manga clubs. These experiences shaped her work on *Sailor Moon* and earlier pieces like *Love Call* and *Rain Kiss*. Her father encouraged her to have a backup plan, so she studied chemistry at Kyoritsu College of Pharmacy, earning a degree and becoming a licensed pharmacist. Her senior thesis was titled “Heightened Effects of Thrombolytic Actions Due to Ultrasound.”

At age 19, Takeuchi entered the manga industry by submitting *Love Call* to Kodansha, winning Nakayoshi’s New Artist award. She created one-shot works until her first serial, *Maria*, ran in Nakayoshi from early to mid-1990. It was loosely based on Jean Webster’s novel *Daddy-Long-Legs* and co-written with her friend Marie Koizumi. After *Maria*, she worked on the ice-skating series *The Cherry Project* (1990–1991). While doing so, she wanted to make a manga about outer space and girl fighters. Her editor, Fumio Osano, suggested putting the fighters in sailor suits. This became the one-shot *Codename: Sailor V*, later serialized in *RunRun*. When Toei Animation planned an anime adaptation, she reworked *Sailor V* and added four more heroines. In December 1991, *Sailor Moon* began serialization in Nakayoshi and became an instant hit. Takeuchi worked on both *Sailor Moon* and *Sailor V* from 1991 to 1997, producing 60 chapters collected in 18 volumes. The success led to a 200-episode anime, three films, video games, and merchandise. *RunRun* was canceled in November 1997, ending plans for a *Sailor V* anime. She also interviewed *Silent Möbius* creator Kia Asamiya. After the series ended, she worked on *PQ Angels* for Nakayoshi, which was popular but canceled when Kodansha lost seven pages of her manuscript. Takeuchi believed Toei Animation had the pages, making an anime adaptation possible. She founded her own studio, “Princess Naoko Planning” (PNP), to manage her properties, mainly *Sailor Moon*. PNP later handled Yoshihiro Togashi’s work and appeared in credits for anime like *Level E* and *Hunter × Hunter*, as well as musical credits for *Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu*. After the *PQ Angels* manuscript loss, Osano left Kodansha, and plans for the *Materials Collection* were canceled. Takeuchi moved from Kodansha to Shueisha. On August 13, 1998, she made her first U.S. appearance at San Diego Comic-Con for three days. That year, she published the *Sailor Moon Infinity Collection Art Book* in limited release. While working on her short comic strip *Princess Naoko Takeuchi Back-to-Work Punch!!*, she met Yoshihiro Togashi at a *Weekly Shōnen Jump* meeting hosted by Kazushi Hagiwara, with voice actress Megumi Ogata arranging the meeting. She assisted Togashi as a screentone helper and manager on volume 1 of *Hunter × Hunter*, but the demands proved too heavy, and she left Shueisha. Around this time, she conceived a one-shot called *Toki☆Meka*, which became *Toki☆Meca*. Togashi had a similar idea but never fully developed it; he helped by drawing concept sketches, which Takeuchi included in *Toki☆Meca* volume 1. They married in 1999 and have two children: a son born in January 2001 and a daughter born in 2009. After Kodansha’s rights to *Sailor Moon* expired, Takeuchi returned to the publisher in 1999 to develop and release the *Materials Collection*. She also began serializing *Love Witch*, but it was canceled. She worked on reprints of *Sailor Moon* and *Sailor V*, and published *Toki☆Meca* in Nakayoshi. In 2003, she became heavily involved in producing *Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon*, a tokusatsu TV series based on her manga, as she wanted to learn more about the anime industry. The series had a plot closely following the manga and explored themes the manga couldn’t cover.