Fumi Yoshinaga (よしなが ふみ Yoshinaga Fumi, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist known for her shōjo and shōnen-ai works.
Fumi Yoshinaga was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1971. She attended the prestigious Keio University in Tokyo.
In an interview, she said that "I want to show the people who didn't win, whose dreams didn't come true. It is not possible for everybody to get first prize. I want my readers to understand the happiness that people can get from trying hard, going through the process, and getting frustrated."
Little is known about her personal life. She mentions that her favourite operas are those by Mozart in the author's note of Solfege.
She debuted in 1994 with The Moon and the Sandals, serialized in Hanaoto magazine, but was previously a participant in comic markets.
Of Yoshinaga's many works, several have been licensed internationally. She was also selected and exhibited as one of the "Twenty Major Manga artist Who Contributed to the World of Shōjo Manga (World War II to Present)" for Professor Masami Toku's exhibition, "Shōjo Manga: Girl Power!" at CSU-Chico.
Outside of her work with Japanese publishers, she also self-publishes original doujinshi on a regular basis, most notably for Antique Bakery. Yoshinaga has also drawn fan parodies of Slam Dunk, Rose of Versailles, and Legend of Galactic Heroes.
I love them so much, and they made my favorite Japanese sweet potato dish that I must replicate. It was also rewarding to see Shiro’s parents finally start to come around.
(Dec. 2023) You bet I have the next volume on pre order already.
(Jul. 2023) This series is honestly one of the best Manga I've read. It is such a beautiful exploration of love and life between two middle aged men that doesn't really fall into the trap of heteronormativity or performance. Yoshinaga writes of the queer experience, in some ways, better than actual queer authors. This isn't a tragedy but a celebration of life as one ages, and I just love it.
I have been counting the days for this release since the winter, that's how much this series means to me. I expect I'll be doing a complete reread soon.
It's a little funny/weird that the cover of this book has them in Halloween costumes as this volume does not include addressing a Halloween event. But hey, it's just cute to have our protagonists in different outfits and such.
These comics are still significantly focused on the recipe of the issue and that takes up a fair amount of the comic real estate. And if you're not into that, then you won't appreciate this comic.
This volume's main side event that is defining the direction of things is the coming wedding of Gilbert/Wataru and Kohinata. Spoiler alert: it's not going to happen for a year. So we're going to get to deal with weird side stories as the two get ready. Most of the comic is still about Shiro and Kenji and their day-to-day lives, but the wedding makes for a fun talking point.
I love this series so much. Getting to see Shiro’s relationship with his parents change over time, to the point where his mother actually wants to see Kenji and acknowledges how badly she treated him in the past, is really unusual to me — his parents aren’t demonized for behaving badly but their bad behavior isn’t excused, either. It’s a really human story. And of course the lead-up to Wataru and Kohinata’s wedding is every bit as funny as an anticipated. Another lovely installment of a series I always look forward to!
As charming as ever. I've read all 20 editions and as a 50+ year old lawyer, I feel like Shiro and I have grown old(er) together, facing some of the same issues with older parents and younger boyfriend. This is another solid entry in the series - with some recipes that I might one day actually cook (or find someone to co0k for me, but only if the food is one sale at a good price)