Naoko Takeuchi

Naoko Takeuchi (武内 直子) is a Japanese manga artist.

She is best known as the author of Sailor Moon, one of the most popular manga series of all time.

This work, Takeuchi's first serial comic, was loosely based on Jean Webster's 1912 novel Daddy-Long-Legs and on her friend Marie Koizumi, who helped write it.

She worked steadily on one-shot pieces until writing Maria, which was published in Nakayoshi from early to mid-1990.

After completing Maria, Takeuchi worked on the ice-skating series The Cherry Project, which was serialized in Nakayoshi from late 1990 to 1991.

While working on The Cherry Project, Takeuchi wanted to do a manga on outer space and girl fighters.

Her editor, Fumio Osano, asked her to put the fighters in sailor suits.

This concept would later become a one-shot called Codename: Sailor V, which would later begin serialization in RunRun.

When Toei Animation planned to adapt her manga into an anime series, she reworked Sailor V and added four other superheroines.

In December 1991, Nakayoshi began serializing Sailor Moon, which became an instant hit.

The success encouraged Takeuchi to work on both Sailor Moon and Sailor V from 1991 to 1997.

She has won several awards, including the 1993 Kodansha Manga Award for Sailor Moon.

Takeuchi is married to Yoshihiro Togashi, the author of YuYu Hakusho and Hunter × Hunter.

Takeuchi was born in Kofu, Yamanashi, Japan, to parents Kenji and Ikuko Takeuchi.

She has a younger brother, Shingo.

She gave the names of her relatives to the characters she created for Sailor Moon, and mentions this in interviews and in several comic strips she produced, in place of author notes.

Takeuchi attended Kofu Ichi High School.

She wore a seifuku and joined the astronomy and manga clubs.

These experiences influenced her work for Sailor Moon, in addition to her other pieces, such as Love Call and Rain Kiss.

Her formative high school experiences influenced her trajectory to become a manga artist.

Takeuchi's father encouraged her to pursue other career paths, in case she wouldn't find success as a professional artist, which is why she attended university to study chemistry.

Takeuchi graduated from the Kyoritsu College of Pharmacy, where she received a degree in chemistry and became a licensed pharmacist.

Her senior thesis was called "Heightened Effects of Thrombolytic Actions Due to Ultrasound".

After graduating from the Kyoritsu College of Pharmacy, at the age of 19, Takeuchi entered the manga industry by submitting her work Love Call to Kodansha; Takeuchi received Nakayoshi's New Artist award for Love Call.

However, RunRun was canceled with the November 1997 issue, and the planned Sailor V anime adaptation was canceled along with it.

During that six-year period, she produced 60 chapters, which were collected in 18 volumes.

The success of the manga led to a 200-episode anime adaptation, three animated films, numerous video games, and wide-ranging merchandising.

She had an interview with Silent Möbius creator, Kia Asamiya.

At the series' end, Takeuchi worked on PQ Angels for Nakayoshi.

This gained a fair amount of popularity, but was canceled due to Kodansha losing seven pages of her manuscript.

Takeuchi said that Toei Animation had the manuscript, therefore it would have been possible to create an anime adaptation of the series.

Takeuchi's own studio is called "Princess Naoko Planning" (PNP).

Takeuchi established PNP to manage her properties, mainly Sailor Moon.

The studio later encompassed Yoshihiro Togashi's work as well and appeared in the credits for such anime as Level E and Hunter × Hunter.

Its name also appears on the musical credits for Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu and other projects.

Following the loss of seven pages of Takeuchi's PQ Angels manuscript, Osano departed Kodansha and the plans for the Materials Collection were canceled.

Takeuchi departed Kodansha for Shueisha.

On August 13, 1998, Takeuchi made her first appearance in the United States at the San Diego Comic-Con International convention for three days.

That same year, she published the first Sailor Moon artbook since her departure from Kodansha, Sailor Moon Infinity Collection Art Book with limited releases.

While working on her short comic strip Princess Naoko Takeuchi Back-to-Work Punch!!, Takeuchi met Yoshihiro Togashi at a Weekly Shōnen Jump meeting hosted by Kazushi Hagiwara, and had a meeting arranged between them by voice actress Megumi Ogata.