Yuu Watase


Yuu Watase is a Japanese shōjo manga artist. Watase received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo for Ceres, Celestial Legend in 1997. Watase debuted at the age of eighteen with the short story "Pajama de Ojama", and has since created more than 80 compiled volumes of short stories and continuing series. In October 2008, Watase began their first shōnen serialization, in Weekly Shōnen Sunday.
Their name is romanized as "Yû Watase" in earlier printings of Viz Media's publications of Fushigi Yūgi, Alice 19th, and Ceres, Celestial Legend, while in Viz Media's Fushigi Yūgi Genbu Kaiden and Absolute Boyfriend their name is romanized as "Yuu Watase". In Chuang Yi's English-language versions of Fushigi Yugi, their name is romanized as "Yu Watase". Yuu Watase is a pen name. They chose "Yuu" because they liked the name.
In May 2019, Watase came out as x-gender, a Japanese non-binary gender identity.

Early Career and Methods

Watase developed an interest in drawing manga at a young age. However, Watase did not receive any formal training until after high school when they went to a private art school. There they were taught how to draw manga, but because their first short story, "Pajama de Ojama", had already debuted, Watase quit in the middle of it.
Watase prefers to work with more traditional methods, because they feel the traditional methods have more feelings. Despite finding new media jarring, Watase has expressed a desire to work with new media as well. While Watase mostly works with colored inks and markers, they have used digital programs such as Photoshop to enhance traditional work.

Issues in Career

In a blog post, Watase detailed some of the issues that they faced as a manga artist. A former editor for Arata: The Legend continuously asked Watase to redraw scenes that he did not like or understand. It got to the point that Watase was doing redraws all day and pulling late nights just to meet the next morning's deadlines. Because of the constant cycle, Watase began to lose interest in working on the manga for the fans or even the story. They were simply working to try and get it approved for the weekly publication.

Works

Watase Yuu Flower Comics

  1. Gomen Asobase!
  2. Magical
  3. Otenami Haiken!
  4. Suna no Tiara
  5. Mint de Kiss Me

    YuuTopia Collection

  6. Oishii Study
  7. Musubiya Nanako

    Yuu Watase Best Selection

  8. Sunde ni Touch
  9. Perfect Lovers

    Watase Yuu Flower Comics Deluxe, Kanzenban, Shogakukan Bunko

Bunko Ban

  1. Shishunki Miman Okotowari
  2. Shishunki Miman Okotowari/Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari
  3. Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari
  4. Pajama de Ojama
  5. Mint de Kiss Me
  6. Epotoransu! Mai

    Artbooks