Arina Tanemura

is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and character designer. She made her professional manga debut in 1996 with the one-shot The Style of the Second Love in the shōjo manga magazine Ribon Original and later published her first series, I.O.N, in 1997, in the main Ribon magazine. She gained mainstream popularity from the late 1990s to mid-2000s with her series Phantom Thief Jeanne, Full Moon o Sagashite, and The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross.

Throughout her career, Tanemura's work has been recognized in shōjo manga for her art style and themes of young girls transforming into the women they would like to become. In addition to her publications, Tanemura has released two independent studio albums of songs based on her characters and is the character designer for Idolish7 and other media projects.

Early life Arina Tanemura was born on March 12, 1978. Tanemura grew up in Aichi Prefecture. Her main source of entertainment was manga magazines because her local television stations only ran re-runs of older anime series, and she was unable to watch new shows. When she was in nursery school, her mother would often buy manga magazines aimed at an older female demographic, such as Bessatsu Margaret, Bessatsu Friend, and Bessatsu Shōjo Comic. Her older brother, on the other hand, often read Weekly Shonen Jump. and she mostly drew female characters. Despite being published in a sister magazine of the main Ribon, Tanemura stated that the story received positive feedback, and that she received 500 fan letters after it was serialized.

1998–2011: Mainstream popularity

From 1998 to 2000, Tanemura worked on Phantom Thief Jeanne. After Phantom Thief Jeanne ended, Tanemura followed up with Time Stranger Kyoko, she was forced to end it after a year with 12 chapters. Due to the negative feedback from Time Stranger Kyoko, this time, she gave the protagonist a subdued personality. For Full Moon o Sagashite, Tanemura also recorded a cover version of Changin' My Life's "Smile" titled "Smile (Arina's Vocal Version)", which was released on the soundtrack album Full Moon o Sagashite: Full Moon Final Live.

In 2004, Tanemura published The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross, which ran in Ribon until 2008. Later in 2008, she launched Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura.

From 2008 to 2009, Tanemura hosted her own online radio program, Tanemura Arina de Kyan: Manga Seminar, on Niconico Douga. While she had written lyrics to songs before, the CD project had come from her desire to write lyrics without having them altered by professional lyricists. After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Tanemura contributed to a dōjinshi anthology with other manga artists that was sold for charity efforts. From July to November 2011, she launched Fudanjuku Monogatari in Margaret, a manga adaptation featuring fictional portrayals of the idol girl group Fudanjuku. In November 2011, Tanemura ended her exclusive contract with Ribon to work freelance, her last work with the magazine being Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura, which concluded in 2012. On March 23, 2013, Tanemura released her second album, Princess Tiara, on an independent record label, composed of theme songs performed by her based on her characters. In October 2015, Tanemura collaborated with Yui Kikuta, one of her former assistants, to create the manga series Shunkan Lyle, which ran in Monthly Comic Zero Sum. In 2025, Tanemura provided the CD jacket illustration to Yena's extended play Blooming Wings.

Artistry and themes

Tanemura said she drew influences from shōjo manga from her childhood, particularly comedy stories such as Tokimeki Tonight and Chibi Maruko-chan, Tanemura also primarily draws artwork without the use of digital tools and she illustrates using Dr. Ph. Martin coloring ink. The clothing featured in her works are inspired by clothing that she personally owns. Tanemura drew a reversal of this theme for Idol Dreams, where the main protagonist transforms into the young girl she had wanted to be, to appeal to fans who had grown up with her work.

The influence of idol singers is another theme present in Tanemura's works. Tanemura, a fan of Hello! Project groups such as Morning Musume and Berryz Kobo, had modeled the protagonist of Full Moon o Sagashite using then-Morning Musume member Ai Kago's corkscrew hairstyle. Tanemura stated that she is also a fan of Fudanjuku and actively follows their career; She stated her stories were not meant to deliver a specific message to young women and that they were for everyone to enjoy. 1998 Phantom Thief Jeanne Ribon 2000 Time Stranger Kyoko Ribon 2008 Mistress Fortune Ribon 2011 Margaret 2013 Margaret 2013 Idol Dreams Melody 2015 Monthly Comic Zero Sum As writer 2016 Margaret 2016 Idolish7 Trigger: Before the Radiant Glory LaLa DX 2016 LaLa DX 2017 LaLa DX One-shot 2017 Idolish7: Re:member LaLa DX 2017 LaLa DX

Anthologies

Comic essays

Illustrations

Other works

Voice acting credits Year Title Role Notes 2004The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross Maora Ichinomiya, Postman Drama CD

Radio programs

Non-publication illustrations

Year Title Notes 2019Yuki no Hana Visual artwork Short comic in commercial for Shiseido's Tsubaki hair products 2020 Short comic for Meiji's Sunny Milk Chocolate

Discography

Studio albums

Title Year Peak chart positions Sales JPNOricon JPNHot Released: December 29, 2010 Label: — Format: CD — — — Princess Tiara Released: March 3, 2013 Label: Treasure of Music Format: CD — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Soundtrack appearances

Title Year Peak chart positions Sales AlbumJPN "Smile (Arina's Vocal Version)" 2005 — — Full Moon o Sagashite: Full Moon Final Live "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.