Yumiko Shirai

Yumiko Shirai (; born ) is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known for her manga Wombs, winner of the 2017 Nihon SF Taisho Award.

Biography Born in Ehime Prefecture, Yumiko Shirai is a graduate of the Kyoto City University of Arts and the Oil Painting Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts. It was then published as a magazine by Sanctuary Publishing in 2008.

From 2009 onwards Yumiko Shirai created the manga Wombs, published as a monthly series in the pre-publication magazine Monthly Ikki by Shogakukan. Following the magazine's demise, Wombs continued to be published online, and the author took five years to deliver the fifth and final volume. In 2010, Wombs was included in the jury selection for the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival in the maga category.

From 2013 to 2015 she published a new series, Rafnas, in the magazine Monthly Action from Futabasha, which was in turn part of the jury's selection for the manga category.

In 2017 Wombs was awarded the 37th Nihon SF Taisho Award joining the exclusive club of manga to have received this prize, which rewards a work of SF from all the arts.

In 2017 Yumiko Shirai became a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan.

In 2020, Yumiko Shirai began publishing a series entitled Wombs Cradle, a prequel to Wombs, which was published on publisher Futabasha's pre-publication website.

In 2021 the Wombs series was translated and published in French by and was met with a positive reception, with critics noting that the manga renewed the themes of science fiction.

Techniques and influences Yumiko Shirai creates her sketches on paper before finalising them using graphics software such as Painter, Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint. Shirai said she was influenced by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's manga Arion, but also by authors such as Moto Hagio, Yumiko Oshima and Mutsumi Hagiiwa.

Works

Books

« Tenken Festival » (Éditions Sanctuaire, 30 juillet 2008,) Wombs, Shogakukan, Ikki Comix, 5 volumes in total 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, Yumiko Shirai Early Shorts, Shogakukan, Ikki Comix, 2010, Rafnas, Futabasha, Action Comics, 2 volumes in total 2014 2015 Lune de miel d'Iwa et Niki, Akita Shoten, Bonita Comics, 2017, Osaka Circular Barrier City, éditions Akita Shoten, Bonita Comics, 3 volumes 2018 2019 2019 Wombs cradle, éditions Futabasha, Action Comics, 2 tomes au total 2021 2021

Anthologies

Shinichi Hoshi, Akita Shoten, 2012, ,

Illustration works

Dolly Ito (Iwasaki Shoten, 2003, Heisei Rumor Kaidan 5, Le chat noir revenant de l'enfer d'Iwasaki Shoten, 2003, Kanata the Fox Whistle, Rironsha éditions, 2003,