Naoko Moto
Naoko Moto is a Japanese manga artist. Moto made her debut in the comic magazine Princess GOLD in 1985. She has been writing and publishing manga stories which are mainly set in England, in the Victorian age. Her representative works are The Corset with Wings , Lady Victorian and Faraway, Lovely Dreams .
Life and works
Born in Osaka prefecture, Moto started doujin activities from around 1982. She made debut in commercial comic magazine Princess GOLD, July issue, published by Akita Shoten, with her Sorairo tea time in 1985. After debut, she drew illustration for the books by Erika Tachihara and other writers.She started to contribute and publish her manga stories in Princess manga magazine. Several and more stories were appeared in magazines and published in tankōbon. She tried to build up her base plot and themes. Her first long and serialized manga story is Harukanari, Itoshi Roman, later published as 14 volume tankōbon, September 1992 to July 2000. The story is mysterious romance with super-natural elements, set in Japan, but the origin is in England.
Naoko Moto's second long and serialized story is Lady Victorian, published as 20 volume tankōbon, December 1998 to March 2007. Lady Victorian is the story set in Victorian age, England, where a heroine, young girl Bluebell, has the dream of working and getting success as a good governess in London. While the story tells the orphan boy Argent Gray's life of puppet of fortune. Though Argent is a man, he plays a role of a daughter of the marquis, as Lady Ethel. He finds his origin, the name and life of his true parents.
Her long and serialized story The Corset with Wings, 10 volume manga, January 2008 to January 2012, is highly evaluated. It was nominated to the 16th "Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize" and to "Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2012". This is the story of Chris whose father was died and was sent to Desdemona girls only bording school. From a world oppressed by rules, Chris grows and opens up her own future. Story set in Victorian age and Edwardian age in England.
Moto also comicalized Harlequin romance stories and published them in Harlequin magazines. Some works were published in tankōbon, and others were later published as digital comics. Naoko Moto has constantly contributed manga works to magazines and they have almost been published as tankōbon for around 40 years.
Naoko Moto introduces herself as a manga artist who mainly draws manga stories about England in around 19th century.
Selected manga list
Harukanari, Itoshi Roman, 14 volumes, Princess comics, Akita ShotenMelody and Christopher, 2 volumes, Princess comics, Akita ShotenChristmas monogatari, Princess comics, Akita ShotenHoshi no Nohara wo Yukō, Princess comics, Akita ShotenLady Victorian, 20 volumes, Princess comics, Akita ShotenDear Holmes, 2 volumes, Bonita comics, Akita ShotenThe Corset with Wings, 10 volumes, Princess comics, Akita ShotenA Tale of Riegienda, 4 volumes, Flex Comix, Drina-hime Dōwa - Queen Victoria Bōkendan, Princess comics, Akita ShotenGirflet-ryō no Hitsuji-tachi, 6 volumes, Princess comics, Akita ShotenAn to Kyōju no Rekishi-dokei, 3 volumes, Princess comics, Akita ShotenUri-watasareta Shukujo, 1 volume, Harlequin Comics Kirara. written by Annie Barrows, HarperCollins JapanTenshi ga Nozokimi, 5 volumes, Princess comics, Akita ShotenKoi no Seizu to Neko-biyori, 3 volumes, Princess comics, Akita ShotenIllustration
Hana Mmonogatari by Erika Tachihara, ShogakukanAme wo Yobu Shōjo by Arimi Yazaki, KodanshaKagami no naka no Lemon by Saori Kumi, ShueishaReception
It is not easy to find that books or specialists who directly mention her and criticize her works. Ariko Kawabata and Riko Murakami mention Moto as representative manga artist who published Victorian manga stories from 1998, along with the famous Emma by Kaoru Mori. They talk that Moto has published Lady Victorian, Corset with Wings, and Girflet-ryō no Hitsiji-tachi. at chapter 3 "Beginning and Development of Victorian manga" in the discussion "Shōjo manga and Neo-Victorianism". Kawabata and Mori talk about the artists of the Year 24 Group, Yasuko Sakata, Kaoru Mori, Akiko Hatsu, and especially Yana Toboso, who have had the relations of development of Victorian manga in Japan.Mangapedia introduces 5 Maid manga. Kawabata and Mori mention two artists in their paper, including Moto, among five.
On the other hand, Anna Maria Jones mentioned Moto's Sherlock Holmes story Dear Holmes, comparing Yana Toboso's Black Butler. in "Palimpsestuous" Attachments. While Waiyee Loh discussed in her doctorate thesis: Empire of Culture: Contemporary British and Japanese Imaginings of Victorian Britain in April, 2016. Loh mentions Moto's Lady Victorian, analyzing its depictions of the various scenes in the manga.