矢沢 あい (a.k.a. Ai Yazawa)

Ai YAZAWA (矢沢あい) is a Japanese manga author. Her pen name comes from Japanese singer Eikichi Yazawa, of whom she is a fan.

Yazawa started her manga publishing life in 1985; throughout 15 years of publishing, she wrote over ten series on Ribon magazine. While most of her manga continues to be published in Japan by Shueisha, publishers of Ribon and Cookie (in which Nana is serialized), series like Paradise Kiss now appear in other magazines such as Zipper, published by Shodensha.

Yazawa's most famous manga include Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (I'm Not an Angel), Gokinjo Monogatari (Neighborhood Story), Paradise Kiss, and Nana.

In 2003, she was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award for Nana.

Some of her manga works were made into anime, and live action moves too.

Yazawa's works are most popular among women and young girls. The storylines generally are centered on young women and their relationships, something with which her young fanbase identifies. The characters are always very stylish, and she is known especially for her hip sense of fashion. Yazawa herself attended a fashion school after high school but did not complete her studies there. Another key point is her strikingly unique, often rebellious characters, who tend to be juxtaposed against the more traditional ones.

She has also published three artbooks.

Works (in chronological order)

15-nenme (1986)

Love Letter (1987)

Kaze ni Nare! (1988)

Escape (1988)

Ballad Made Soba ni Ite (1989, 2 volumes)

Marine Blue no Kaze ni Dakarete (1990–1991, 4 volumes)

Usubeni no Arashi (1992)

Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (1992–1995, 8 volumes)

Gokinjo Monogatari (1995–1998, 7 volumes)

Kagen no Tsuki (1998–1999, 3 volumes)

Paradise Kiss (2000–2004, 5 volumes, published by Shodensha)

Nana (2000–ongoing, 21 volumes - on hiatus)

Princess Ai (2004–2006, 3 volumes) (character designs only)