Robico
Description
Robico is a Japanese manga artist from Kagoshima Prefecture, born on October 8. The creator works primarily in the shōjo genre and is best known for the internationally successful series My Little Monster. Robico is a pen name adopted to preserve their privacy, and it was inspired by the name of a pet they once had.
Robico attended a vocational school with the intention of becoming an illustrator. The professional manga career began in 2005 with the publication of the short story Demekinikku in the May edition of Kodansha's Dessert magazine, which served as an official debut. Following this, several other short works and serializations were produced, including the two-volume series Himikoi from 2007 to 2008.
The breakthrough came with Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, known in English as My Little Monster. Serialized in Dessert from 2008 to 2013, the story follows the relationship between the studious Shizuku Mizutani and the volatile and socially inexperienced Haru Yoshida. The series proved to be a major commercial and critical success, with its popularity extending to audiences outside of Japan. A thirteen-episode anime adaptation of My Little Monster was produced and aired in 2012, bringing the story to a wider audience. A live-action film adaptation of the manga was later released in 2018.
Following the conclusion of My Little Monster, Robico began a new serialization in Dessert titled Boku to Kimi no Taisetsu na Hanashi, or Our Precious Conversations, which ran from 2015 to 2019. This series shifted focus from the dramatic tension of the previous work to center more directly on the dialogue and humorous interactions between its characters, a choice reportedly made in response to reader feedback about what they most enjoyed. In 2020, Our Precious Conversations was awarded the 44th Annual Kodansha Manga Award in the Best Shōjo Manga category.
Beyond original serializations, Robico has contributed one-shot stories to various publications, including Skip! Yamada-kun in 2014, a collaboration with writer Tsugumi Ohba. In the anime industry, Robico has provided the original character designs for the 2021 series Backflip!!, which focuses on a high school boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. An exhibition of original art from several of Robico's works was held in Tokyo in 2019.
Regarding artistic identity, Robico has cited Yoshihiro Togashi, the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter, as a significant influence. The working process typically involves a month-long cycle per chapter, beginning with meetings with an editor to plan the story, followed by storyboarding and final drawing. In a 2017 interview at the Barcelona Manga Salon, Robico expressed a preference for maintaining a private personal life, which was the reason given for using a pseudonym and for requesting not to be photographed at the event.
Robico attended a vocational school with the intention of becoming an illustrator. The professional manga career began in 2005 with the publication of the short story Demekinikku in the May edition of Kodansha's Dessert magazine, which served as an official debut. Following this, several other short works and serializations were produced, including the two-volume series Himikoi from 2007 to 2008.
The breakthrough came with Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, known in English as My Little Monster. Serialized in Dessert from 2008 to 2013, the story follows the relationship between the studious Shizuku Mizutani and the volatile and socially inexperienced Haru Yoshida. The series proved to be a major commercial and critical success, with its popularity extending to audiences outside of Japan. A thirteen-episode anime adaptation of My Little Monster was produced and aired in 2012, bringing the story to a wider audience. A live-action film adaptation of the manga was later released in 2018.
Following the conclusion of My Little Monster, Robico began a new serialization in Dessert titled Boku to Kimi no Taisetsu na Hanashi, or Our Precious Conversations, which ran from 2015 to 2019. This series shifted focus from the dramatic tension of the previous work to center more directly on the dialogue and humorous interactions between its characters, a choice reportedly made in response to reader feedback about what they most enjoyed. In 2020, Our Precious Conversations was awarded the 44th Annual Kodansha Manga Award in the Best Shōjo Manga category.
Beyond original serializations, Robico has contributed one-shot stories to various publications, including Skip! Yamada-kun in 2014, a collaboration with writer Tsugumi Ohba. In the anime industry, Robico has provided the original character designs for the 2021 series Backflip!!, which focuses on a high school boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. An exhibition of original art from several of Robico's works was held in Tokyo in 2019.
Regarding artistic identity, Robico has cited Yoshihiro Togashi, the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter, as a significant influence. The working process typically involves a month-long cycle per chapter, beginning with meetings with an editor to plan the story, followed by storyboarding and final drawing. In a 2017 interview at the Barcelona Manga Salon, Robico expressed a preference for maintaining a private personal life, which was the reason given for using a pseudonym and for requesting not to be photographed at the event.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview