Eku Takeshima
Description
Eku Takeshima is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator known for creating works in the yuri genre. Born on April 23 in Okayama Prefecture, Takeshima maintains a private personal life, with little additional biographical information publicly available. The creator began professional activities in the mid-2010s, with early credits including illustrations for the light novel series Saiko Hunter Ryu in 2014. Takeshima's first manga serialization was Hare no Kuni no Apparedan, published in Comic Yuri Hime in 2017 and set in the creator's native Okayama. Subsequent work included the manga adaptation of the visual novel Nora, Princess, and Stray Cat.
Takeshima is best known as the creator of Whisper Me a Love Song (Sasayaku You ni Koi o Utau), a yuri romance manga that began serialization in Ichijinsha's Comic Yuri Hime magazine in February 2019. The series follows the relationship between high school student Himari Kino and senior Yori Asanagi, a guitarist and vocalist whom Himari admires after a band performance. Whisper Me a Love Song achieved commercial success, with cumulative sales exceeding one million copies, and has been translated into multiple languages including English, where it is published by Kodansha Comics. The manga has received numerous accolades, including first place in the Yuri Manga Awards in 2020 and subsequent top rankings in the annual Yuri Manga General Election in multiple categories.
An anime television series adaptation of Whisper Me a Love Song was produced by Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory, originally announced in January 2023. The series aired from April to December 2024, with direction by Akira Mano and scripts by Hiroki Uchida. The adaptation experienced production delays during its broadcast run, and the planned Blu-ray release was subsequently canceled.
Beyond Whisper Me a Love Song, Takeshima has contributed numerous short stories to yuri anthologies, many of which were collected in the 2018 volume Kimi ni Sukitte Iwasetai. Takeshima has also provided illustrations for light novel series, including We Can't Become Lovers, Absolutely Not (※It Seems Possible?), which began publication in 2020, and contributed character designs for the multimedia project NULL & PETA in 2019. The creator's artistic identity is closely associated with the yuri genre, with works consistently exploring romantic relationships between young women, often set against school life backdrops with minimal fantasy or supernatural elements. Takeshima's artistic style is noted for empathetic character portrayals and emotionally nuanced storytelling. In recognition of the creator's body of work, a solo exhibition titled Eku Takeshima Exhibition was held at the Kibi Kawakami Manga Museum in Okayama from October to December 2024.
Takeshima is best known as the creator of Whisper Me a Love Song (Sasayaku You ni Koi o Utau), a yuri romance manga that began serialization in Ichijinsha's Comic Yuri Hime magazine in February 2019. The series follows the relationship between high school student Himari Kino and senior Yori Asanagi, a guitarist and vocalist whom Himari admires after a band performance. Whisper Me a Love Song achieved commercial success, with cumulative sales exceeding one million copies, and has been translated into multiple languages including English, where it is published by Kodansha Comics. The manga has received numerous accolades, including first place in the Yuri Manga Awards in 2020 and subsequent top rankings in the annual Yuri Manga General Election in multiple categories.
An anime television series adaptation of Whisper Me a Love Song was produced by Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory, originally announced in January 2023. The series aired from April to December 2024, with direction by Akira Mano and scripts by Hiroki Uchida. The adaptation experienced production delays during its broadcast run, and the planned Blu-ray release was subsequently canceled.
Beyond Whisper Me a Love Song, Takeshima has contributed numerous short stories to yuri anthologies, many of which were collected in the 2018 volume Kimi ni Sukitte Iwasetai. Takeshima has also provided illustrations for light novel series, including We Can't Become Lovers, Absolutely Not (※It Seems Possible?), which began publication in 2020, and contributed character designs for the multimedia project NULL & PETA in 2019. The creator's artistic identity is closely associated with the yuri genre, with works consistently exploring romantic relationships between young women, often set against school life backdrops with minimal fantasy or supernatural elements. Takeshima's artistic style is noted for empathetic character portrayals and emotionally nuanced storytelling. In recognition of the creator's body of work, a solo exhibition titled Eku Takeshima Exhibition was held at the Kibi Kawakami Manga Museum in Okayama from October to December 2024.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview