Suzue Miuchi is a highly influential Japanese manga artist whose career spans over five decades. She was born on February 20, 1951, in Nishinomiya, located within the Osaka Prefecture of Japan. Demonstrating an early passion for drawing, she made her professional debut as a manga creator in 1967 at the age of sixteen with the short story Yama no Tsuki to Kodanuki, which was published in the shōjo magazine Margaret. This early start in the industry served as an inspiration for other aspiring artists of her generation.

Miuchi is best known as the creator of the landmark series Glass Mask, known in Japanese as Glass no Kamen. She began serializing this story in the magazine Hana to Yume in 1976, and the series has continued for decades, becoming one of the longest-running and most respected titles in shōjo manga. The series follows the journey of a young girl named Maya Kitajima as she pursues her dream of becoming a great stage actress. It is renowned for its deep exploration of theatrical performance, including references to real-world acting methods like the Stanislavski system and for featuring a fictional play-within-the-story called The Crimson Goddess. In Japan, the work is often referred to as a "actress's bible" for its detailed portrayal of the craft. Glass Mask has earned numerous accolades, including the prestigious Japan Cartoonists Association Award in 1995.

Beyond her most famous work, Miuchi has created a diverse body of work that spans multiple genres. In the early 1970s, she published several short stories and series that included horror titles, with her 1975 short story Shiroi Kagebōshi being considered a classic of shōjo horror manga. Her other notable series include the historical fantasy Youkihi-den, for which she won the Kodansha Manga Award in 1982, and Amaterasu, a series based on Japanese mythology and the ancient chronicle Kojiki. These works demonstrate a willingness to move beyond romance and explore darker themes and historical narratives.

Miuchi has seen her creations adapted into various media numerous times. Glass Mask has been adapted into two separate television anime series, the first in 1984 and a remake that aired from 2005 to 2006. It has also been produced as a live-action television series on two separate occasions, as a stage play, and as an original video animation series. In a unique and notable adaptation, the parody anime series Glass no Kamen Desu ga was produced by the Flash animation studio DLE in 2013. This series reimagined the characters in a comedic setting as delinquent gang members. This parody was followed by an anime film, Glass no Kamen Desu ga the Movie Onna Spy no Koi! Murasaki no Bara wa Kiken na Kaori!?, which further transformed the cast into international spies who use "super acting" as their weapon. These comedic reinterpretations, while a departure from the source material, officially credit Miuchi as the original creator.

Suzue Miuchi is considered a seminal figure in the history of shōjo manga and is often identified as a member of the Year 24 Group, also known as the Flower 24 Group. This was a collective of pioneering female artists who, starting in the 1970s, revolutionized the genre by introducing complex psychological themes, literary depth, and experimental panel layouts. Her serious and dedicated approach to storytelling, combined with her ability to sustain a complex narrative like Glass Mask over many years, has cemented her legacy as one of the great masters of the medium. Her work, particularly Glass Mask, has inspired countless other manga artists and remains deeply influential in both Japanese popular culture and the global perception of shōjo manga.