Aya Kanno
Description
Aya Kanno is a Japanese manga artist born on January 30, 1980, in Tokyo. She began her career as an assistant to Masashi Asaki, the creator of Psychometrer Eiji, before making her professional debut in 2001 with the fantasy-action series Soul Rescue, published in Hakusensha’s shōjo magazine Hana to Yume. Throughout her career, Kanno has primarily published her work in Hakusensha’s shōjo manga anthologies, including Hana to Yume, The Hana to Yume, Hana to Yume Plus, and Bessatsu Hana to Yume.
Kanno is the creator of several notable manga series. Following Soul Rescue, she produced works such as Kokoro ni Hana wo!!, Hokusō Shinsengumi, and Kōtetsu no Hana, before writing the science fiction thriller Blank Slate from 2005 to 2006. She achieved widespread recognition for Otomen, a romantic comedy that ran from 2006 to 2012. The series was adapted into a live-action television drama in 2009. After Otomen, she created the short series Makoto no Kuni in 2013. Her most recent major work is Requiem of the Rose King, a historical dark fantasy based on William Shakespeare’s Richard III and the Henry VI trilogy, which was serialized from 2013 to 2022. This series was adapted into an anime television series by J.C.Staff in 2022.
In an interview, Kanno has discussed her thematic interests, noting a tendency to incorporate wartime settings in her work, which she explained as an expression of the feeling of wanting to fight against something. She has also shown a sustained interest in gender identity, a theme explored in both the comedy Otomen and the more serious Requiem of the Rose King. Regarding the latter, she made the creative decision to portray the historical Richard III as intersex, drawing from concepts of androgyny in Greek myth. Kanno has expressed skepticism toward what she calls general definitions of ordinary morals, and gender identity is one of the topics through which she explores this. While Otomen is lighter in tone, Kanno has stated that she has always enjoyed comedy as much as serious stories and created that series to be more accessible to a wider audience. Her body of work demonstrates a range across genres, including historical drama, science fiction thriller, and romantic comedy.
Kanno is the creator of several notable manga series. Following Soul Rescue, she produced works such as Kokoro ni Hana wo!!, Hokusō Shinsengumi, and Kōtetsu no Hana, before writing the science fiction thriller Blank Slate from 2005 to 2006. She achieved widespread recognition for Otomen, a romantic comedy that ran from 2006 to 2012. The series was adapted into a live-action television drama in 2009. After Otomen, she created the short series Makoto no Kuni in 2013. Her most recent major work is Requiem of the Rose King, a historical dark fantasy based on William Shakespeare’s Richard III and the Henry VI trilogy, which was serialized from 2013 to 2022. This series was adapted into an anime television series by J.C.Staff in 2022.
In an interview, Kanno has discussed her thematic interests, noting a tendency to incorporate wartime settings in her work, which she explained as an expression of the feeling of wanting to fight against something. She has also shown a sustained interest in gender identity, a theme explored in both the comedy Otomen and the more serious Requiem of the Rose King. Regarding the latter, she made the creative decision to portray the historical Richard III as intersex, drawing from concepts of androgyny in Greek myth. Kanno has expressed skepticism toward what she calls general definitions of ordinary morals, and gender identity is one of the topics through which she explores this. While Otomen is lighter in tone, Kanno has stated that she has always enjoyed comedy as much as serious stories and created that series to be more accessible to a wider audience. Her body of work demonstrates a range across genres, including historical drama, science fiction thriller, and romantic comedy.
Works
- Topics: Manga overview