Megumi Morino
Description
Megumi Morino is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator known for creating romantic drama and comedy series primarily aimed at a shōjo audience. Her works are published by Kodansha, mainly in the magazine Dessert, and several have been adapted into other media.
Morino decided she wanted to become a manga creator at the age of ten. She initially worked as an office clerk while pursuing her artistic ambitions, submitting a manga to a shōnen magazine when she was twenty years old. Her professional debut came in 2013 with the short series My Fair Neighbor, which was serialized in Dessert. This was followed by a short story titled Doubt Me!, which was published in a special edition of Dessert between her debut and her first major serialized work.
Her first major serialization was Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty (titled Ohayou, Ibarahime in Japanese), which ran from 2015 to 2017 and was collected in six volumes. The series presents a modern, supernatural twist on the classic fairy tale, following a teenage janitor and a girl cursed with a gender-bending dream that threatens to consume her. In 2016, she also provided the illustrations for the light novel Lion-chan to Chihuahua-kun.
Morino achieved significant commercial and critical success with her next series, A Condition Called Love (Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai). The story follows Hotaru Hinase, a high school student indifferent to romance, whose life changes after an act of kindness toward a heartbroken classmate, Saki Hananoi. The manga began serialization in Dessert on December 22, 2017, and has been compiled into numerous volumes.
The popularity of A Condition Called Love led to an anime television series adaptation produced by East Fish Studio, which aired from April 4 to June 20, 2024. The anime was directed by Tomoe Makino, with scripts by Hitomi Amamiya and music by Yamazo. This adaptation brought Morino's work to a wider audience, cementing her status as a notable creator in the romance genre.
Recurring themes in Morino's work include the exploration of personal trauma, family problems, and the healing nature of relationships. Her debut, My Fair Neighbor, deals with a character's suicidal past and the search for forgiveness, while Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty uses a supernatural premise to explore a character's isolation and emotional awakening. In A Condition Called Love, the male lead's intense and sometimes possessive love is rooted in childhood attachment issues stemming from neglectful parents, a theme Morino handles with nuance. Her art style is described as modern, and her stories are noted for being well-constructed and psychological, blending feel-good comedy with moments of darker, more dramatic emotion.
Megumi Morino is considered a significant voice in contemporary shōjo manga. In 2021, she won the 45th annual Kodansha Manga Award in the shōjo category for A Condition Called Love. The series has sold over 1.5 million copies in Japan, demonstrating her strong commercial appeal and influence within the industry.
Morino decided she wanted to become a manga creator at the age of ten. She initially worked as an office clerk while pursuing her artistic ambitions, submitting a manga to a shōnen magazine when she was twenty years old. Her professional debut came in 2013 with the short series My Fair Neighbor, which was serialized in Dessert. This was followed by a short story titled Doubt Me!, which was published in a special edition of Dessert between her debut and her first major serialized work.
Her first major serialization was Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty (titled Ohayou, Ibarahime in Japanese), which ran from 2015 to 2017 and was collected in six volumes. The series presents a modern, supernatural twist on the classic fairy tale, following a teenage janitor and a girl cursed with a gender-bending dream that threatens to consume her. In 2016, she also provided the illustrations for the light novel Lion-chan to Chihuahua-kun.
Morino achieved significant commercial and critical success with her next series, A Condition Called Love (Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai). The story follows Hotaru Hinase, a high school student indifferent to romance, whose life changes after an act of kindness toward a heartbroken classmate, Saki Hananoi. The manga began serialization in Dessert on December 22, 2017, and has been compiled into numerous volumes.
The popularity of A Condition Called Love led to an anime television series adaptation produced by East Fish Studio, which aired from April 4 to June 20, 2024. The anime was directed by Tomoe Makino, with scripts by Hitomi Amamiya and music by Yamazo. This adaptation brought Morino's work to a wider audience, cementing her status as a notable creator in the romance genre.
Recurring themes in Morino's work include the exploration of personal trauma, family problems, and the healing nature of relationships. Her debut, My Fair Neighbor, deals with a character's suicidal past and the search for forgiveness, while Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty uses a supernatural premise to explore a character's isolation and emotional awakening. In A Condition Called Love, the male lead's intense and sometimes possessive love is rooted in childhood attachment issues stemming from neglectful parents, a theme Morino handles with nuance. Her art style is described as modern, and her stories are noted for being well-constructed and psychological, blending feel-good comedy with moments of darker, more dramatic emotion.
Megumi Morino is considered a significant voice in contemporary shōjo manga. In 2021, she won the 45th annual Kodansha Manga Award in the shōjo category for A Condition Called Love. The series has sold over 1.5 million copies in Japan, demonstrating her strong commercial appeal and influence within the industry.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview