Norio Tsukudani
Description
Norio Tsukudani is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator born on April 16, 1993 in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture. She began her professional career in 2011 and is best known as the creator of the manga series Himegoto, which was adapted into an anime television series that aired in Japan from July to September 2014. The original Himegoto manga began serialization as a four-panel comic strip in Ichijinsha's Waai! magazine on November 25, 2011. The series was later published across three additional Ichijinsha magazines: Waai! Mahalo, Monthly Comic Rex, and Febri. The collective serialization ran from November 2011 to June 2015 and was compiled into six tankobon volumes. A spin-off series titled Himegoto+ was serialized in Waai! Mahalo from April 2012 to December 2013.
In developing Himegoto, Tsukudani drew inspiration from earlier cross-dressing fiction she had read, but specifically wanted to create a story pairing a cross-dressing boy with female characters, a dynamic she personally wished to see more of in manga. She based several characters on friends from her time in her school's drama club, while the protagonist Hime was created from her own ideals for an otokonoko, or feminine boy, character. Tsukudani has stated that her primary goal when drawing the manga was to depict the characters as cute as possible and to write scenes that were easy to read. Beyond Himegoto, Tsukudani has contributed illustrations to other manga projects. She handled the illustrations for Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai: Hitoribotchi no Diva, a manga adaptation of the adult visual novel Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai. She has also participated in anthology works for franchises such as The iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls, Tokyo 7th Sisters, and Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet. Tsukudani also hosts a doujin circle named Amomo. In addition to her manga work, Tsukudani has an active presence as a virtual YouTuber under the name Inuyama Tamaki, an otokonoko character that reflects themes present in her manga creations. She later founded her own VTuber agency named Tsukudani Norio Production. On April 16, 2021, Tsukudani announced her marriage to a company owner.
In developing Himegoto, Tsukudani drew inspiration from earlier cross-dressing fiction she had read, but specifically wanted to create a story pairing a cross-dressing boy with female characters, a dynamic she personally wished to see more of in manga. She based several characters on friends from her time in her school's drama club, while the protagonist Hime was created from her own ideals for an otokonoko, or feminine boy, character. Tsukudani has stated that her primary goal when drawing the manga was to depict the characters as cute as possible and to write scenes that were easy to read. Beyond Himegoto, Tsukudani has contributed illustrations to other manga projects. She handled the illustrations for Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai: Hitoribotchi no Diva, a manga adaptation of the adult visual novel Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai. She has also participated in anthology works for franchises such as The iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls, Tokyo 7th Sisters, and Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet. Tsukudani also hosts a doujin circle named Amomo. In addition to her manga work, Tsukudani has an active presence as a virtual YouTuber under the name Inuyama Tamaki, an otokonoko character that reflects themes present in her manga creations. She later founded her own VTuber agency named Tsukudani Norio Production. On April 16, 2021, Tsukudani announced her marriage to a company owner.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview