Akemi Matsuzaki (1954-) Her birth name literally means 'bright beauty or beautiful heart' She's a manga artist of the aesthetic school (for girls) which made her debut at the very young age of 16 and kick started her career in Weekly Margaret with a very nice, good girl shojo story called 'Lilly'. This led to interest and a contract to publish in almost all Kodansha's mangazines and soon made her an indispensable writer for the boys' love mangazines JUNE and ALLAN. Her style revolves around three elements; beautiful boys (and girls), sexuality and (blood)splatter. 'We are the Young Detectives' is a very representative work of this period and genre. Gradually her style evolved and her witty, sometimes dark, sense of humor evolved with her. In the late 1980's, early 1990's she started working for girls' horror mangazines such as 'Halloween' and more recently in the fairy tale-themed ladies' mangazine 'Manga Grimm Fairy Tales' Her original artwork is characterized by beautiful lines and detailed drawings with the elegance of Japanese paintings. She sits between Shoujo and horror as an illustrative technician that goes beyond the realm of classic manga and had (or still has) a particularly great influence on the generations to follow ! <Kaku Kitagawa>
