Manga artist Rumiko Takahashi has received her second nomination for the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame, and fans are hoping she’ll be inducted this time!
Takahashi is undeniably one of the most successful manga creators of all time, giving us such memorable characters as the adorable oni demon Lum (from Urusei Yatsura), gender-switching martial artist Ranma (Ranma 1/2), the half-dog demon Inuyasha (Inuyasha) and Kyoko-san, the beautiful widowed manager of the Ikkokukan Boarding House (Maison Ikkoku). In fact, manga fans generally seem to agree that they would probably be hard-pressed to name a comic by Takahashi that hasn’t been a big hit.
So, it’s really not surprising that Takahashi has been selected as an Eisner Awards Hall of Fame nominee, as the long list of popular works she’s produced over the years certainly makes her a worthy candidate for what might be considered the Academy Awards of the comic world.
▼ Who among her readers hasn’t fallen in love with the strong-willed yet devoted demon Lum …
▼ … or the kind and beautiful manager of Masion Ikkoku, Kyoko-san?
Takahashi was also nominated to the Hall of Fame in 2014 but was not selected as an inductee at that time. This year, the Eisner Awards judges have already announced two artists who, as the judges’ choices, will automatically be inducted to the Hall of Fame, namely Carl Burgos who created the character of the Human Torch and Tove Jansson who is responsible for the Moomin series. And now, Takahashi is one of 14 candidates from which four additional Hall of Famers will be selected.
The other thirteen candidates (in alphabetical order by last name) are:
Lynda Barry
Kim Deitch
Rube Goldberg
Edward Gorey
Bill Griffith
Matt Groening
Jack Kamen
Francoise Mouly
George Perez
Antonio Prohias
P. Craig Russell
Jacques Tardi
Herb Trimpe
Japanese manga fans are hoping that this will be the year Takahashi is inducted, considering her numerous contributions to the industry as one of the best-selling manga artists ever, but they realize she’ll be facing tough competition with such a strong list of contenders.
▼ No one can deny that Takahashi has left an indelible print on the entire manga world.
Will Takahashi be able to join fellow Japanese artists Osamu Tezuka, Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima, Katsuhiro Otomo, Hayao Miyazaki and Shigeru Mizuki in the Hall of Fame? We’ll find out when the inductees are announced on July 22 at the Comic-Con International in San Diego. Good luck, Takahashi-sensei!
Source: Yurukuyaru.com, Anime Herald
Top image: Amazon Japan