UT line celebrates Yazawa’s 40 years as a shojo manga creator.

Ai Yazawa may not be among the absolute most prolific manga creators in terms of the number of series she’s penned or chapters she’s drawn, but the consistency with which her works have captured fans’ hearts is something any artist would envy. Now, as Yazawa marks the 40th anniversary of her professional manga artist debut, she’s teaming up with Uniqlo for the Ai Yazawa Collection.

Part of the Japanese casual clothing chain’s UT graphic T-shirt sub-brand, the Ai Yazawa Collection consists of five designs, one (which we’ll get to a little later) featuring a brand-new illustration from the artist. Naturally, Yazawa’s biggest hit, Nana, is represented with a shirt showing the members of Black Stones, the band which protagonist Nana Osaki is the vocalist for.

Also represented is Tenshi Nanka ja Nai, Yazawa’s breakout serialized series. Though the series’ title translates to “I’m no angel,” the dress worn by main character Midori Saejima in the illustration on the shirt’s chest, which comes from the cover of the manga’s sixth collected volume, has a definite seraphic style.

The shirts for Paradise Kiss and Neighborhood Story blur the lines between in-manga and real-world apparel. The two series follow aspiring fashion designers and models, and their Uniqlo shirts employ emblems from within the stories in a way that’s subtle but will be easily recognized by fellow fans.

And finally, the fifth shirt in the lineup sports a newly created illustration from Yazawa of Nana Osaki.

Though Nana started serialization in the spring of 2000, the series is still technically ongoing, having been on “hiatus” since 2009. At this point, it’s questionable whether Yazawa will ever restart the series, at least the new illustration seems to be telling fans that Nana is still as coolly confident as they remember her.

Though Uniqlo’s anime/manga collaboration T-shirts are usually offered in men’s cuts, in keeping with Yazawa’s works all being in the shojo manga classification, the Ai Yazawa Collection items are women’s shirts. Each priced at 1,500 yen (US$10.35), they’re scheduled to go on sale in early July, at which time they’ll be available at Uniqlo branches in Japan and through the chain’s online store here.

Source: Uniqlo via Nijimen
Featured image: Uniqlo
Top image: Uniqlo
Insert images: Uniqlo (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
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