Class Reunion

Translated by: Harley Acres

Mangaka Rumiko Takahashi and Mangaka Yoko Kondo

Niigata Prefectural Niigata Chuo High School is currently a coeducational school, but when we enrolled there in 1962, it was an all-girls school. We were in the same class when we were in our freshman year, and we formed a manga study group. ^[1] Not only that, but both of us were also in the art club and the literature club, and I have fond memories of us participating in both at the school festival.

From around that time, Takahashi said she wanted to become a professional mangaka and started drawing and submitting fully-fledged manga. After her graduation, she debuted in Shonen Sunday while attending Japan Women's University. ^[2] Urusei Yatsura was a huge hit and was made into an anime. After that, she expanded her activities to seinen magazines with Maison Ikkoku and has been at the forefront of the manga world for 40 years.

While studying at Kokugakuin University, I submitted a piece to Garo that was selected for publication. ^[3] Alternating between drawing contemporary and period pieces, I have recently developed an interest in turning novels into manga, including Ango Sakaguchi's War and a Woman, Nobuo Orikuchi's Book of the Dead, and Natsume Soseki's Ten Nights of Dreams. ^[4]

(Kondo)

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Footnotes

• [1] In a previous interview, Takahashi explains that Kondo was the one who introduced her to the work of Moto Hagio while they were in high school at Niigata Prefectural Niigata Chuo High School (新潟県立新潟中央高校/Niigata Kenritsu Niigata Chuo Koukou). She also explains that they made a magazine for the school festival, but didn't distribute it to the general public. Takahashi speaks about her high school days and her formative science fiction experiences from that time in this 1980 interview. Additional she conducts a lengthy interview with Kondo which can be found here.
• [2] Takahashi graduated from Japan Women's University (日本女子大学/Nihon Joshi Daigaku). The earliest days of Urusei Yatsura were published irregularly while she was still attending college.
• [3] Yoko Kondo (近藤ようこ) debuted in the May 1979 issue of Garo, the famous alternative manga magazine. Her manga Roommates (ルームメイツ) and Brother's Return (兄帰る/Ani Kaeru) won the 15th Japan Cartoonists Association Award for Excellence (第15回日本漫画家協会賞). Volume 2 of Bizarre Manga Road: Unusual Edition (怪奇まんが道 奇想天外篇/Kaiki Manga Dou Kisoutengaihen) has a story detailing her high school life with Rumiko Takahashi. Her Twitter account is @suikyokitan. Takahashi also thanks her in the final chapter of Urusei Yatsura.
• [4] The novels adapted by Kondo are: War and a Woman (戦争と一人の女/Senso to hitori no onna) by Ango Sakaguchi (坂口安吾), Book of the Dead (死者の書/Shisha no sho) by Nobuo Orikuchi (折口信夫), and Ten Nights of Dreams (夢十夜/Yumejuuya) by Natsume Soseki (夏目漱石).

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