Rumiko Takahashi

Rumiko Takahashi is the creator of four long-running, influential, and insanely entertaining manga series--Urusei Yatsura, Ranma ½, Maison Ikkoku, and InuYasha Sengoku o Togi Zoshi--as well as a handful of less-well-known works, including Fire Tripper and the Mermaid Saga. Urusei Yatsura and Ranma ½ were romantic comedies that took the youthful soap opera angst of stories like Marmalade Boy and infused them with a cheerfully bizarre sense of humor. Questions like “Will they ever admit their love for each other?” were balanced by questions like “Will he ever cure the Chinese curse that makes him turn into a girl whenever he’s splashed with cold water?”. Maison Ikkoku and the current mega-hit InuYasha are more grown-up and bittersweet, although both incorporate Takahashi's trademark blend of awww-worthy romance and slapstick humor.

Aftertaste:
There is an AMAZING amount of fanfiction based on Takahashi's work, and while much of it is very well-written, it is so pervasive that many fans seem hazy on what is "canon" and what isn't.

Availability:
Everywhere.

Other Recommendations:
Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons. (Okay, it's British humor, not Japanese, and it's set in the 1930s, and there are no aliens, curses, or time-traveling schoolgirls, but Ms. Takahashi and Ms. Gibbons both understand the value of a truly whacked supporting cast.)

See our Wordcandy Recommended Manga Page!