{{Short description|Japanese manga artist}} {{Infobox person | image = | name = Reiko Okano | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|6|24|mf=y}} | birth_place = Koga, Ibaraki, Japan | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | known_for = | occupation = Manga artist | spouse = Makoto Tezuka | awards = Shogakukan Manga Award (1989)<br />Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (2001) | website = [http://www.najanaja.co.jp/index.html Reiko Okano's homepage] }} {{nihongo|'''Reiko Okano'''|岡野 玲子|Okano Reiko|born 24 June 1960}} is a Japanese manga artist.
== Career == Okano was born in Ibaraki Prefecture. She attended a graphic design school after graduating from high school and has never worked as a manga assistant. Her first published work as a professional manga artist was ''Esther, Please'' in 1982 in the shōjo manga magazine ''Petit Flower''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Lehmann|first=Timothy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3aCSprKRgCYC|title=Manga: Masters of the Art|date=2005-11-01|publisher=Harper Collins|isbn=978-0-06-083331-2|language=en}}</ref> In the same magazine, in 1984, she started publishing the series ''Fancy Dance'' about a Buddhist monk who is trained in becoming the new head of the temple. In 1989, she won the Shogakukan Manga Award in the ''shōjo'' category for ''Fancy Dance''.<ref name="ShogakukanAward">{{cite web | url=http://comics.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/rist.html | script-title=ja:小学館漫画賞：歴代受賞者 | publisher=Shogakukan | language=ja | access-date=2007-08-19 | archive-date=2005-04-24 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050424231028/http://comics.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/rist.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> The same year, the series was adapted into a live-action film directed by Masayuki Suo.
In the 1990s, she published manga in magazines like ''Big Comic Spirits'', ''Comic Tom'' and ''Comic Burger''. For the series ''Onmyōji'', based on an original work by Baku Yumemakura, she received the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2001<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asahi.com/shimbun/award/tezuka/01a.html|title=手塚治虫文化賞：朝日新聞社インフォメーション|website=www.asahi.com|access-date=2019-04-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asahi.com/shimbun/award/tezuka/01a.html|script-title=ja:第5回 マンガ大賞 岡野玲子 原作・夢枕 獏 『陰陽師』|publisher=Asahi Shimbun|language=ja|access-date=July 18, 2010}}</ref> and the Seiun Award in 2006. It was also selected by the jury of the Japan Media Arts Festival 2001.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manga Division |url=https://j-mediaarts.jp/en/division/manga/ |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=JAPAN MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL |language=ja}}</ref> It is considered her most famous work.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=International perspectives on shojo and shojo manga : the influence of girl culture |date=2015 |others=Masami Toku |isbn=978-1-317-61075-5 |location=New York |pages=237 |oclc=910847745}}</ref> She went on to produce a sequel version, ''Onmyōji: Tamatebako'', which was serialized from 2011 until 2017 in the comic magazine ''Melody''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.s-book.net/plsql/slib_series?tid=459214881 | script-title=ja:ジェッツコミックス＞＞陰陽師 玉手匣 | publisher=S-book.net | access-date=December 27, 2017 | language=ja | title=S-book.net }}</ref>
== Style == Okano publishes manga in magazines across different gendered categories, including shōjo manga, josei manga and seinen manga. Tomoko Yamada assesses that her style is influenced by sentiments of women's media: "One can see this in the graceful beauty of the conduct of Okano’s characters, the picturesque and polished structure of every frame, and the emphasis on subtlety in story development."<ref name=":1" />
Her drawing style is influenced by illustrator Motoichiro Takebe. Since ''Onmyōji'', she uses brush and ink in reference to Japanese painting.<ref name=":1" />
== Personal life == She is married to director Makoto Tezuka, the son of famous manga artist Osamu Tezuka.
==Works== {| class="wikitable sortable" !Title !Year !Notes !Refs |- |''Kiesarishi Mono'' (消え去りしもの) |1984–1985 |Serialized in ''Peppermint''<br />Published by Shinshokan in 1 vol. | |- |{{nihongo|''Fancy Dance''|ファンシィダンス}} |1984–1990 |Serialized in ''Petit Flower''<br />Published by Shogakukan in 8 vol. | |- |''Diane de Rose no Inbō'' (ディアーヌ・ド・ロゼの陰謀) |1986–1987 |Serialized in ''Peppermint''<br />Published by Shinshokan in 1 vol. | |- |''Ryōgoku Oshare Tōshi'' (両国花錦闘士) |1989–1990 |Serialized in ''Big Comic Spirits''<br />Published by Shogakukan in 4 vol. |<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=岡野玲子「両国花錦闘士」愛蔵版が全2巻で刊行、能町みね子による寄稿も |url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/232923 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Comic Natalie |language=ja}}</ref> |- |''Calling'' (コーリング) |1991–1993 |Serialized in ''Comic Tom''<br />Published by Magazine House in 3 vol. | |- |{{nihongo|''Onmyōji''|陰陽師}} |1993–2005 |Serialized in ''Comic Burger'', ''Comic Birz'' and ''Melody''<br />Published by Schola and Hakusensha in 13 vol. | |- |{{nihongo|''Yōmi Henjō Yawa''|妖魅変成夜話}} |1995–2007 |Serialized in ''Panja'' and ''Hyakka''<br />Published by Heibonsha in 3 vol. | |- |''Inanna'' (イナンナ) |2007–2010 |Serialized in ''Morning''<br />Published by Kodansha in 2 vol. | |- |''Onmyōji: Tamatebako'' (陰陽師 玉手匣) |2011–2017 |Serialized in ''Melody''<br />Published by Hakusensha in 7 vol. | |}
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Shogakukan Manga Award - Shōjo}} {{Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Okano, Reiko}} Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Women manga artists Category:Manga artists from Ibaraki Prefecture Category:Japanese women comics artists Category:Japanese women comics writers Category:Japanese comics writers {{manga-artist-stub}}