Hisaya Nakajo, the mangaka best known for the Hana-Kimi series, passed away at 50 years old earlier this month due to a heart disease. Hakusensha announced the news on October 26, stating that the mangaka died on October 12.
Nakajo also used the name Peco Fujiya for yaoi works and Ryo Fumizuki for doujinshi, written within Daisanteikoku circle. She was born in 1973 in Osaka. She wrote numerous one-shots, and three manga titles with more chapters: Hana-Kimi: For You in Full Blossom, the ice-skating Sugar Princess manga, and the Missing Piece. She also did character designs for the Duel Love otome game, released for for the Nintendo DS.
Hana-Kimi: For You in Full Blossom was Hisaya Nakajo’s most influential work. The romance cross-dressing shojo manga ran from 1996 to 2006 in Hana to Yume magazine. Its 144 chapters were compiled into 23 volumes. Hana-Kimi received four drama adaptations over the years.
VIZ Media licensed it in English:
Japanese-American track-and-field star Mizuki has gotten herself to transfer to a high school in Japan…but not just any school! To be close to her idol, high jumper Izumi Sano, she’s going to an all-guys’ high school…and disguising herself as a boy! But as fate would have it, they’re more than classmates…they’re roommates! Now, Mizuki must keep her secret in the classroom, the locker room, and her own bedroom. And her classmates–and the school nurse–must cope with a new transfer student who may make them question their own orientation…
Source: Oricon
© Hisaya Nakajo 1996/HAKUSENSHA, Inc.
