There's this stereotype going around about artists. They are eccentric, overbearing, and have lost touch with reality because they are so consumed with their art. You may seem them wearing all black and sitting in swanky coffee shops sipping double-caffeinated mocha lattés with their pinkies extended. Then comes along this girl-next-door type who is so down to earth and downplays her influence and her celebrity. Her name? None other than Takahashi Rumiko, creator of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma ½, Inuyasha, among others. She's also the richest woman in Japan, but wasn't always so; her entire fortune comes from manga and anime sales. That should give you a good idea as to how popular and renowned she is in the industry.

Born in Niigata, Japan in 1957, Rumiko never had any formal training during her childhood. Yes, she loved to read manga and occasionally doodled on the edges but never was certain if she could make a living drawing. She gained acceptance into the exclusive Nihon Joseidai, a university for women. There she resided for years in a tiny one-bedroom apartment in Nakano and spent her free time observing the people outside living their everyday lives. Few artists put as much of themselves into their work like Rumiko does, and she would use her observations in that apartment as the basis for Maison Ikkoku, one of the most popular love stories of all time. On the way, however, she would win the coveted "Best New Author" award from acclaimed manga factory Shogakukan. It is then that she started on her first important work: Urusei Yatsura.

But what sets her apart from other manga creators? It's undoubtedly her uncanny ability for infusing her characters with plenty of attitude. In an attempt to keep her stories fresh, she creates a plethora of side characters, often times being more interesting than the main ones. To top things off, she places them in some of the strangest situations that one could find in any manga or anime.

Her most popular work, Ranma ½, is the best example of this; we start off with a young martial arts master who, on a training mission to Jusenkyo, China, falls in the Spring of Drowned Girl. Now whenever he comes in contact with cold water, he changes from boy-type to girl-type! Combine this with a panty-snatcher, a Shakespearean rube and a Chinese Amazon, and you have the premise for extreme hilarity and wackiness.

While being well versed in slapstick comedy, she can equally downshift into seriousness when the occasion calls for it. Inuyasha, her latest gift to manga and anime fans, took many by surprise. Yes, it has its fair share of slapstick, but only in modest handfuls. What really caught people's eyes was her ability to build an absolutely intriguing story around dramatic action. Not one to stick with just one theme, Inuyasha has the rare quality to make you laugh one minute and enrage you the next.

Today, Takahashi Rumiko has accounted for over 100 million manga sales... in Japan alone. There is no telling how far her popularity has spread worldwide. However, just the sheer number of Japanese fans alone cements her place as one of the most read manga artists of all time. Yet despite all her success she remains remarkably humble; while recollecting on her past, she often comments that she was uncertain that she could make it as a manga artist, nearly relenting to her parents' wishes of pursuing an alternate career path. Even to this day she downplays her importance in Japanese culture:

"This is really all I want to do with my life: write stories. I don't expect to change the world."

Too late, Rumiko. You already have.

Production Credits

Alice in Wonderland
Inuyasha
Inuyasha: The Love Song From Before We Met
Inuyasha: The Love That Transcends Time
Inuyasha: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass
Inuyasha: The Sword of World Conquest
Maison Ikkoku
Maison Ikkoku: Final Chapter
Maison Ikkoku: Shipwrecked on Ikkoku Island
Maison Ikkoku: Through the Passing Seasons
Maison Ikkoku: When the Cherry Blossoms in the Springtime Return
Mermaid's Scar
One Pound Gospel
Ranma ½
Ranma ½: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China
Ranma ½: Nihao My Concubine
Ranma ½ OVA
Rumic Theater
Rumic World: Fire Tripper
Rumic World: Laughing Target
Rumic World: Maris the Chojo
Rumic World: Mermaid Forest
Rumiko Takahashi Anthology
Urusei Yatsura
Urusei Yatsura Movie I: Only You
Urusei Yatsura Movie II: Beautiful Dreamer
Urusei Yatsura Movie III: Remember My Love
Urusei Yatsura Movie IV: Lum the Forever
Urusei Yatsura Movie V: Final Chapter
Urusei Yatsura Movie VI: Always My Darling
Urusei Yatsura OVA