Ippongi Bang
Encyclopedia
Ippongi Bang is a multimedia
and manga artist
, born January 4, 1965 in Yokohama City, Japan. She has been called "one of the most well-known manga artists in America in the mid-1990s."
and dressing as manga characters such as Rumiko Takahashi
's Lum
.
Along with several friends, she started up a manga collective called "Studio Do-Do" and several of their works were translated and published in the United States in the 1990s by Antarctic Press
. Bang, who had once been an exchange student in the United States and was familiar with the American scene, came to American conventions to promote her work. After Antarctic Press stopped publishing manga in the mid-1990s, Bang's works such as Virtual Bang, Doctor! and Bang's Sexplosion were published in the United States by Studio Ironcat
but when Bang's contact at the studio, co-founder Kuni Kimura left under a cloud in 1999, translation of her work for the American market ceased.
Bang married in 1996 and although she has published little professional work since 2000, she did release a book in 2008, (ISBN 4778035011), a volume of comics about infertility.
She has appeared several films and direct-to-video adult movies, including the ExorSister series directed by Takao Nakano
where she played Maria Cruel, the ExorSister:
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
and manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
, born January 4, 1965 in Yokohama City, Japan. She has been called "one of the most well-known manga artists in America in the mid-1990s."
Life and career
Bang attended Den-En Chofu Hikiba High School, then Tamagawa University Dept. of Agriculture, and worked on a farm. She made her manga debut as a schoolgirl in 1983 with Bang's Campus Diary in the cult magazine Fanroad. The manga depicted semi-autobiographical details from her life including her experiences at the agricultural college. As she progressed in her career, she became known as a flamboyant personality who was involved in bikini modeling, cosplayCosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
and dressing as manga characters such as Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi
is a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages...
's Lum
Urusei Yatsura
is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...
.
Along with several friends, she started up a manga collective called "Studio Do-Do" and several of their works were translated and published in the United States in the 1990s by Antarctic Press
Antarctic Press
Antarctic Press is a San Antonio-based comic book publishing company which publishes "American Manga" style comic books.Founded by Ben Dunn in 1984, Antarctic Press has produced over 850 titles with a total circulation of over 5 million...
. Bang, who had once been an exchange student in the United States and was familiar with the American scene, came to American conventions to promote her work. After Antarctic Press stopped publishing manga in the mid-1990s, Bang's works such as Virtual Bang, Doctor! and Bang's Sexplosion were published in the United States by Studio Ironcat
Studio Ironcat
Studio Ironcat was a small publishing company based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, dedicated to publication of manga and later, Amerimanga. The company is most known for its publication of the first volume of Megatokyo, a prominent webcomic, as well as the flamboyant style of one of its founders,...
but when Bang's contact at the studio, co-founder Kuni Kimura left under a cloud in 1999, translation of her work for the American market ceased.
Bang married in 1996 and although she has published little professional work since 2000, she did release a book in 2008, (ISBN 4778035011), a volume of comics about infertility.
Works
Her published works include:- The Hero Kojiro 2, 3 volumes (Ennix Manga)
- All Around Ippongi Bang, photo collection and video (MOVIC)
- Hong Kong Video Castle, 3 volumes (ShogakukanShogakukanis a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
; Planning, Production and Publishing by Yuuki Hiroshi and Co.) - Manga Empress of All the Asias: The Dynamic Ippongi Bang CD-ROM art and cosplayCosplay, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
photo collection CD-ROM (GainaxGainaxis a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Gunbuster, The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which have gone on to critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as for their association with...
)
She has appeared several films and direct-to-video adult movies, including the ExorSister series directed by Takao Nakano
Takao Nakano
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter and actor who has worked in pink film, adult videos , and in mainstream comedy, horror and fantasy films.-Life and career:Nakano was born in Osaka, Japan in 1962...
where she played Maria Cruel, the ExorSister:
- Chô-yôma densetsu Uratsuki-dôji: Makai gakuen-hen (1994) (aka. ExorSister 1)
- Chô-yôma densetsu Uratsuki-dôji: Hakui jigoku-hen (1994) (aka. ExorSister 2)
- Chô-yôma densetsu Uratsuki-dôji: Joyô Senmenki-hen (1994) (aka. ExorSister 3)
- Chô-yôma densetsu Uratsuki-dôji: daiishin fukkatsu-hen (1994) (aka. ExorSister 4)
- Sha sha ren, tiao tiao miu (1998) (aka. Ballistic Kiss)