is a female Japanese shōjo

Shojo

The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 manga artist. She received the Shogakukan Manga Award

Shogakukan Manga Award

The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...

 for shōjo for Ceres, Celestial Legend

Ceres, Celestial Legend

is a fantasy shōjo manga series written by Yuu Watase. It was originally serialized in Shōjo Comic from May 1996 through March 2000. The chapters were also published by Shogakukan in fourteen collected volumes...

in 1997. Since writing her debut short story "Pajama de Ojama" ("An Intrusion in Pajamas"), Watase has created more than 80 compiled volumes of short stories and continuing series. Because of her frequent use of beautiful male characters in her works, she is widely regarded in circles as a bishōnen

Bishonen

is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth ". The equivalent English concept is a "pretty boy".The term describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man whose beauty transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation...

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...

. In October 2008, Watase began her first shōnen serialization, Arata: The Legend

Arata: The Legend

, a Japanese manga written by Yuu Watase that began serialization in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 2008. The first volume of the series was released in Japan on January 16, 2009. The series has eight volume and is still serialized in Shōnen Sunday. The series is Watase's first shōnen...

in Weekly Shōnen Sunday.

Her name is romanized as "Yû Watase" in earlier printings of Viz Media's publications of Fushigi Yūgi

Fushigi Yūgi

, also known as Curious Play, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yu Watase. Shogakukan published Fushigi Yûgi in Shōjo Comic in its original serialized form from May 1992 through June 1996. Viz Media released the manga series in English in North America starting in 1999...

, Alice 19th

Alice 19th

is a Japanese shōjo manga written by Yuu Watase . It appeared as a serial in the manga magazine Shōjo Comic....

, and Ceres, The Celestial Legend, while in Viz Media's Fushigi Yūgi Genbu Kaiden

Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden

is a manga written by Yuu Watase. It premiered in Japan in 2003 in Sho-Comi, moved to an off-shoot magazine, Fushigi Yûgi Perfect World, in 2004. It was serialized sporadically in Monthly Flowers until 2008 when the series went on hiatus until spring 2010, when it began serialization in Rinka...

and Absolute Boyfriend

Absolute Boyfriend

is a six volume manga series by Yuu Watase, first serialized in Shōjo Comic. Chuang Yi licensed it for an English language release in Singapore, with the first volume released in March 2005...

her name is romanized as "Yuu Watase". In Chuang Yi

Chuang Yi

Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd. is a publishing company based in Singapore that specializes in producing domestic and imported comics and comics-related merchandise, in English and simplified Chinese. Chuang Yi distributes all or some of its products in Singapore, Malaysia, India, and the Philippines...

's English-language versions of Fushigi Yugi (spelled without a macron

Macron

A macron, from the Greek , meaning "long", is a diacritic placed above a vowel . It was originally used to mark a long or heavy syllable in Greco-Roman metrics, but now marks a long vowel...

 or circumflex

Circumflex

The circumflex is a diacritic used in the written forms of many languages, and is also commonly used in various romanization and transcription schemes. It received its English name from Latin circumflexus —a translation of the Greek περισπωμένη...

), her name is romanized as "Yu Watase".

Watase Yuu Flower Comics

• Fushigi Yūgi
  Fushigi Yūgi
  , also known as Curious Play, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yu Watase. Shogakukan published Fushigi Yûgi in Shōjo Comic in its original serialized form from May 1992 through June 1996. Viz Media released the manga series in English in North America starting in 1999...
  
  - 18 Vols.
• Fushigi Yūgi Genbu Kaiden
  Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden
  is a manga written by Yuu Watase. It premiered in Japan in 2003 in Sho-Comi, moved to an off-shoot magazine, Fushigi Yûgi Perfect World, in 2004. It was serialized sporadically in Monthly Flowers until 2008 when the series went on hiatus until spring 2010, when it began serialization in Rinka...
  
  - 10 Vols. - ongoing
• Shishunki Miman Okotowari
  Shishunki Miman Okotowari
  is a Japanese manga created by Yuu Watase and serialized in the manga magazine Shōjo Comic.There are two sequels to this manga, Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari and Shishunki Miman Okotowari Kanketsuhen.-Plot summary:...
  
  - 3 Vols.
• Zoku Shishunki Miman Oktotowari - 3 Vols.
• Shishunki Miman Okotowari Kanketsuhen - 1 Vol.
• Epotoransu! Mai - 2 Vols.
• Ayashi no Ceres (Ceres, Celestial Legend
  Ceres, Celestial Legend
  is a fantasy shōjo manga series written by Yuu Watase. It was originally serialized in Shōjo Comic from May 1996 through March 2000. The chapters were also published by Shogakukan in fourteen collected volumes...
  
  ) - 14 Vols.
• Appare Jipangu!
  Appare Jipangu!
  is a manga by Yuu Watase. Set in Japan during the Edo period, it follows the life of Yusura, who as a baby, was found under a cherry tree with the "Kongoumaru" by her side...
  
  - 3 Vols.
• Imadoki!
  Imadoki!
  is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. The manga is five volumes long. It has been licensed in North America by Viz Media.-Plot:...
  
  - 5 Vols.
• Alice 19th
  Alice 19th
  is a Japanese shōjo manga written by Yuu Watase . It appeared as a serial in the manga magazine Shōjo Comic....
  
  - 7 Vols.
• Zettai Kareshi
  Absolute Boyfriend
  is a six volume manga series by Yuu Watase, first serialized in Shōjo Comic. Chuang Yi licensed it for an English language release in Singapore, with the first volume released in March 2005...
  
  (Absolute Boyfriend) - 6 Vols.
• Sakura Gari - 3 Vols.

Shōnen Sunday Comics

• Arata Kangatari
  Arata: The Legend
  , a Japanese manga written by Yuu Watase that began serialization in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 2008. The first volume of the series was released in Japan on January 16, 2009. The series has eight volume and is still serialized in Shōnen Sunday. The series is Watase's first shōnen...
  
  (Arata: The Legend) - 11 Vols. - ongoing

Watase Yuu Masterpiece Collection

1. Gomen Asobase!
2. Magical Nan
3. Otenami Haiken!
4. Suna no Tiara
5. Mint de Kiss Me
   Mint de Kiss Me
   is a collection of manga written and illustrated by Yuu Watase in 1994. This tankōbon contains 8 short stories entitled Kiss Me With Mint, Genseika, Seal Of Flower, Yamato Nadeshiko Romance, Sand Tiara, Hatsuki Triangle, 700 Days of Blue and Jewel in Heart respectively...
   
   

YuuTopia Collection

1. 1. [akisihi] ...100910...0215...(035)....1003627

1. 1. " [yushi yuubi]...Okinawa (woi a ni)..0005687...40359257

1. 1. [tashiki yuukini] ....Shoyuan...(neiri yutoki)....3985627.(615..3085)...3886297

Bunko Ban

• Fushigi Yūgi Bunko - 10 Vols.
• Ayashi no Ceres (Ceres, Celestial Legend) Bunko - 7 Vols.
• Alice 19th Bunko - 4 Vols.
• Zettai Kareshi Bunko - 3 Vols.
• Imadoki! Bunko - 3 Vols.
• Shishunki Miman Okotowari Bunko - 3 Vols.

Flower Comics Deluxe

1. Shishunki Miman Okotowari
2. Shishunki Miman Okotowari/Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari
3. Zoku Shishunki Miman Okotowari
4. Pajama de Ojama
5. Mint de Kiss Me
6. Epotoransu! Mai

Artbooks

• Watase Yuu Illustration Collection Fushigi Yūgi
• Watase Yuu Illustration Collection - Part 2 Fushigi Yūgi Animation World
• "Ayashi no Ceres" Illustration Collection Tsumugi Uta ~Amatsu Sora Naru Hito o Kofutote~
• Yuu Watase Post Card Book I
• Yuu Watase Post Card Book II

Novels

• Shishunki Miman Okotowari - 4 Vols.
• Fushigi Yūgi - 13 Vols.
• Ayashi no Ceres - 6 Vols.
• Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden - 1 Vol.
• Absolute Boyfriend - 1 Vol.
• Masei Kishin Den (Illustration)
• Yada ze! (Illustration)
• Piratica (Illustration)

External links

• Yuu Watase's personal website
• Sho Comi
• Tasuki no Miko's Watase Yuu Page - Unofficial Website on Yuu Watase and source for the majority of this info.
• Sous les Etoiles (French).
• Random Play with Yuu Watase - interview