March comes in like a lion Diary 2024.12－2026.3 – Chica Umino

Chica Umino

Manga artist. After graduating from Tokyo Metropolitan Kogei High School, she joined Sanrio Corporation and worked as a designer. Subsequently, she became a freelance designer and illustrator. During her time as a company employee, she was involved in dōjinshi activities, and she continued these activities as a freelancer, aiming to debut as a manga artist.

In 2000, her manga “Honey and Clover” was serialized in Takarajimasha’s “CUTiE Comic”, marking her professional debut as a manga artist. When “CUTiE Comic” went on hiatus, the serialization was interrupted, but she took it upon herself to find a new publisher and was able to resume the series in Shueisha’s “YOUNG YOU”. The series later moved to “Chorus” where it eventually concluded.

“Honey and Clover” won her the 27th Kodansha Manga Award (Shoujo category) in 2003. Furthermore, “Honey and Clover” was animated in 2005, turned into a live-action film in 2006, and a TV drama in 2008, all of which gained significant popularity.

Starting in 2007, she began serializing “March Comes in Like a Lion” in Hakusensha’s “Young Animal”. This work generated buzz from the beginning of its serialization, winning the first Booklog Award (Manga Category) in 2010, the Manga Award and the 35th Kodansha Manga Award (General Category) in 2011. It also won the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Manga Grand Prize) in 2014.

Chica Umino’s books