Miho Obana

Miho Obana 小花 美穂
Area(s)	Manga artist
Notable works	Kodocha

Miho Obana (小花 美穂, Obana Miho, born April 26, 1970) is a shōjo manga artist born in Tokyo, Japan.

She began her manga career as an assistant to Momoko Sakura, creator of Chibi Maruko-chan. She debuted in 1990 with the (one-shot manga) Mado no Mukō, which was published in the autumn 1990 issue of Ribon Bikkuri. Soon, stories from her started appearing in Ribon Original and in the regular Ribon magazine too.

Other notable manga by Miho Obana include Kodomo no Omocha (10 volumes, for which she won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo in 1998; the official English title is Kodocha), Partner, (3 volumes) and Andante (3 volumes). Partner is especially noted for its dark, mature, and almost disturbing tone, which is very rare in a Ribon series.

Her most recent manga is Honey Bitter, which has run in Cookie since February 2004. Also in 2004, she made a foray into the world of josei manga, writing several manga for the josei magazine Chorus. She has been on maternity leave for the past year, but will be returning soon, as Honey Bitter is expected to start up again in the Dec 26 issue of Cookie.

Other works include Mizu no Yakata; a spin-off of Kodocha, Neko no Shima, Pochi, Setsunai ne, and Shiranami no Gensō.

Works

Title	Year	Notes	Refs
Shiranami no Gensō (白波の幻想?, Shiranami no Illusion)	1992	Serialized in Ribon Published in 1 volume.
せつないね (Setsunai ne?)	1993	Published in Ribon Published in 1 volume.
Kono te wo Hanasanai (この手をはなさない?, I won't let go of this hand)	1994	Serialized in Ribon Published in 2 volumes.
Kodomo no Omocha	1994–98	Serialized in Ribon Published by Shueisha in 10 volumes. Kodansha Manga Award, Shojo, 1998
Mizu no yakata (水の館?, Mansion of Water)	1999	Serialized in Ribon Published in 1 volume.
Neko no Shima (猫の島?, The Island of Cats)	1996	Serialized in Ribon Published in 1 volume.
Partner	1999–2000	Serialized in Ribon Published by Shueisha in 3 volumes.
Andante	2001–02	Serialized in Ribon Published by Shueisha in 3 volumes.
Pochi	2003	Serialized in Ribon Published by Shueisha in 1 volume.
Aruyōde Nai Otoko (あるようでない男?)	2003	Published in Queen's Comics Published by Shueisha in 1 volume.
Honey Bitter	2004–present	Serialized in Cookie Published by Shueisha in 11 volumes.
Deep Clear	2010	Crossover story with Kodomo no Omocha and Honey Bitter to celebrate 20th anniversary of Obana's debut

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Miho Obana at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Miho Obana profile at Ultimate Manga Guide