Naoko Takeuchi

Naoko Takeuchi is a manga writer and artist who is best known for being the creator of Sailor Moon and Codename: Sailor V and several other manga such as Prism Time, Chocolate Christmas, Maria, The Cherry Project, Miss Rain, PQ Angels, Love Witch etc.

Biography
Naoko Takeuchi was born on March 15, 1967 in Kofu, Japan to Kenji and Ikuko Takeuchi.

She attended and graduated from Kyoritsu University, earning a degree in chemistry. She became a licensed pharmacist. Soon afterwards, however, Takeuchi took a different career route as a manga artist, eventually creating Codename Sailor V, which started the Sailor Moon franchise.

She married Yoshihiro Togashi; the writer and artist of YuYu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter, and they had a seven year old son and four year old daughter.

Naoko was responsible for writing the lyrics to several songs throughout the anime and live action series, including "Princess Moon", "Route Venus", "Sailor Star Song", and such others.

Influences from Her Personal Life on Sailor Moon
Naoko Takeuchi used much of her own personal life as influence for the Sailor Moon franchise.

She based Usagi's immediate family off her own. All members of Usagi's family is named members of Takeuchi's family. Takeuchi's parents are Ikuko and Kenji, the same names for Usagi's parents. Takeuchi also has a younger brother named Shingo, which is the same name of Usagi's younger brother.

Naoko Takeuchi earned a degree in Chemistry, which is why many Sailor Moon characters are named after minerals and gemstones. Examples include Jadeite, Nephrite, and Beryl.

The neighborhood Usagi lives in was based on the neighborhood Takeuchi grew up in.

Trivia

 * In an interview with ROLa magazine, it was revealed that she liked reading shojo manga as a child. Some of her favorite titles then were "The Rose of Versailles," "Candy Candy," and "Glass Mask."
 * She is a fan of the Takarazuka Revue (a troupe of all female actors who play both male and female parts).
 * Her favorite car is a Ferrari F512M, which she often draws Haruka with.
 * During the time when she was writing Sailor Moon (and possibly still after), Naoko says that Usagi is the character most like her, while Michiru is the least like her.
 * When the manga was reprinted she said in it that she couldn't remember why she made Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaiou lesbians and thanked people for supporting their relationship. One reason she gave was to show that friendship between two girls can become romance. Another reason she gave was seeing a couple in a fashion magazine and wanting to give them a lesbian image. In an interview in Italy she said that adolescence is a very emotional time and that Haruka and Michiru have more time than the average teenagers (the latter reason for their relationship caused huge amounts of laughter from the audience).
 * At the Kofu Ichi High School she wore sailor suits (common girls school uniform in Japan) and was in the astronomy and manga clubs.
 * She worked as a miko at the Shiba Daijngu shrine near the Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy which she attended.
 * She started at Kodansha and won the Nakayoshi Comic Prize for Newcomers in 1985 at the age of 19 for her manga "Love Call".
 * For The Lover of Princess Kaguya, she traveled to the Kennedy Space Center to do research, and in the manga reprint she stated that she loves research and America.
 * She wrote the lyrics for "Moonbow" under the name "Sumire Shirobara".
 * Her earliest known work is called "Kare wa No Sugar" or "My Boyfriend is No Sugar," which was written when Takeuchi was 17.