Yana Toboso

Yana Toboso (枢 やな, Toboso Yana), born January 24, 1984, and known by her other pen names Yanao Rock and Takaragi Yana, is a Japanese manga artist. Her most significant work is the manga series Kuroshitsuji.
She currently lives in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.Wikipedia:Yana Toboso
==Pen Name==
"Yana Toboso" is a pen name. In the extras of Volume 2, her editor said that she "gave [her]self a difficult name like Toboso."Downstairs with Kuroshitsuji, Volume II
"Yana" is an alternate form of the Japanese adjective 嫌な (iyana), meaning "unpleasant," "detestable," and "disagreeable." She chose that name to reflect the kind of manga she aimed to create with Kuroshitsuji: Because there are a lot of manga whose central themes are dreams, hope, friendship, and love, Toboso wanted to write one whose focus is the opposite of all that—a manga that centers on "unpleasant people."
A "Toboso," written in Japanese as 枢, is a cavity in the frame of a door that is used as part of a pivot hinge. She chose the name because a hinge is necessary for a door to work; the name, thus, signifies importance.
==Appearance==
Yana Toboso draws herself as a devil with a black body and horns, a round white head, and a pointed tail. There are currently no known pictures and documents of Toboso's real appearance given to the public due to her shy and nervous nature."However, if I ever get asked 'Are you Toboso-sensei?,' I think I would probably answer 'No, I'm not!', too. (lol)You might be surprised, but I am the kind of loser who needs to take stomach medicine just at the thought of having to appear in public and give a speech (it really happened). The day before the party with the anime staff, I was told to give a speech on stage; I couldn't sleep at all until morning because I didn't know what to talk about. On that day, I got stomach cramps and they became stronger and stronger as we approached the party hall, and I ended up taking stomach medicines that my assistant kindly gave me in the middle of the road near the station!!! And when I told people about this, they all laughed… I'm such a chicken."
Before Volume 4, Toboso's devil had hair in her author's notes.Kuroshitsuji manga; Volumes 1-3 — Author's notes Then, Mr. K told her that her "self-portrait will look much better without any hair," so she started to draw herself without hair. It was slightly fitting because Toboso has, in fact, a bald spot the size of a ¥10 coin.Kuroshitsuji manga; Volume 4 — Author's note
==Life and Career==
Toboso comes from a poor family"'Black Butler' creator looks back at manga series' 15-year history" — The Japan News and was raised by her grandmother and mother. Her grandmother encouraged her to become a mangaka when she was a child,"Yana and her deceased family" — akumadeenglish on Tumblr and because Toboso could not attend university due to her family's financial situation, she honed her drawing skills. Her mother then pushed her to submit her work to a publisher when she was twenty.
In 2003, Toboso entered a Square Enix manga competition with a story named "Hell-O." She ended up winning the advancement award and caught the eye of Mr. K. who then became her editor. However, because Mr. K disliked the plot of "Hell-O," the idea was scrapped. The next year, Toboso participated in the same competition. She ranked second with her manga "Disguise" and was given the opportunity to do a short guest manga: "9th," her debut one-shot.
In 2005, Toboso published her short series Rust Blaster; it ran until 2006 and was completed in one volume. Kuroshitsuji began serialization in 2006. Due to the manga's popularity it is still ongoing as of 2024, though it was initially only meant to be a short series too.Downstairs with Kuroshitsuji, Volume VI Toboso wants to convey to her readers through Kuroshitsuji that "the idea of justice varies from person to person." She came to learn this herself while working on the manga.
Since 2019, Toboso also works on Disney: Twisted-Wonderland, a mobile game she created with Aniplex and Walt Disney Japan;"Disney Twisted-Wonderland Game App Features Story, Designs by Black Butler Creator" — Anime News Network it launched in 2020."Disney Twisted-Wonderland Game App Launches in March" — Anime News Network
==Likes and Interests==
Toboso is a known fan of the following artist/bands: Slipknot, Linkin Park, Evanescence,Kuroshitsuji Character Guide, page 147 Sid, Becca, Gackt, HYDE, Tommy heavenly6, UVERworld, L'arc~en~Ciel, Kalafina and Danny Elfman.Yana Toboso on her D-6th blog "Yana describes herself as a shy person that likes cats, sleep, Black Cat, vampires, film, rock, evening to night, daybreak and A Nightmare Before Christmas amongst other things. Some of her dislikes include quitting something halfway and daytime insects. She lists Slipknot, Linkin Park, Sid, Becca, Gackt, HYDE, L'arc~en~Ciel, Kalafina and Danny Elfman as some of her favourite musicians."
She also lists cats, sleep, vampires, and The Nightmare Before Christmas as some of her likes.
Toboso likes the color black, small items, jewelry,Kuroshitsuji manga; Volume 1 — Author's note eating sour food, tuna (without wasabi), sweet potato paste, and dokudami-aloe-tea. She collects hats and never goes out without a hat, and prefers reading fashion magazines and picture books. She likes people and Western clothes and dislikes insects and spiders.
==Works==
* 9th (2004; debut one-shot)
* Hana Shōnen (2005; shotacon one-shot, under pen name Yanao Rock)"TOBOSO Yana" — Baka-Manga Updates
* Glamorous Lip (2006; shotacon one-shot, under pen name Yanao Rock)
* Rust Blaster (2005-2006; one-shot shōnen comic tragedy)
* Kuroshitsuji (2006-present)
* Disney: Twisted-Wonderland (2020; mobile game made by Aniplex in collaboration with Walt Disney Japan; official website)
===Anthologies===
* Platonic Chain Selected Stories (2004)
* ZOMBIE-LOAN Official Anthology Comic "ZOMBIE-LOAN"LOAN (2007; contributed a story and drew the cover)
* Rainbow Butler: "Haunted Graveyard" (2009)
* Rainbow Butler 2: "With Father" (2010)
* Valvrave the Liberator Anthology Comic: "Midnight Strange" (2013; contributed a story and drew the cover)
==Trivia==
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* According to Yana Toboso, Ciel Phantomhive resembles her the most, while her editor Mr. K resembles Soma Asman Kadar.
* She labelled her own Kuroshitsuji copies with Arabian numbers.Yana Toboso on Twitter"Meanwhile, at the home of I, the creator of Black Butler."
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Yana Toboso on Twitter"The Arabian numeral too is printed on the sleeve. (effort in vain)Dearest ladies and gentlemen who are looking at TwitterBlack Butler XXVIIII (29) is on sale now!!ᴹᵒˢᵗ ᵉˢᵗᵉᵉᵐᵉᵈ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳˢ, ᵈᵉᵃʳᵉˢᵗ ʷᵒʳᵏᵉʳˢ ᵃᵗ ᵇᵒᵒᵏˢᵗᵒʳᵉˢ, ᴵ ᵃᵐ ᶦⁿᶜʳᵉᵈᶦᵇˡʸ ˢᵒʳʳʸ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉ ᶦⁿᶜᵒⁿᵛᵉⁿᶦᵉⁿᶜᵉ ᶜᵃᵘˢᵉᵈ, ᵇᵘᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ⁿᵉˣᵗ ᵛᵒˡᵘᵐᵉ ˢʰᵃˡˡ ᵇᵉ ˣˣˣ~ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ᵏᶦⁿᵈˡʸ ᵗᵃᵏᵉ ᶜᵃʳᵉ ᵒᶠ ᶦᵗ ᶠᵒʳ ᵘˢ."
**As many others struggled with the Latin numerals, the November 2020 issue of Monthly GFantasy includes a sticker sheet with Arabian numbers for the Volumes 1 to 30.Monthly GFantasy on Twitter
* She thinks that her characters sound "cooler" in the YenPress translation than in the original, though she partially attributes her feelings to the fact that Japanese people simply think everything sounds cooler in English."Title: The English version""Whenever I receive the foreign edition [of a Kuroshitsuji comic book], I'm like 'Oh! So that's how they phrase it!'.Sebastian's way of talking in vol.14 in particular was so cool that I couldn't believe he is my own character. I was so excited!"It's so cool that he refers to the assassin as 'My dear Sir' and also, it's so nice that he secretly calls Ciel 'My child master' (he usually refers to him as 'young master') when he makes fun of him (lol)."
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"Title: Ciel as well..."I have the feeling that Ciel's 'coolness' also increased by an extra 30% [in the English version], seeing as he is cooler than usual. (It's the shallow psychology [of Japanese people] that you find someone 'cool' just because they talk in English)."
* Toboso uses the Japanese language of flowers. However, while she often chooses flowers based on their meanings—e.g. the scene where Ciel welcomes Snake to his manor (digitalis for insincerity),Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 50, page 23 or when Soma thinks of Ciel (mimosa for friendship, and marigold for sorrow and despair)—,Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 126, pages 14-15 she does not always do so. For colored illustrations, she usually chooses flowers based on their beauty.Yana Toboso on Twitter"Random commentary on Kuroshitsuji vol.25: The flowers that are drawn all over in the scene with Soma and Ciel are mimosa and marigold. When I draw flowers, I often choose them based on their meanings in the language of flowers (if it's a coloured illustration though, I rather tend to focus on their appearance and thus choose gorgeous ones). The flowers that were blooming in the botanical gardenwhen Snake joined [the Phantomhive household] back in vol.11 were Digitalis. They look beautiful, but in fact they are...[Toboso]"
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Yana Toboso on Twitter"The Japanese language of flowers and the [Western] language of flowers do differ, but since I, the one who's drawing [this manga], am Japanese, I rather go by the Japanese language of flowers (lol). I have the feeling that the Japanese version has a wider variety of meanings. [Toboso]"
** She also likes to depict characters with associated flowers on official merchandise, e.g., on the "ribcage" charms.Yana Toboso on Twitter</br>"Sebas: PomegranateCiel: English roseGrelle: Red spider lily (lycoris radiata)Undertaker: LilyAgni: LotusJoker: White cloverGrey: Climbing roseWolf: Monkshood"
* She deliberately incorporates anachronistic elements, e.g. the idol groups in the Blue Cult Arc, into Kuroshitsuji "to wordlessly make it clear that this story is a fantasy."
* Toboso considered making "fluffy spin-offs" to Kuroshitsuji, e.g., "a gourmet manga featuring the canteen of the Shinigami dispatch association HQ, or a manga where the Indian butler cooks curry or the black butler makes sweets, or where the servants make small discoveries." However, she dropped those ideas because her "fluffy concepts" kept becoming ominous after a few chapters.Yana Toboso on Twitter"Working on Kuroshitsuji for 10 years, I occasionally thought of making some fluffy spin-offs, like a gourmet manga featuring the canteen of the Shinigami dispatch association HQ, or a manga where the Indian butler cooks curry or the black butler makes sweets, or where the servants make small discoveries, like that kind of fluffy concepts, but I gave up on most of them because whenever I tried to develop the story further, it started getting ominous after 3 or 4 chapters."
* She gave only a single autograph session for the release of the first Kuroshitsuji volume."I did an autograph session only once when the first volume of Kuroshitsuji was released. I was so nervous that I didn't know what I should talk about with the readers and finished the autograph session so quickly, which led me to think 'I'm so helpless, I should never appear in public!'. Since then, I've been living a life like a mole, so I rarely go to [Kuro-related] events or musicals together with Mr. K, who is fashionable and stands out…" Disregarding her appearance at the Black Label pop-up store in Osaka, Japan in 2017 inside the Bitter Rabbit mascot costume,Yana Toboso on Twitter"Today, when I was shopping at LUCUA at about 3PM, I suddenly got swallowed by Bitter Rabbit who probably mistook me for his afternoon snack and ended up spending half a day in his stomach. After the persuasion by the staff (they were like 'Haven't I told you not to pick up and eat everything? Spit it out now!'), he eventually spitted me out in the evening though."
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Yana Toboso on Twitter"When I was in Bitter Rabbit's stomach, I could faintly hear the [visitors'] voices outside. Everyone seemed to have fun, and this made me really happy. Thank you, Bitter Rabbit! Everyone, please come visit Bitter Rabbit, too. However, this rabbit is full of curiosity, so please be careful not to get gnawed [and eaten] by him like me!" this is her only public Kuroshitsuji-related appearance to date.
* Toboso had a Devil's 6th Day website and blog, but both sites were eventually shut down.
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Personal=
* She keeps a fencing sword, a Japanese sword, a dagger, a Luger P08 pistol, a Colt, a Baby Browning, Mosin–Nagant, and a cricket bat in her workplace. Because of that, she feels well-prepared for a zombie apocalypse.Yana Toboso on Twitter"We have a fencing sword, a Japanese sword, a dagger, a LugerP08 [*pistol], a Colt [*revolver], a Baby Browning [*pistol], Mosin Nagant [*rifle] and a cricket bat in our workplace, so we're all prepared in case we get attacked by zombies someday."
** Mey-Rin uses a Luger P08 and a Mosin-Nagant.Yana Toboso on Twitter"The replica of Mey-Rin's favourite [rifle] Mosin-Nagant (which has a total length of 120cm [3′11′′]) looks really impressive. When I draw her, I think about how fit she actually must be considering she can run in the mountains while carrying said rifle as well as two Luger P08 pistols (which are big and heavy) and extra ammunition."
* Mitsuru Adachi and Rumiko Takahashi greatly influenced Toboso's work.
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==External Links==
*Yana Toboso Official Website
*Yana Toboso on Twitter
*Yana Toboso on Tumblr
*Yana Toboso on Instagram
*Black Label
==References==
pl:Yana Toboso
es:Yana Toboso
ru:Яна Тобосо
fr:Yana Toboso
pt-br:Yana Toboso
it:Yana Toboso
Category:Out-of-Universe