Aki Irie

Aki Irie
入江 亜季
Pronunciation	いりえ あき
Born	Marugame, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Manga artist
Years active	2004–present
Notable work	Ran and the Gray World Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest

Aki Irie (入江 亜季, Irie Aki) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for her work Ran and the Gray World (乱と灰色の世界, Ran to Haiiro no Sekai). She was born in Marugame, Kagawa.

Career

Before starting her career as a mangaka, Irie studied Chinese literature in university.

Irie made a few doujinshi's before her 2004 debut with Albertina (アルベルティーナ) published in the magazine, Comic Beam. In 2006, she began her first serialized manga in the same magazine, Gunjou Gakusha (群青学舎).^[1] The series was a compilation of short stories centering on the colour blue, and resulted in four published volumes which also included her first work, Albertina.

In 2008, Irie's first long-running manga Ran and the Gray World was serialized in the magazine Fellows!. In 2013, Fellows! magazine was rebranded and named Harta. In 2016, her second long-running series Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest (北北西に曇と往け, Hokuhokusei ni Kumo to Ike) began serialization in Harta. Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest moved serialization to Blue Knight following its establishment in April 2021.

Works

• Gunjou Gakusha (群青学舎) (2004-2008) – serialized in Comic Beam, 4 volumes published by Enterbrian
• Kodama no Tani Ôritsu Daigaku Sôrangeki (コダマの谷 王立大学騒乱劇) (2006) – serialized in Comic Beam, published as a one-shot by Enterbrain
• Ran and the Gray World (乱と灰色の世界, Ran to Haiiro no Sekai) (2008-2015) – serialized in Fellows! followed by Harta since 2013, 7 volumes published by Enterbrain followed by Kadokawa
• Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest (北北西に曇と往け, Hokuhokusei ni Kumo to Ike) (2016-ongoing) – previously serialized in Harta (2016-2021), now serialized in Blue Knight. Volumes published by Kadokawa
• Tabi (The Journey of Life) (旅) (2022) – one-shot collection^[2]

Awards

In 2011, Ran and the Gray World was selected as a recommended work by the jury committee in the manga division of the 15th Japan Media Arts Festival.^[3] In 2019, Irie's work Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest was nominated for the Manga Taisho award.^[4]

References

1. "入江亜季 - 音楽ナタリー". コミックナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-04-05.
2. "入江亜季による約16年ぶりの作品集「旅」、連載誌と同サイズのワイド版も登場". コミックナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-04-05.
3. Archive, Japan Media Arts Festival. "Gray and wonder around her | Jury Selections | Manga Division | 2011 [15th]". Japan Media Arts Festival Archive. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
4. "マンガ大賞2019、二次ノミネート作品が決定しました！". マンガ大賞. 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2022-04-05.