Junko Mizuno Fan Site

"Junko Mizuno; May 27, 1973- starsign gemini, blood type o) is a Japanese artist. She debuted in 1996 with a booklet called MINA animal DX. Her drawing style mixes childish sweetness and cuteness with blood and terror -a so-called kawaii noir style-. Besides her comics, sometimes published in color, she designs T-shirts, calendars, postcards, and other collectibles. Mizuno has participated at Angoulême International Comics Festival. In the U.S., Viz Comics has published some of her work." (Wikipedia)

Junko Mizuno has created three takes on different fairy tales - Cinderalla, Hansel and Gretal, and Princess Mermaid (The Little Mermaid). In these full colour comic books are tales based on the titled fairy tale - but it is given a twist to make it modern, psychedelic, and at times so dark and weird that you wonder if the story is as perverse as you may interpret it (Princess Mermaid being the darkest of the trilogy). But though these stories may be dark, when you look back at the originals by the Brother's Grimm, these tales are perhaps closer to the originals than the childrens' stories they have become.

Mizuno has worked on many different projects including CD covers, clothing, stationary and merchandise.

She has produced short comics (as featured below in Japanese) and has even worked on a Sailor Moon Parody. Sadly no matter how hard I look I have not managed to find this on the internet.




For more pictures, check out the galleries on the Junko Mizuno Related Sites in the Links section.

The first in the trilogy of 'fractured fairytales', Cinderalla is a twist on the original, with a zombie pop singer and a girl who wishes she were dead. This is a good book to start with, as it is not as dark as some of her other stories. It is in colour and includes bonus short story and stickers! (This was actually the reason I bought it in the first place...)

Hansel is a boy who speaks so loud he has to wear a tin can over his face, while Gretel is a samuarai-welding-sailor-suited-teenage-girl. Their world is in danger when they run out of food and put under a spell - can Hansel & Gretel save the day? Although this story has elements of the original fairytale, it is very different. This book is good, but perhaps not as good as the others - it lacks something... Nevertheless, the drawings are in full colour and are very cute, and the book includes stickers, and paper dolls of the main characters.

The darkest book in the trilogy of 'fractured fairytales', think Disney's 'The Little Mermaid', but Ariel and her sisters eat humans, and Ariel's love is part of a clan trying to kill mermaids for profit. Add a lust-obsessed, tricking dragon into the mix, a couple of deaths and this makes for one very sad tale. In full colour and includes postcards.

Collection of illustrations and character studies. In full colour, and is a little graphic. Don't let this put you off though. Has a squishy cover, which is a little different... A must for any collector, or someone just interested in her works.

Only recently released in the UK, Pure Trance is a Sci-Fi Shoujo ('girl's comic' - though anyone can enjoy this). It is very dark, and unlike most Sci-Fi's, is not bogged down with technical stuff and its characters are people easy to like or hate. It is Mizuno's longest book, and I enjoyed reading it very much. Watch out for the director - she is pure evil...!

For more reviews/synopsis visit Amazon and Mizuno's offical home page, found in the links section.