is a Japanese manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 written and illustrated by Ryoko Yamagishi

Ryoko Yamagishi

is a female Japanese manga artist. She is considered to be one of the Year 24 Group. She studied ballet as a child, which plays a part in many of her works. When she read the manga of Machiko Satonaka in 1964, she decided to pursue becoming a manga artist. Although her parents did not agree with...

. It tells a fictionalised account of Prince Shōtoku

Prince Shotoku

, also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was a son of Emperor Yōmei and his younger half-sister Princess Anahobe no Hashihito. His parents were relatives of the ruling Soga clan, and was involved in the defeat...

, a political figure of sixth-century Japan who spread Buddhism, and his unrequited love for Soga no Emishi

Soga no Emishi

was a statesman of the Yamato Imperial Court. His alternative names include Emishi and Toyora no Ooomi . After the death of his father Soga no Umako, Emishi took over Ooomi, the Minister of state, from his father....

, which is very unlike the traditionally known stories of these people. It was serialized in Hakusensha

Hakusensha

is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.The company mainly publishes manga magazines of various genres and is involved in certain series' productions in their games, original video animation, musical and their animated TV series....

's LaLa

Lala

Lala VC was an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth soldiers.-Details:...

from 1980 to 1984. The individual chapters were published in four tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

under the Hana to Yume Comics imprint

Imprint

In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

, which were released between January and November 1981. Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi received the 1983 Kodansha Manga Award

Kodansha Manga Award

is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...

 for the shōjo category.

Manga

Hakusensha

Hakusensha

is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.The company mainly publishes manga magazines of various genres and is involved in certain series' productions in their games, original video animation, musical and their animated TV series....

 released the manga's four tankōbon between January and November 1981. The manga was re-released into 8 tankōbon, which were released between March and October 1986. The manga was re-released into 7 bunkobon

Bunkobon

In Japan, bunkobon are small-format paperback books, designed to be affordable and portable.The great majority of bunkobon are A6 in size...

s, all released on March 17, 1994.

Reception

Frederik Schodt described Yamagishi's portrayal of Prince Shōtoku as being "a scheming, cross-dressing homosexual with psychic powers". According to Schodt, Yamagishi's innovation was not in writing a manga with homosexual themes, but in taking Prince Shōtoku, a revered figure in Japan who "until recently" was featured on the 10,000 yen bank note, and portraying him as homosexual and cross-dressing. Schodt notes that the period is "ideal" for shōjo manga, as the relationships shown are highly complex, and the costumes are exotic. In a pivotal scene, a Shinto

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

 miko

Miko

is a Japanese term that anciently meant a "female shaman, spirit medium" who conveyed oracles from kami , and currently means a "shrine maiden; virgin consecrated to a deity" who serves at Shinto shrines.-Word:...

's ritual to bring rain in the middle of a drought fails, as Prince Shōtoku said it would.

Further reading

• Masanao Amano, Julius Wiedemann (2004) Manga Design
• Helen McCarthy
  Helen McCarthy
  Helen McCarthy is the British author of such anime reference books as 500 Manga Heroes and Villains, Anime!, The Anime Movie Guide and Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. She is the co-author of The Erotic Anime Movie Guide and the exhaustive The Anime Encyclopedia with Jonathan Clements...
  
  (2006) 500 Manga heroes & villains