Modoru Motoni sensei is a Yaoi/BL manga artist. (Oops!! If you're not comfortable, please leave now. Anyway you won't find any graphic sex contents on this webpage. It's safe for browse!) Quote from unknown source, her family was obviously against her being a mangaka. She only successfully persuaded them at the age of 25 and made her debute in the monthly BL mangazine Bexboy in 1992.

Brief Biography
Born in Tokyo, Japan. Was manager of tennis club in university. Studied Japanses literature for 3 years as major and didn't start drawing until after graduation.

Her Name
Talking about the name 'Modoru Motoni'(a penname), doesn't it have a strong masculine flavour in it, a string of popping sounds that make you doubt 'How rare! A male mangaka in yaoi world!'. Wrong!!! Motoni once commented 'Despite how my penname sounds, I want my fans to know that just like any other female in this world, I want to be admired for my beauty as well!' Pity I have not the faintest idea how Motoni sensei looks, no close-up photograph for reference. Nevertheless we see several attempts at comical style self-portraits, all of which feature a balloon headed, slit eyed sensei herself SMOKING, and smoke, and smoke... (her fav. cigarette brand is Virginia...)

Motoni=Narcissism
We also know she's an Aries, one of the facts that made me all the more determined to place her on my 'all time favourite mangaka' list. [Give it up for Aries!!!] (a banner stomped upon by all the other eleven horoscopes...) We soon realize motoni is a synonym for narcissism. Her characters are ARIES; They make it to world's TOP HEAVY SMOKERS; They even read, and read PROFOUND LITERATURE WORKS! Regarding the last narcissitic manifestation, the reason behind is probably Motoni sensei's passion for literature and writing. She once aspired to be a novelist but all her writings were rejected. Ironically, her novel illustrations didn't suffer the same fate and were accepted by local publishers. 'I have no talent for writing' she said. Don't worry motoni sensei, you sure have tons of talents for drawing! I'm simply glad she chose/had no choice but to draw!

Let's see, shadows of Motoni-sensei everywhere! Here goes,
Aries Males: Kenji Yamazaki (April 14), Sumire Terada(April 1)
Smokers: Everyone smokes... Kenji Yamazaki being the obnoxious chain smoker
Bookworms: Kenji Yamazaki, Rika, Tetsu, our dear Bluecat...

This's just my personal opinion, Kenji Yamazaki is MOST CLOSE to Motoni sensei herself. Koiga was one of the earlier works and there was ample personality invested in the characters. I'm confident to say Motoni sensei identifies herself with Yamazaki, A LOT!!

Not to forget one more trademark of Motoni sensei's characters - beauty mark, aka. a small dot of mole right at the corner of the eye. Hmm, let's see who are the lucky ones... (LOOK CLOSE!)
Miku (from Koi ga Bokura wo Yurusu Hani), Mamezou (from Poison Cherry Drive), Tetsu Natsume (from Shiiku Gakari Rika)

Black & White
What is her art style? - Black and White. Then you say what the hell, aren't all manga works in B&W? However after analysing all her works, there's no better description than simply 'black and white'. Her skills at high contrast and the general grasp of light and shadow are unparalled. Her lines are crispy clean, confident, forceful and minimalistic(with emphasis on the eyes). That's the Aries trademark lines I'm talking about. (Sorry, I forgot to mention I'm a rather narcissistic Aries as well. Aha!) There isn't one unnecessary stroke, no elaborate background toning and the way she executes the shadows simply suck in all your attentions (together with your admirations) like a super vaccum cleaner. Most of her characters are males. Sometimes you can't find a single female character in it, typical of yaoi/BL works. One word to descirbe those handsome long-eyelashed males: clean.(I cheated. 'handsome', 'long-eyelashed' & 'clean' are 3 words, but how can we leave out any of them, ne?) Another word to go with her characters' facial expressions: encyclopedia.

Twisted Humour & Gentle Nerves
For those looking for 'cotch candies'(in layman term - sexual stimulation), I suggest you look elsewhere. Although there're doubtlessly explicit sexual graphics in modoru motoni's works, they still defy the general yaoi/BL rules. There's no way A falls head over toes for B and after one-night stand or on impulse, they live happily ever-after, not to forget quarrels and twists to fill up the head and tail but won't in any way interfere with the fairy tale happy ending. That shall never happen for Motoni. [Modoru Motoni], almost an outcast brand of its own in the world called 'yaoi', a big black dot in a sea of red, and an Armani shirt with dirty fabrics about to fray - That's Motoni for you. What is Motoni without the spice? A world of nonsense in fever with the motoman, hightened noir and horror in rika the breeder, or souring tensions and angst in the limits allowed by love and desire? You poor reader, head in her cloud of cigarette smoke, unable to tell sincerity apart from the feigned, still reads on and on with fervent faithfulness. All the while Motoni sits back and muses, puffs out yet another mouthful of smoke...

2005.4 Super Beboy Comics
Still serializing...
Book 1 is out on sale.

Modoru Motoni Q & A (translated)

[banner from Modoru Motoni Fansite - Rue Royale]

There're 82 questions in all.

Original questions & answers are posted on Modoru Motoni Fansite - Rue Royale

Disclaimer:
The translations below have no guarantee of accuracy although I try my best to make the meanings come closest as I can.(I know nothing about Japanese so the only source of help is online translation software. You know how it works.)

Please don't distribute it in public forums/bbs without acknowledging the original source and always be reminded it is NOT accurate.

Now let's sit down and have some tea with Motoni-sensei.

1. Do the settings from the book really exist?
Some of them do.

2. What about costume designs. Are they original?
Some are designed by myself. Some are referenced from magazines.

3. Do you collect and keep reference materials for drawing?
I don't think so.

4. What is the most important thing you pay attention to when you draw a character's face?
I'm careful with facial expressions so that they don't fade in the sketches.

5. Do you draw from your own experience with love when drawing those BL works?
Not really. I just try to place myself in the characters' shoes and think hard about how they feel under those particular situations.

6. Any work which has an extential influence on you?
Coins Locker Baby by Muracamiruu (コインロッカー・ベイビーズ , 村上龍)

7. Is it possible to increase publication by ten fold in the weekly magazine?
That's impossible. My work load would've gone up by 10x!

8. Are you planning on drawing any sequel (Rogue, Mizuhara etc.) or is there a specific sequel you wish to work on?
These are not in my schedule. There'll be a sequal to 'Shiikugakari Rika'.

9. Do you have a secret love?
Such things aren't supposed to be spilled in front others.

10. How are the names of characters and the book title decided?
The characters' personalities, their outlooks on the world and their conversations are weighed and consdiered and simple nuances

are chosen.

11. Who's your favourite character?
For me currently, it's Teru & Miki.

12. Is there ever a character whom you dislike (hard to portray)?
It becomes hard to draw when the character who enjoys a high popularity is in fact opposite to my nature.

13. Is there a character whose popularity has gone out drastically and unexpectedly?
No.

14. Are there characters whom you spent time detailing but don't enjoy as much popularity as you thought?
Maki and Endo.(マキ、遠藤)

15. Best 3 kiss scenes?
'Dog Style', end of 2nd episode & start of the 3rd episode. Also the 14th episode of 'Detective Bluecat' with Count Saotome.

16. Who's the ideal lover, marriage partner, relative, brother or any other suitable role in your opinion?

Lover: Count Satome (早乙女, from Bluecat)
Marriage Partner: Glass Bat (蝙蝠, from Bluecat)
Relative: Prince Bee (蜂王子, from Bluecat)
Brother: 鬼島 (from Dog Style)
Others: メガネっ娘　(?)
Dog: Teru (from Dogstyle)
キジ：鶯　(?)
Ape: Iida (from Poison Cherry Drive)
Ghost: Rika(from Shiikugakari Rika), Mamezou (from Poison Cherry Drive) & ??
おかま：アンジ (?)

17. What clothes do you prefer to wear at work?
T-shirts that are worn out at the sleeves & cuff.

18. What would you be doing if you haven't become a manga artist?
Anything else besides a manga artist? It's impossible to picture now. I persevered and become a manga artist.

19. One remark when you look in the mirror?
Seems there's no hair where it's not dyed.

20. Ideal type of male and female for you?
Ideal type of male: Glass Bat(蝙蝠), Count Satome(早乙女) or Mizuhara.
Ideal type of female: Reiko (from 'Koiga')

21. What are the factors that make you take a liking to someone?
a share of common topics during conversations and similar sense of humour

22. What's your favourite phrase or the words spoken when you're happy?
「萌えました」 (budding? probably means something's about to happen)

23. What are the conversation topics you'd pick when presented to an VIP?
Some practical ones or those related to the person's hobbies.

to be c'td

7 Questions

Last but not least, GO MOTONI SENSEI! Supports with you for miles and miles, so charge on with full angel engine speed!

Modoru Motoni's Official Website
schedules, profile, summaries, gallery & original writings
A MUST CHECK-OUT!!

Rue Royale 大黒屋 - Greatest Motoni Fan Site
Check out the secret chambers and walk through the winding alleys. You might just bump into sensei herself on the message board!

Mqronicle
A beautifully designed fansite containing a comprehensive list of Motoni's works. Simply professional! (Japansese only)

Sanguine
A half deserted English Fansite (rare!). It seems only the 'Prince of Monster' section is working... worth checking out though!

Reviews @ Aestheticism
Prince of Monster
Shiiku Gakari Rika 1 & 2
Tantei Aoneko 1 & 2
Super Sonic Engine
Koiga Bokura wo Yurusu Hani

- Text Links-

本仁 戻先生のお部屋 (Modoru Motoni's Room)
shoutbox & message board

Motoni's Fortune Telling Site (Japanese)
enter your bio data & see which Motoni character you are!

Supersonic (English)
a Modoru Motoni Fanlisting (looks deserted...)

Gallery @ my MSN space
a small collection of funny/pretty manga scans

Yuyurika (Chinese)
forum contains in depth analysis of 'shiiku gakari rika'

- Sites where you can get scans -

Fifay Scanlation Site (English, direct http downloads)
where you can find poison cherry drive & detective bluecat scans

Nakama & MFY Scanlation Sites (English, mIRC)
you can find Koiga Bokura wo Yurusu Hani, but via mIRC only

EofP Scanlation Site (English, mIRC)
the first two chapters from Shiikugakari Rika, mIRC only

BLGarden (Chinese, direct http downloads)
lots of Modoru Motoni scanlation downloads, but you have to register and gain enough credits