Katsura Hoshino

born April 21st, 1980 in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. She is a Japanese manga writer and artist best known for her series "D.Gray-man". She made her debut with her one-shot "Continue" which was published in July 2003.

Biography
Katsura Hoshino was born April 21st, 1980 in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. She is the younger of fraternal twin girls and the second of three children. In 1998, Hoshino moved to Tokyo, and eventually managed to fulfil her dream of taking her mother there in 2006.

Hoshino started to seriously consider becoming a manga artist when she was 21, and ended up attending a meeting with Shueisha after her sister and a friend at her part-time job suggested that she try to pursue it.

However, when she did not sleep for three days straight, she was concerned she would not be able to make it to the meeting. Nevertheless, even after turning up a little late and in her pyjamas, the editor saw potential in her work and this would mark the beginning of her career as a manga artist.

Reception
Katsura Hoshino has been highly praised for her art, which has been compared by one reviewer to the works of Joe Madureira, Kelley Jones and Chris Bachalo. Another reviewer described it as "some of the best artwork in the business".

Hoshino's character designs have also received many positive comments ranging from "especially lovely" to "the most visually striking element" of her art, and it is said that her designs are "especially lovely and pitched to satisfy fans of both sexes". .

Nevertheless, she has also been highly criticized for her lack of skill in drawing action scenes. One reviewer believes that she will not, or perhaps cannot, draw psychical combat scenes.

Influence
Katsura Hoshino's most recognized work "D.Gray-man" is influenced by Hoshino's previous works. "D.Gray-man" and its predecessor "Zone" share many major concepts, such as the creation of demons known as Akuma, the Exorcists' role to eliminate these demons, and the overall plot of both works. The main antagonist of "Zone", known simply as The Earl of Millennium, retains his appearance and name in "D.Gray-man" while the features of the female protagonist were changed to create the more masculine appearance of D.Gray-man's male protagonist Allen Walker. Yu Kanda and Lavi are characters from Hoshino's unpublished works.

She uses unnamed famous scientists, Aleister Crowley and Yūsuke Santamaria as models for several of her characters. Characters are also based on her editor and the Tim Campi Design silver accessory brand. Hoshino collaborated with Kata Kizaki, the author of the novel adaptations, to create the character Bak Chan. Also, the role of Miranda Lotto changed, and was ultimately lengthened, after Hoshino realized the similarities the two shared.

Hoshino comically comments that Allen's hair has become very similar to the Super Saiyan, a transformation from Dragon Ball, in which the character's hair becomes spiky. Towards the beginning of D.Gray-man's publication, Hoshino stated that Allen, Kanda, and Cross Marian are the hardest characters to draw while the Earl of Millennium and Hevlaska are the easiest.

Hoshino commented that most of her ideas for the series came to her while she was taking a bath (adding that she has a tendency to fall asleep in the bath for six hours), an exception being the plot for second volume of the series, which is based on a Noh play called "Koi no Omoni". As she works, she enjoys listening to Final Fantasy soundtracks, Dragon Ball CDs, Porno Graffitti, L'Arc-en-Ciel, and jazz music.

Manga

 * 2002: Zone
 * 2003: Continue
 * 2004-ongoing: D.Gray-man
 * D.Gray-man Reverse 1 (2005) - Illustrations
 * D.Gray-man Reverse 2 (2006) - Illustrations
 * D.Gray-man Official Fanbook: Gray Ark (2008)
 * D.Gray-man Illustrations Noche  (2010)
 * D.Gray-man Reverse 3: Lost Fragment of Snow (2011) - Illustrations
 * D.Gray-man Character Workbook CharaGray!  (2011)
 * 2011: Kaiten!!
 * 2013: Demon King
 * 2016: Demon King: re

Anime

 * 2013: Valvrave the Liberator - Original Character Designer

Trivia

 * Hoshino drew her first manga at the age of 21.
 * She has a cat named Koro, who was born the same year as D-Gray Man.
 * Hoshino's favourite manga artist is Takeshi Obata known for his art work "Death Note" and "Bakuman" alongside with the writer Tsugumi Ohba.
 * She was once a assistant of Takeshi Obata.
 * Hoshino's favourite anime director is Hayao Miyazaki, known for directing the Lupin III series and various others.
 * Hoshino's blood type is O and is 1.73 cm.
 * Hoshino has three different editors to date: a editor named T, an editor named Yoshida and a editor named N (some of their names are unknown).
 * She likes curry, baths, the colour black, and curling up in bed.
 * She dislikes bananas, milk, and miso soup.
 * Hoshino has a tattoo on her right arm.
 * Hoshino's assistants are: Miyazaki, Okei, Oi-chan and Gunma.