Kaze Hikaru, Vol. 21

A historical romance set in the time of Rurouni Kenshin! In the 1860s in Japan, a new era is dawning. During this time fraught with violent social upheaval, samurai of all walks of life flock to Kyoto in the hope of joining a band of warriors united around their undying loyalty to the Shogunate system. This group became one of the greatest (and most infamous) movements in Japanese history...the Shinsengumi! Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen plus audiences.

Taeko Watanabe debuted as a manga artist in 1979 with her story Waka-chan no Netsuai Jidai (Love Struck Days of Waka). Kaze Hikaru is her longest-running series, but she has created a number of other popular series. Watanabe is a two-time winner of the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award in the girls’ category—her manga Hajime-chan go Ichiban! (Hajime-chan Is Number One!) claimed the award in 1991, and Kaze Hikaru took it in 2003.

Watanabe read hundreds of historical sources to create Kaze Hikaru. She is from Tokyo.