Yuzuko Hoshimi

Calling herself an apprentice witch, Yuzuko Hoshimi says her work exists to bring readers a moment of magic. It moves freely between picture book, fairy tale, manga, and novel, and even when her stories ask difficult questions about life, she hopes they will stay with readers quietly and gently, the way a treasured childhood picture book does.

Her full-color fantasy collection MAGICA began as stories she shared on Twitter and pixiv. Daiwashobo published the first Japanese volume, with newly drawn pages, in 2020, followed by a second in 2021. The English edition has earned acclaim of its own: Jan Mitsuko Cash’s translation of MAGICA Vol. 1 won Best Translation at the 2026 American Manga Awards. Hoshimi’s manga Ultramarine Blue also received an honorable mention in summer 2022 in the Four Seasons Award, the new-talent contest of Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine.