Riyoko Ikeda

is a Japanese manga artist and singer. She is included in the Year 24 Group, by some, although her status as one of them has been debated due to a focus more on epic stories than the internal psychology of those mangaka. She was one of the most popular Japanese comic artists in the 1970s, being best known for The Rose of Versailles. Education Ikeda was a philosophy major and a member of the Democratic Youth League of Japan, the youth wing of the Japanese Communist Party. She would later drop out. Career Ikeda began publishing manga in the magazine Kashihonya while studying philosophy. She debuted in 1967 with Bara Yashiki no Shōjo. Ikeda has written and illustrated many shōjo manga, many of which are based on historical events, such as the French Revolution or the Russian Revolution. Her use of foreign settings and androgynous themes made The Rose of Versailles and Orpheus no Mado enormous successes.