Junko Mizuno

Junko Mizuno 水野純子
Junko Mizuno in Paris, 2014
Born	Mizuno Junko (1973-05-27)27 May 1973 Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Area(s)	Artist
Notable works	Pure Trance

Junko Mizuno (水野純子, Mizuno Junko^?) is a Japanese manga artist. Her drawing style is often termed as Gothic kawaii or kawaii noir style.

Mizuno's drawing style, which mixes childish sweetness and cuteness with terror and erotica, has often been termed a Gothic kawaii or kawaii noir style. However, Mizuno has stated that she does not feel comfortable about those terms, as she doesn't want to label her work with words because it keeps changing and is influenced by many different genres.

Mizuno has stated that her work is influenced by shōjo manga works; this influence is exhibited through her use of bright colorization and the large eyes she provides for her characters. Her art has a decidedly pop-art and psychedelic flair, and a sizable proportion of her published work is colored, rather than the black and white format typical of most Japanese comics.

A part of Mizuno's oeuvre revolves around fairy tales, showing titles such as Cinderalla, Princess Mermaid and Hansel&Gretel. The story behind this is that after the release of Pure Trance, Mizuno was approached by a Kinokuniya publisher who was interested in working with her because of her unique style. However, this publisher did not like the story of Pure Trance as it differed a lot from mainstream comics at the time. Because of this, he ask that she revise the original Cinderella tale in order to prove her story-telling skill and receive approval to write her own stories. Mizuno has stated that as she was just starting out her career as a professional artist, she decided to take the opportunity, and that while in hindsight she was not very comfortable with the situation, it was a good experience for her.