Japanese manga author.
One of the best known Manga author. Her story is really well thought and plots are interesting. SF and fantasy are her best. There are many works to date but my favourite is "Poe-no Ichizoku".... a complicated vampire story. My English is too poor to pay due recognition to this wonderful series.... Aha, pity.

Poe-no Ichizoku is published from Shogakukan in various format. This is a masterpiece of Japanese Shojo-manga! The first episode appeared in March 1972 (Shojo Comic, a Japanese monthly manga magazine) and continued to June 1976. The locale of this series is Europe (England, German or some other places). The time ranges from mid 18th to 20th.
This wonderful story is composed of many short episodes loosely connected. Time and places vary with each episode and not a time-series configuration. I cannot deny the possibility that one might find oneself at a loss due to this complication. The central characters are Edgar and Allan (and probably, Edgar's little sister Merrybell.) There is a vague undercurrent of homosexuality but its tone is very sophisticated, metaphysical and platonic. Say, an ultimate mode of mutual friendship and dependency of existence, colored with pathos, remorse and longing. (As many of you might have realized, yes, the naming is originated from "Edgar Allan Poe". The tone of the episodes leave somewhat similar feelings with Poe's wonderful stories. Lament, pathos, longing for the lost and past times, "something" irrecoverable... with dark segments.)

-- Brief sketch of the series --

The clan of Poe (or Poe family) is a vampire clan. They conceal their identity and live an elusive life. One day, Edgar, at fourteen, joined the clan and destined to live a life of unaging, undying eternity. Against his good judgement, he makes his little sister Merrybell into one of Poe clan. Merrybell was his love and the world. Edgar and Merrybell are eternal child (around 14--year-old) and cannot stay in one place for long. They do not age and neighbors will think it strange. They wonder around the places, hiding their identity. In one episode, Merrybell is killded (by silver bullet, no doubt!) by a suspicious neighbour and disappears from existence. Edgar's parents (not a true parents of course, but a parents (vampires for sure) of convenience to live in the world) also perishes at the same time.
One day he meets Allan (Merrybell is still alive at that point) and he contrives to welcome Allan to their clan. Because Merrybell needed a friend.... But Merrybell and his parents are killed. Edgar becomes alone in the world and must live a despairing life. Edgar makes Allan one of their own. "Come with me, Allan, the world is too lonly to live alone...." Allan chooses to go with Edgar and becomes one of the clan. After that, Edgar and Allan wonder the world occasionally being involved in a mundane life (mostly leaves a tragical or full of longing, forlorn feelings.)[ They meet their descendants and in one of such episodes, Allan accidentally falls into fire and perishes.... or did he? Edgar, alone, was left behind in a burning house. Did he also choose to perish? No one knows. He, too, disappears from the record of mankind.