title: Aoi Hiiragi
text: is a Japanese manga artist who grew up in Mibu. Many consider stories such as Hoshi no Hitomi no Silhouette and Gin'iro no Harmony to be her masterpieces. However, she is known for her Whisper of the Heart manga, and the film based on it.
  
  Life and work 
  Hiiragi was born in Fukuoka (which became Kamifukuoka in 1972 and then Fujimino in 2005), Saitama Prefecture, Japan, and grew up in Mibu, Tochigi.  
  
  She made her manga debut with Cobalt Blue no Hitoshizuku in the manga magazine Ribon Original in 1984. She created a number of other manga over the next two decades, including Hoshi no Hitomi no Silhouette and Gin'iro no Harmony.  
  
  She currently resides in Hakodate, Hokkaidō.
  
  Whisper of the Heart 
  Hiiragi's most widely known work is Whisper of the Heart, a manga which was later made into an anime film by Studio Ghibli.  A number of its characters made its way into other stories and into popular culture.  The protagonist of the film was the inspiration for Lofi Girl, whose first iteration was based closely on a still from the film. Two cats in the film, the Baron and Muta, have appeared in five different Studio Ghibli productions.  
  
  Studio Ghibli commissioned another story from Hiiragi involving the cats as more central characters, which became Baron, Neko no Danshaku, also released as The Cat Returns. While this is a sequel of sorts, it is not a continuation of the story found in Whisper.
  
  Bibliography
  
  Manga
  
  Series
  Hoshi no Hitomi no Silhouette (Ribon, 1985–1989)
  Hoshi no Hitomi no Silhouette Bangaihen
  Oinari-san Dai Panic (Ribon, 1988)
  Engage (Ribon Original, 1991)
  Engage II
  Hoshikuzu Serenade (2018)
  Mimi wo Sumaseba [Whisper of the Heart] (Ribon, 1989)
  Mimi wo Sumaseba: Shiawase na Jikan (Ribon Original, 1995; released the year of the film)
  Gin'iro no Harmony (Ribon, 1990–1992)
  Step (Ribon, 1993)
  Peppermint Graffiti (Ribon Original, 1994)
  Yuki no Sakura no Ki no Shita de... (Bouquet, 1997)
  Smile! (Margaret, 1998)
  Yume no Machi: Neko no Danshaku (Margaret, 2002)
  Kono Machi de Kimi ni  (Margaret, 2002)
  "Okaa-san" no Jikan
  
  One-shots
  Campus Sketch
  Cobalt Blue no Hitoshizuku (her debut work)
  Harukaze no Melody
  Hajimemashite
  Joshikō no Okite
  Kikyou no Saku Goro
  Kisetsu no Shiori
  Kono Machi de Anata ni   ( & Issho ni   &  Kimi ni )
  Mahō no Toketa Princess
  Naimono Nedari (1 &2)
  Otome Gokoro·Yume Gokoro
  Shōjo Shōkei
  Spring!
  Yuki no Sakura no Ki no Shita de...
  Yume no Kaori no Tea Time
  
  Films
   Mimi wo Sumaseba [Whisper of the Heart] (1995)
   The Cat Returns (2002)
  
  Books
  
   Baron: The Cat Returns (2002), a children's book 
  
  Sora no Eki  [The Cat Returns] (2002), a picture book
  
  Albums
  Hoshi no Hitomi no Silhouette Image album (Warner/Pioneer, 1987)
  
  References
  
  External links
   
  
  1962 births
  Living people
  Manga artists
  Women manga artists
  Japanese female comics artists
  Female comics writers
  20th-century Japanese women writers
  21st-century Japanese women writers