You Shiina

You Shiina
You Shiina's Tumblr icon
Kanji	椎名 優
Occupation	Artist
Created works	Ascendance of a Bookworm Sagrada Reset You Shiina Art Collection LiberStella ~ Ascendance of a Bookworm & Other

You Shiina (椎名 優, Shiina Yū) is a Japanese freelance illustrator and manga artist. Her diverse portfolio includes contributions to light novel and children's book covers, illustrations, as well as game package and character design. Notably, she gained recognition for her work on the illustrations for the Ascendance of a Bookworm light novel series by Miya Kazuki. She received the Dengeki Game Illustration Gold Award in 1998, and her cover art for the Ascendance of a Bookworm earned the Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! award in 2018 and 2019.

Career

From about the time of 5th or 6th grade in elementary school, she began seriously creating drawings and, in high school, started submitting work to contests. Shiina found employment at a game company and undertook the character designs for Purikura Daisakusen in 1996.

She contributed character designs for Tales of Commons (2005), Tales of Wahrheit (2006), and Tales of the World: Material Dungeon (2008) in the Tales of Mobile series of mobile phone games from Bandai Namco Games. In 2008, Shiina collaborated with fellow artist Haccan on illustrations and package design for The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky from Nihon Falcom.

In 2013, her artwork on the Sagrada Reset light novel series placed ninth in the annual Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! awards from publisher Takarajimasha. Her cover art and illustration work on the Ascendance of a Bookworm light novel series have consistently ranked in the top ten in Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! every year since 2017 and won in 2018 and 2019 . She was named the ninth most popular light novel illustrator in both 2021 and 2022 .

Accolades

Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! 2024 Cover by You Shiina

You Shiina has garnered numerous accolades, showcasing her exceptional talent as a Japanese freelance illustrator and manga artist. Her journey into the spotlight began in 1998 when she clinched the Gold Award for "Shizen Chūritsushi (自然調律師)" at the Dengeki Game Illustration Award.

In 2013, she secured the 9th position in the Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! magazine. The subsequent years witnessed an impressive streak of victories in the Tankōbon Category, with her work on the Ascendance of a Bookworm cover art claiming top positions. In 2017, the cover art won the 5th place, while 2018 and 2019 marked consecutive victories as it secured the 1st place. Further contributing to her legacy, Shiina's contribution to Ascendance of a Bookworm earned it the 7th position in the Top Light Novel of the Decade category in 2019.

The momentum persisted with successive triumphs, including a 2nd place in 2020 and another 2nd place in the Tankōbon Category in 2021. Notably, Shiina was recognized as a Top Illustrator in 2021, achieving the 9th position. The winning streak continued in 2022 with the cover art claiming the 3rd place in the Tankōbon Category and securing the 9th position in the Top Illustrator category again.

Trivia

• Although the kanji for her given name (優) is generally rendered in romaji as Yū, for English language publications it is rendered as You which sometimes also gets rendered as Yō.
• She uses the same kanji for her given name as the manga artist who just goes by Yū (illustrated one of the manga adaptations (Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki)of the well-known anime movie Wolf Children (2012).

External links

• YouShiina works (in Japanese)

Other info

• You Shiina at Wikipedia
• 椎名優 at Japanese Wikipedia