Tachibana Higuchi

Tachibana Higuchi (樋口 橘, Higuchi Tachibana, born March 16, 1976) is a Japanese manga artist known for her works of Gakuen Alice and Portrait of M and N.

In year 1996, she first made her professional debut in Bessatsu Hana to Yume's 5th issue, entitled 5 Gatsu no Sakura (5月のサクラ, The Cherry Blossoms of May).

With an interview with Tokyopop she gave a detailed look on how she started as a manga artist:

I first submitted a manga story a while after I graduated from high school. Up until then I was studying for the entrance examinations for the Art University, and as part of that, I sometimes drew manga and four-panel strip comics for fun.

Because I was conscious of the fact that I had started drawing manga in earnest at a later age, I think my progress during the beginning on drawing and storytelling techniques was fast as I frantically tried to absorb everything I could learn about creating manga. After the serialization of the story began, as I got busy, I was so desperate to submit it on time that I feel that the drawings probably haven’t improved much compared to before.

During the serialization of the manga, I think my story telling techniques improved more as I concerned myself with how to catch the attention of the readers, how well one can incorporate what the readers are seeking into the story.[1]

Her current completed work is Gakuen Alice.