Last Updated: June 11th, 2003
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Be-Papas is the name given to the collective team
of creative artists who collaborated in the creation of the story,
characters, and art of "Shoujo Kakumei Utena." This page is an explanation
of who they are, and what work they have done before and after Utena. It was
formed in 1996 by director / producer, Kunihiko Ikuhara.
The Be-Papas creative team for "Shoujo Kakumei Utena." is the following. Kunihiko Ikuhara, who served as the director and producer of the T.V. series and movie. He is know in the past for Sailor Moon S and the Sailor Moon R movie. He can often be caught wandering about at Anime Expo and Project A-kon. His most recent works includes Schell Bullet as well as being a vocalist in the Schell Bullet CD released in 2000. Chiho Saito developed the story and art for the series, movie, and manga. She was also the artist in the manga. Reading the Japanese Printed manga, Ms. Saito often talks about her work with Ikuhara and Be-Papas, as well as some social life. She was first introduced to the public as a the winner of a contest for new manga artists that was held by Shogakukan, a very large publishing giant, in 1982. The company published her debut title, Ken to Mademoiselle., and sense then , more then 60 collected volumes of her work have been published and more then ten million copes have been sold in Japan alone. When Ikuhara formed Be-Papas, he was so impressed by her work on the series Kanon, he picked her to design the look and feel of his project, and to write and draw the manga. Her style and affinity for both the romantic and epic themes where perfect for the Utena Project. In 1996, Saito joined Be-Papas as the only female member. Her version of the story, the manga, began it's print run the monthly manga anthology, Ciao. It went to win her the Shohakugan Manga Award for Best Girl Manga, among many others. Ms. Saito enjoys European stories and history, as well as theatrical and epic movies, such as Gone With The Wind and West Side Story. She also has a cat named Chu Chu Taro. Currently, she is working on Michiko Matsukura was the General Manager. Okuro Yuichirou was the producer along side of Ikuhara. Youji Enokido was the screenwriter. Shinya Hasegawa was the character designer and art supervisor. He was also the Key animation Supervisor during Neon Genesis Evangelion as well as the EVA movies. J.A. Seazer was the composer. Be-Papas did not end at Utena though. Currently, they are engaged in projects such as Schell Bullet and Hasegawa and Enokido's Shonen-Oh manga. You can find out more on Ikuhara's web page. Information here was taken from the Revolutionary Girl Utena DVDs, IkuniWeb, and other internet resources. |