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Mikiko is a German-Japanese artist who's currently living in London. Drawing is Mikiko's passion, and besides creating comics, she makes awesome illustrations as well. Recently, Mikiko seems to have pivoted entirely to the illustration side, while her comics remained relatively on hold. But that won't stop us from sharing them either way.

Judging by the comics, Mikiko's daily life revolves around two things: drawing and her adorable cat Emi. There are also some tangents like her crushes, daydreaming, interacting with people and whatnot. But those two are the center point of each and every comic.

You might be pleasantly surprised to learn that Mikiko is no stranger to Bored Panda, and we have already made two posts about her a long, long time ago, which you may find here and here.

More info: mikiko.art | Instagram | twitter.com | twitch.tv | patreon.com

The mundane and down-to-earth topics make one forget that Mikiko has an interesting life in and of itself. First, as you might have subsumed, illustration and art is her life, and that automatically makes it awesome. Second, she was "born in Tokyo and grew up in Hong Kong, Germany, Japan and Belgium." And now she lives in London, UK. A globetrotter right from the crib!

She also shared how she's been doing recently, and it seems that she's enjoying the world and been busy: "I'm very well, thank you! I've been working on many projects and going to conventions again for the first time in a long while. It's wild and I forgot how much I loved it. It's like reconnecting with the world again!"

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Mikiko's relationship with manga and art is also noteworthy to mention. She said that for her, "manga (Japanese comics) is a way for me to connect to home," which is Japan. She made her decision to live the life of an artist when she was 12: "I was always into cartoon drawings, but at age 12 I read my first Shonen Jump magazine (action adventure!) and decided, that's what I wanted to do as a job."

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The comic's been in a hiatus as of late, but not because Mikiko is not interested in them anymore, but because she's working hard on new stuff!

"I put a few things on hold as I work on some upcoming comics that I'm very excited about! I have a fantasy series in the works that I'm pretty excited about. It's not certain when I will release it, but it will be a series I've been planning for many years. I'm a big fan of fantasy and it was long overdue.

Right now I'm taking a break from them as my mental health suffered a bit during Covid especially, but I hope I can pick up the series again some time. My dream would be to include lots of readers' stories, since we're all very much alike and have fun stories to tell!"

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#5

Meet The Fun Comics By Japanese Artist Mikiko

mikiko.art Report

Now, down to the worldly details of this genuinely interesting comic artist. For one, as one would guess, most of it is made out of the typical grind of an illustrator. Emi, a cat which makes her frequent appearance in comics, is Mikiko's "favorite thing in the world". Oh, and she loves her husband, too. Besides these two, the things that inspire Mikiko the most are "people, music, and life with its funny problems in general. Other artists too of course! People are so creative and funny, it's inspiring.

#6

Meet The Fun Comics By Japanese Artist Mikiko

mikiko.art Report

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Millie
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You forgot about the part where you go outside momentarily and you die of heat exhaustion

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Mikiko also told about her humble beginnings as an illustrator and of the comic. When asked if the life of an illustrator is difficult, she said "it is, especially in the early years. I consider myself lucky that I have a supportive fanbase, a good reputation and lots of experience.

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Also, it helps having hundreds of pieces of art visible to the public that help me connect with interesting projects and people."

"Originally the mini-comics started out as little jokes and gifts I shared with friends and family. The first one I posted in 2010, and it unexpectedly went viral. People seemed to connect with my mundane daily experiences and it was always very cool to see the love the comics received."

If you know Bored Panda, you know we're never short on comics. Here are some of the most recent ones that we posted. If you're up for some classical type of comic as if they're fresh off of the newspaper, Will Santino shall provide exactly that. All of these comics are sweet and all, but perhaps they're too sweet for your dark tastes? Well, we have something for you, too. Oh, and one last random suggestion: swords. You heard the word, swords.

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According to Mikiko, the most important thing in a comic is "The story and flow is the thing I find most important and often neglected. If the timing isn't right, the best jokes won't get a laugh! It's invisible to most readers, but great comics have a great rhythm in their storytelling."

#9

Meet The Fun Comics By Japanese Artist Mikiko

mikiko.art Report

Here's a special message from Mikiko to you, our dear readers:

"Big thanks to Bored Panda for having me back, it's always a pleasure! Also a huge THANK YOU, dear readers, for always sharing, laughing and loving my work! It means the world to me and I hope we can see each other again soon, here or at events, in a bookstore or on the road."

#11

Meet The Fun Comics By Japanese Artist Mikiko

mikiko.art Report

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Paige Turner
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Adorable!! I can tell see myself in the one with the sports bra with the fans pointing at me.

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#15

Meet The Fun Comics By Japanese Artist Mikiko

mikiko.art Report

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best turtle
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

she looks like she's desperately holding in a s**t while waiting for the person in the bathroom to be done

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#16

Meet The Fun Comics By Japanese Artist Mikiko

mikiko.art Report

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Kathryn Baylis
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This issue is as old as time itself. I bet when we crawled out of the slime billions of years ago, we may have seen another blob that looked sexy to us, but we’re too shy to crawl over and say hi. Sometimes, though, you have to take a deep breath and just go for it. All they can do is say no. Then you just say OK and be done with it. Because they’re not the only blob in the slime.

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#17

Meet The Fun Comics By Japanese Artist Mikiko

mikiko.art Report

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Jeff Diamond
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love it when I'm in a group with multiple women. Game-wise, everything tends to be more fun and interesting.

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