Most Fruitful Yuki (Comic)

Most Fruitful Yuki is a Japanese manga series. Originally, it was a one-shot comic, but following its use as a prop in the American film Juno, it has since been translated into many languages (including English) and has gained a cult following.

Synopsis

Yuki, a newly married young woman, discovers that she is pregnant and is eager to tell her husband, Kenji, a promising student at an elite ninja school. But before she gets the chance, Kenji, several other students, and most of the teachers from his school are kidnapped by the evil wizard Gorou. Gorou is not strong enough to kill them, so he traps them. But the wise sorcerer Daichi, one of the teachers who escapes capture, discovers a magical loophole: Yuki has a chance free them...as long as she is pregnant with Kenji's child. Unfortunately, the training Yuki will need to undergo in order to successfully free her husband will likely take years, and as soon as she gives birth, the loophole disappears. She persuades Daichi to cast a spell that will keep her pregnant until she is able to rescue her husband. In addition to the minions of Gorou who she is forced to battle regularly, she also finds herself fighting scores of demons and lesser villains who have decided to take advantage of the missing ninjas. She is joined in her fight by the students and teachers who evaded capture and they will not rest until they have rescued the other ninjas.

History

In 2001, 17-year-old Japanese artist Hayato Saito sketched an image of a pregnant superhero, inspired by his pregnant sister, Yuki Takahashi. At the time, Takahashi was on bed rest and confided to her younger brother that she was "bored, frustrated, and scared". Saito presented the sketch to her on his next visit and began entertaining his sister with stories of a fierce warrior intent on protecting her husband and her unborn child. Over the next few months, the character and the primary storyline of the officially named "Most Fruitful Yuki" solidified. By the time Takahashi gave birth (to a healthy daughter named Hana), Saito had drawn up the whole comic and gave it as a baby gift.

In late 2002, a guest to the Takahashi house saw the book, and pitched it to the publishing house where he worked. While there were some revisions, the publishers decided to leave the story essentially intact and Most Fruitful Yuki #1 was published with a small print run in July, 2003. They considered turning it into a series at that time. However, Saito was in college and disinclined to change his life given the salary they were offering. Additionally, the sales were only moderately successful. But by 2006, the comic had gained enough of a cult following to require several reprintings. They were even considering doing an English reprinting, and had begun working on a translation.

Juno began filming in early 2007. Writer Diablo Cody included a scene where a two characters look at a picture of a pregnant rock star. Production designer Steve Saklad had created that image, but was dissatisfied with it. In an interview, he said, "It looked like a pregnant woman holding a microphone. It wasn't exciting, didn't fit the mood of the movie, didn't seem like something that would excite Juno. And then a friend who was very into manga and anime told me about Most Fruitful Yuki. Of course, it wasn't called that yet, it was still exclusively available in Japanese and had a Japanese title. But I thought, 'Okay, I'll take a look at it.' And I was absolutely blown away, I thought it was perfect. Fortunately [director] Jason [Reitman] and [writer] Diablo [Cody] agreed with me, so we got our guys to immediately start seeing if we could get the rights to use it."

Of course, Juno did get the rights to use the newly translated cover of Most Fruitful Yuki. And as Juno soared in popularity, so did Most Fruitful Yuki.

By this time, Hayato Saito was out of college and eager to work on a manga series. Initially, Most Fruitful Yuki was published every other month, but by February 2008 it became a monthly. Its sales are not that of more mainstream series', but it has a solid following that continues to grow.