Kaoru Tada (多田かおる Tada Kaoru?), (September 25, 1960–March 11, 1999) was a Japanese manga artist, born in the Osaka area. She made her debut in 1977, when still a high school student, on Shueisha's Deluxe Margaret magazine.
Tada's stories belong to the shōjo genre of manga. They feature love stories centred on young female characters, their love interests, their development as people and how life goes around them. The storylines include comedic moments and are characterised by essential and sharp drawings.
Tada passed away suddenly in 1999, via slipping and hitting her head on a granite table when she, her husband Shigeru Nishikawa, and their 10-year-old son were moving into their new home. Her injuries left her in a coma, and she died three weeks later at age 38. By that time she had not finished her most famous work, Itazura Na Kiss; she had planned the ending, however, and it was used in the anime adaptation.
Some of Kaoru Tada's works are:
Some tropes in her works are:
- Author Appeal: Stuff related to the Japanese musical scene of The '80s. It poured all over in Aishite Night.
- Also, Tada herself was from Osaka and it showed.
- The Beautiful Elite
- Coming of Age Story
- Gender and Sexuality Tropes: She has some Camp Gay and Camp Straight characters around.
- Bowdlerize: It didn't always show so well in the anime versions of her mangas.
- Girl Next Door: Her two more famous leads, Kotoko of Itazura Na Kiss and Yaeko/Yakko of Ai Shite Night.
- Shōjo
