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Shikabane Cherry's Shoko Conami Takes Medical Leave

Manga creator Shoko Conami (Shinobi Life, Yu no Hana Tsubame) announced on her official blog on October 10 that her Shikabane Cherry manga will be going on hiatus so that she can recover from illness.

Conami noted that on September 3, she was hospitalized for extreme anemia. On September 5, she suffered a heart attack and was forced to undergo immediate surgery. Then on October 1, she had surgery to completely remove endometrial cancer (cancer in the uterus).

Conami wrote that she was released from the hospital on October 10. She added that the endometrial cancer was found in its early stages. Conami noted that since she has just been released from the hospital, she is still very weak, and she plans to take it easy in order to get better. She added that she hopes to resume Shikabane Cherry early next year. Conami added that because she has been "resurrected like a zombie" (her Shikabane Cherry manga stars a zombie lead) she hopes that her fans will continue to support her from now on.

Conami serialized her 13-volume Shinobi Life manga from 2006-2012. Tokyopop published seven volumes in North America before the company shut down its North American publishing division last year. Conami began serialization on her newest series Shikabane Cherry in Akita Shoten's Monthly Princess magazine in July.

[Via Manga News]