Matsuri Hino

Matsuri Hino (樋野まつり, Hino Matsuri) is a Japanese mangaka and the author/artist of the Vampire Knight manga.

Hino started out as a bookstore shopkeeper until she decided to become a manga artist. She burst onto the manga scene with her professional debut in LaLa DX on September 10, 1995 with the series "Ko no Yume ga Same Tara" (この夢が覚めたら, When this dream is over). Hino was a manga artist a mere nine months after she decided to become one.

Vampire Knight
Hino decided to draw Vampire Knight during her stay in Osaka in 2004 for an autograph session. She decided she didn't want to draw another comedy and felt that a vampire story would be a challenge for her. Hino decided that Vampire Knight's theme would be Blood-covered school, LOVE, the love theme being "If you want to hurry, go slow."

Hino refuses to disclose much detail on Vampire Knight and consistently keeps it a secret. During her interview at a comic convention in Germany, when asked who Yuki would end up with, she said it was still a secret. She does however divulge some non-essential teasers from time to time. She also mentioned that if she had not become a mangaka, she would have taken a career as an architect or a Japanese craft-master.

Trivia

 * Hino said her editor complimented her on Zero and Kaname's hands and she admits that the hands are based on her own and apologized for the fantasy.
 * When asked by fans who she would most like to have drink her blood, she said no one as she is anemic.
 * During her trip to U.S.A., Hino bought a huge weaponry book for reference.
 * Hino admits she likes to draw hidden meanings in her drawings, such as a the fang pendant that Yuki wears on the cover of 6th Night.
 * She usually thinks of biting as a beastial act, with the exception of Kaname; "with him it would be a kiss instead".