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 [[GirlNextDoor young female characters]], their {{love interest}}s, their [[ComingOfAgeStory development as people]] and [[SliceOfLife 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 [[DeathByFallingOver slipping and hitting her head on a granite table]] when she, her husband Shigeru Nishikawa, ''and'' their 10-year-old son [[DiabolusExMachina were moving into their new home]]. Her injuries left her in a coma, [[TimeDelayedDeath and she died three weeks later]] at age 38. By that time she had [[DiedDuringProduction not finished her most famous work]], ''Manga/ItazuraNaKiss''; she had planned the ending, however, and it was used in the anime adaptation.

!!Some of Kaoru Tada's works are:
* Manga/AiShiteNight
* Manga/ItazuraNaKiss

!!Some tropes in her works are:
* AuthorAppeal: Stuff related to the Japanese musical scene of TheEighties. It poured all over in ''Manga/AishiteNight''.
** Also, Tada herself was from Osaka ''and it showed''.
* TheBeautifulElite
* ComingOfAgeStory
* GenderAndSexualityTropes: She has some CampGay and CampStraight characters around.
** {{Bowdlerize}}: It didn't always show so well in the anime versions of her mangas.
* GirlNextDoor: Her two more famous leads, Kotoko of ''Manga/ItazuraNaKiss'' and Yaeko/Yakko of ''Manga/AiShiteNight''.
* {{Shojo}}
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