Perhaps her most famous work is the breakfast sequence in Howl’s Moving Castle (2004). When Sophie cooks bacon and eggs, the scene is alive. The fat spits violently, the bacon shrinks and warps at the edges, and the yolk trembles with a gelatinous wobble. Iwasaki animated the sound of the sizzle through the visual distortion of the air above the pan. To achieve this, she reportedly fried over 100 packs of bacon just to memorize the rhythm of the pop.

In 1997, Iwasaki expanded her craft to include painting on Amakusa ceramics, designing original artwork for corporate calendars and product labels. In 2005, she illustrated the picture book "Kokoro no Memory", marking her foray into children's literature. She has also created designs for Japanese postal stamps, including a collection titled "Flowers and Landscapes of Kyushu".

She works primarily in digital painting (using Photoshop and a tablet), but her process mimics traditional watercolor and gouache—building up washes of color, preserving paper texture, and leaving “imperfect” edges that feel human.

Another common theme in Iwasaki's work is the importance of friendship and relationships. Her manga series often feature close-knit groups of friends who support and encourage each other, and her characters are often portrayed as forming strong bonds with one another.

Iwasaki has cited several artists as inspirations, including the aforementioned Rumiko Takahashi and Moto Hagio, as well as Western artists like Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton. Her unique blend of Japanese and Western influences has resulted in a distinctive style that has captivated fans worldwide.

Key facts (manga/illustration)

Chizuru Iwasaki has received numerous awards and nominations for her work, including:

Her big break came when she was recruited by Studio Ghibli in the mid-1990s. At Ghibli, she quickly evolved from a key animator to a supervisory role. But it was director who recognized a specific, obsessive talent in Iwasaki: her ability to understand the physics of food.

As a female artist in a male-dominated industry, Iwasaki has become a role model for young women and girls who aspire to pursue careers in art and illustration. Her success has paved the way for other female artists to break into the industry, and her work continues to inspire and delight fans around the world.