Urusei Yatsura Director GuideBy: Harley AcresThe director and the animation director are the key staffers in determining the final appearance of an individual episode. Many significant people such as Mamoru Oshii, Yuji Moriyama, and Akemi Takada all did some of their earliest work on Urusei Yatsura. Other staff members would go on to similar prominence by working on later Takahashi series, such at Atsuko Nakajima, Asami Endo and Tsukasa Dokite. By analyzing the personal styles of these directors we hope to present a better understanding of how much work goes into each series. Masami Abe (アベ正己) (Episodes directed: 10)  Abe's animation is quite nice and very expressive. It is reminiscent of the second film, Beautiful Dreamer. He has had a very lengthy career, beginning in the 1970s with in-between work on Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョー) and Tensai Bakabon (天才バカボン), he would eventually go on to work on Patarillo! (パタリロ!) and Miyuki (みゆき) as an animation director. His varied work includes Osomatsu-kun (おそ松くん), Detective Conan (名探偵コナン) and Kodomo no Omocha (こどものおもちゃ). [1] [2] Taro Chokan (朝刊太郎) (Episodes directed: 1)  Although he only did one episode, Chokan's animation style stands out as being quite good. His polished, detailed style is very indicative of the high quality of animation Urusei Yatsura had in its stewardship under Kazuo Yamazaki. There is virtually nothing about him online so he was either only in the industry for a very short time or this is an alias for another director, perhaps. [3] Shinkuro Date (伊達真紅郎) (Episodes directed: 1)  Another animation director that came to the series later on, his style is very similar to that of Tsukasa Dokite. Like Taro Chokan mentioned above, he has very few credits in the industry with work on Hyper Police (はいぱーぽりす) and Tokyo Mew Mew (東京ミュウミュウ). [4] Tsukasa Dokite (土器手司) (Episodes directed: 10)  Dokite helped to define the look of the Kazuo Yamazaki era of Urusei Yatsura along with Yuji Moriyama. His designs look extremely different that those of early animation directors such as Asami Endo and Yuji Yatabe, more detailed and sophisticated. Dokite was also one of the crew members that transitioned to Maison Ikkoku after the end of Urusei Yatsura. He has been with Sunrise for quite some time and consequently been involved in a number of Gundam projects over the decades. He also worked on Project A-ko and Dirty Pair. [5] [6] Asami Endo (遠藤麻未) (Episodes directed: 50)  Asami Endo is one of the most prolific animation directors on Urusei Yatsura and also handled the animation direction for the very first episode. Though her work starts out simple initially it quickly develops with more color and detail, becoming very colorful by episode 37 "Appearance of the Red Phantom", but at this point the character designs are still more streamlined (regardless of who is the animation director on any given episode was). She is responsible for most of the "look" associated with the Mamoru Oshii era of Urusei Yatsura. A standout episode is episode 61, "The Mendo Family's Masquerade Ball" which is a personal favorite and showcases Endo's impressive skills and designs, especially when you consider that she is able to make an impressive episode while all the characters wear expressionless masks. She will later go on to work on a number of episodes of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 and worked as the key animator for Fire Tripper, The Supergal and Laughing Target. She would also work on Inuyasha as a key animator for episode 62 "Tsubaki's Unrelenting Evil Spell". Amazingly she also worked as a key animator on the first episode of the 2022 version of Urusei Yatsura also as a key animator. [7] [8] Yuichi Endo (遠藤裕一) (Episodes directed: 13)  His work is very similar to early Yuji Yatabe episodes. His direction on episode 58 "Getting a Kiss From Miss Snow" was somewhat weak compared to what other animation directors were doing around this time as the animation seems too simplistic in certain parts. Overall he's satisfactory but at times he tends to be average. His other work includes Metal Armor Dragonar (機甲戦記ドラグナー), Mama is a Fourth Grader (ママは小学4年生) and Emma: A Victorian Romance (英國戀物語エマ). [9] Kazuhiro Furuhashi (古橋一浩) (Episodes directed: 2)  Furuhashi is one of the few directors to only tackle two episodes. Furuhashi's work is quite consistent among the other animation directors that came onboard after Mamoru Oshii left. Furuhashi would go on to work on both Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2 and would later go on to transition to directing where he has gained a great deal of acclaim for his work on Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心), Hunter x Hunter (ハンター×ハンター) and Spy x Family. [10] [11] Noboru Furuse (古瀬登) (Episodes directed: 10)  Furuse stays very close to early the early character designs provided by Asami Endo. His work is similar to Yatabe or Nobe, but not quite as sophisticated. Personally I don't think his animation is quite as clean as Motosuke Takahashi, another director that stays close to the set designs. Furuse's work seems anchored in the earlier style of the series. He would go on to craft the two short-lived Maison Ikkoku openings and endings for Alone Again, Naturally and Get Down which are generally considered two of the more middlingly animated themes for the series. [12] [13] Of his less than loved work on Maison Ikkoku's themes, Yoko Matsushita, the producer at the time, said as follows about the shift to Alone Again, Naturally and Get Down as the new themes: “At that time, Takashi Anno's chief director was changing, and the production site was quite busy, so I had to appoint Noboru Furuse, who is unfamiliar with the character of Maison Ikkoku, as the animation director, but the completed opening and ending are not similar in character. The color was unsatisfactory. Therefore, the audience rating of episode 24 dropped, but in reality the song was far from the image of Maison Ikkoku, but I allowed it without noticing that it was not Maison Ikkoku like, which led to a decrease in the audience rating. So it was also said that this was a factor. In addition, there was an angry phone call, so we immediately returned to the original opening and ending.” [14] [15] Takefumi Hayashi (林隆文) (Episodes directed: 16)  His work on episode 73 "The Big Showdown! Sakura vs. Sakuranbo" has some interesting, sparse backgrounds, but I find that his character designs aren't as strong as the other designers at times, and tend to vary in quality throughout the episode. One of his trademarks seems to be rather outrageous expressions with open mouths and narrowed eyes on certain male characters faces and not quite fluid animation (though this is an artistic choice, not a comment on his skill). His interpretations of Ten and Cherry are odd as he tends to give them giant heads. To me Hayashi's style feels very evocative of the 1980s. He was the main animator of Birth (バース) and Windaria (ウインダリア), the later of which invovled a number of Urusei Yatsura animators. He also handled the animation direction for a number of Kimagure Orange Road (きまぐれオレンジ☆ロード) episodes as well. [16] [17] Toshihiro Hirano (平野俊弘) (Episodes directed: 3)  Hirano's animation style is pretty similar to that of Asami Endo and the other early animation directors on the series. Overall his style is good. Among the Urusei Yatsura staff he's among the mid-tier animation directors. One of his trademarks seems to be somewhat elongated faces. He was involved with the Daicon III and IV opening animation made with Hideaki Anno. [18] [19] He is well known for his work on Super Dimensional Fortress Macross (超時空要塞マクロス) and Dr. Slump. [20] Masahiko Imai (今井正彦) (Episodes directed: 1)  Imai's designs for the one episode he worked on are something of a regression compared to what most of the other animation directors were doing at the time. His work looks too simple and dated when compared to Kannan and other directors who came on later in the series. He handled in-between animation for Ikkyu-san (一休さん) and Ganso Tensai Bakabon (元祖天才バカボン). [21] Masaaki Kannan (河南正昭) (Episodes directed: 10)  Kannan's work is very clean and similar in style to Chokan or Shibui. He directed quite a few episodes towards the end of the series. Sometimes his work bears a resemblance to that of Atsuko Nakajima. Kannan later went on to be one of the principal animation directors on Maison Ikkoku. Additionally he provided character designs for the classic culinary anime Oishinbo (美味しんぼ) and Hello Hedgehog (ハロー張りネズミ) (released in English as Domain of Murder). [22] [23] Kyoko Kato (加藤鏡子) (Episodes directed: 8)  Kato's episodes feature good animation, somewhat similar to Asami Endo, with a more updated look. She does not have a tremendously lengthy career with most of her animation directing being on Urusei Yatsura and Mahou no Star Magical Emi (魔法のスター マジカルエミ). Her prior and later work was mostly as an in-between animator or key animator on Doraemon films. [24] Atsushi Matoba (的場敦) (Episodes directed: 1)  Another one-time-only animation director with a solid style. Matoba worked on episode 191 "Blind Love! You Bet Your Life, Honest Fox". Episodes with Kitsune often function as showcases for animation directors due to the long silences allowing the visuals to take center stage. He also was responsible for character designs for What's Michael, in-between animation on Only You and key animation on Lum the Forever. [25] Yuji Moriyama (森山ゆうじ) (Episodes directed: 13)  Moriyama's animation is a standout of some of the Oshii years, and his fluid movement and well drawn characters are very attractive additions as the show's animation began to become more sophisticated. Besides working on a number of episodes for Urusei Yatsura he also animated the Rock the Planet and Koi no Möbius. After Urusei Yatsura, Moriyama went on to work as one of the character designers for Maison Ikkoku (both the TV series as a character designer and on the film) and the iconic Macross Plus. He also served as a key animator or as animation director for the first three Urusei Yatsura films. He also worked on Project A-ko and Robot Carnival (ロボットカーニバル). [26] [27] Atsuko Nakajima (中嶋敦子) (Episodes directed: 1)  Atsuko Nakajima only did one episode of Urusei Yatsura, but this was prior to her fame as character designer and one of the primary animation directors on Ranma 1/2. As you can see her style is very similar to what she later used on Ranma 1/2. Nakajima also worked on Maison Ikkoku making her one of the only people involved in all three of Takahashi's Kitty era anime television shows (and as a bonus she did some key animation on Inuyasha The Movie 4: Fire on the Mystic Island). Additionally she is the character designer and chief animation director on Bungo and Alchemist -Gears of Judgement- (文豪とアルケミスト～審判ノ歯車～), character designer on Six Gates Far Away Mon Colle Knight: Legendary Fire Dragon (劇場版 六門天外モンコレナイト 伝説のファイアドラゴン), character designs and chief animation director on Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto (坂本ですが？), and character designs and chief animation director on Komi Can't Communicate (古見さんは、コミュ症です。). [28] [29] We have an interview with Nakajima translated if you'd like to learn more. Hayao Nobe (野部駿夫) (Episodes directed: 28)  His style is similar to Asami Endo but with a more expressive use of facial features. He is something of a transition between the two styles that dominated the show, and as other animation directors improved I felt he lagged a bit. Nobe is one of the more prolific animation directors from Urusei Yatsura. He worked on Belladonna of Sadness (哀しみのベラドンナ) and animation direction for Maya the Bee (みつばちマーヤの冒険). [30] Hidetoshi Omori (大森英敏) (Episodes directed: 4)  Omori possesses an interesting style, with unique faces. One characteristic that stands out to me is his thin eyebrows on female characters. He is well respected for directing the Robot Carnival segment "Desire" alongside serving as the character designer on The Guyver II: Bio Booster Armor (強殖装甲ガイバー II) and an animator on Space Adventure Cobra (スペースコブラ) and key animation on episodes of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Zガンダム) and animation director on Mobile Suit Gundam: Char`s Counterattack (機動戦士ガンダム 逆襲のシャア). In Rumic World, he also worked as key animator on Inuyasha particularly on episode 1 "The Girl Who Overcame Time...and the Boy Who was Just Overcome" and episode 5 "Aristocratic Assassin, Sesshomaru". [31] [32] Takeshi Osaka (大坂竹志) (Episodes directed: 5)  A fairly standard animation director when evaluating his work on Urusei Yatsura. His work closely matches Asami Endo's style. In episode 95 "Lum-chan's Ancient Japanese Fairy Tales" he's pretty weak. At times his characters are too simplistic, especially with Ataru and Ten. In episode 97 "Duel! Benten vs. the Three Daughters" they are a little better, but still not the best. He worked as an animator on Aim for the Ace! (エースをねらえ!) animation direction on Tsurukichi Sanpei (釣りキチ三平) and key animation on the first Golgo 13 film and Lily C.A.T. [33] Toshiko Sasaki (佐々木敏子) (Episodes directed: 1)  Sasaki only did one episode, and his style captured character designer Akemi Takada's style quite well. She was the character designer for Scramble Wars: Tsuppashire! Genom Trophy Rally as well as Saiyuki (最遊記) and was the character designer and chief animation director on Gallery Fake as well as animation director on a number of episodes of YAIBA (剣勇伝説YAIBA). [34] Masahito Sawada (沢田正人) (Episodes directed: 4)  Sawada didn't do very many episodes, but what he did do turned out well. He fit very well with the more detail oriented work that was done later in the series, and his work complements that of Masaaki Kannan well. His other work includes key animation on Running Boy Star Soldier no Himitsu (RUNNING BOY スター·ソルジャーの秘密) and A Wind Named Amnesia (風の名はアムネジア). [35] [36] Setsuko Shibuichi (四分一節子) (Episodes directed: 3)  Her work as animation director is similar to Furuse's. Clean designs, fluid animation and her cute design for Rei and Ran were particularly noticeable. She did the character designs for Grey: Digital Target (GREY デジタル・ターゲット) as well as the fifth film Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter. [37] Akemi Takada (高田明美) (Episodes directed: 1)  She is the character designer for this show, and later Maison Ikkoku as well. Surprisingly the one episode she handled the animation direction for, episode 67 "Seeing Shangri-La as a Hell Camp!" did not look very different than the work of Asami Endo. Her other character design projects include Time Bokan Series: Yatterman (タイムボカンシリーズ ヤッターマン), Gatchaman II (科学忍者隊ガッチャマンII), Magical Angel Creamy Mami ( 魔法の天使 クリィミーマミ) and Kimagure Orange Road (きまぐれオレンジ☆ロード) and Patlabor: Mobile Police. [38] We have an interview with Takada translated if you'd like to learn more. Motosuke Takahashi (高橋資祐) (Episodes directed: 4)  Pretty standard as an animation director when it comes to Urusei Yatsura, but he is one of the staff that also worked as an episode director as well. He was responsible for one of the weirdest episodes (episode 84 "Horrors! Attack of the Slimy Potatoes!"). Very clean designs, without deviating much from the standard character designs of Akemi Takada. Motosuke Takahashi directed all three of the OVA adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi's short stories Fire Tripper, The Supergal and Laughing Target. His other word includes Wonderful Adventures of Nils (ニルスのふしぎな旅), Osomatsu-kun (おそ松くん), Yu Yu Hakusho (幽☆遊☆白書), Yuusha Raideen (勇者ライディーン) and Chou Denji Robo Com Battler V (超電磁ロボ コン・バトラーV). [39] [40] Naoko Yamamoto (山本直子) (Episodes directed: 1)  Judging the quality of her work from a single episode is difficult, but she definitely did a good job on her only outing as an animation director. She stayed very close to Akemi Takada's character designs and turned in a bright and vibrant episode. She has also done key animation for Fire Tripper, The Supergal and The Laughing Target as well as and key animation for three episodes of Ranma 1/2 Nettohen. Her more significant contributions come via her work for Sunrise on Inuyasha. Throughout a large portion of her career she worked closely with Motosuke Takahashi. [41] [42] Kazuo Yamazaki (やまざきかずお) (Episodes directed: 10)  Kazuo Yamazaki's work featured very clean animation that stays close to the character designs but have his own sensibilities about them. His episode, episode 44 "After You've Gone", was voted the best episode of Urusei Yatsura by Japanese fans. After Mamoru Oshii left the show, Kazuo Yamazaki stepped in as the series director and took the show in his own direction while still remaining true to the groundwork Oshii had laid. The fact that he served as series director, animation director, and episode director goes a long way toward showing his immense talents. Beyond his work on Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku he directed Five Star Stories (ファイブスター物語), Please Save My Earth (ぼくの地球を守って) and A Wind Named Amnesia (風の名はアムネジア). [43] [44] We have an interview with Yamazaki translated if you'd like to learn more. Naoyuki Yoshinaga (吉永尚之) (Episodes directed: 1)  Yoshinaga is interesting in that he worked primarily as an episode director of which he directed many episodes, but served as animation director for only a single episode. He directed a number of episodes of Maison Ikkoku as well as Patlabor: Mobile Police, Kimagure Orange Road (きまぐれオレンジ★ロード), Wolf Guy, and Irresponsible Captain Tylor (無責任艦長タイラー). [45] [46] Yuji Yatabe (谷田部雄次) (Episodes directed: 8)  Similar to Asami Endo early on, with a little more detail on close ups. He did character designs for Manga Nihonishi (まんが日本史) and animation direction for Song of Baseball Enthusiasts (野球狂の詩) and Kagaku Boukentai Tansar 5 (科学冒険隊タンサー5). [47] |
Footnotes
- [1] "Masami Abe." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=masami_abe+.
- [2] "Abe Masami." AniDB.net. July 5, 2022. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/7828.
- [3] "朝刊太郎." Atwiki.jp. February 27, 2013. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://w.atwiki.jp/anime_wiki/pages/9994.html.
- [4] "伊達真紅郎." Atwiki.jp. November 10, 2016. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://w.atwiki.jp/anime_wiki/pages/9993.html.
- [5] "Tsukasa Dokite." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=tsukasa_dokite+.
- [6] "Dokite Tsukasa." AniDB.net. May 27, 2016. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/3722.
- [7] "Asami Endo." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=asami_endo+.
- [8] "Endou Asami." AniDB.net. September 22, 2022. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/10292.
- [9] "Endou Yuuichi." AniDB.net. January 15, 2010. Accessed November 5, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/8571.
- [10] "Kazuhiro Furuhashi." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 5, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=kazuhiro_furuhashi+.
- [11] "Furuhashi Kazuhiro." AniDB.net. June 7, 2013. Accessed November 5, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/1410.
- [12] "Noboru Furuse." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 5, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=noboru_furuse+.
- [13] "Furuse Noboru." AniDB.net. February 7, 2017. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/4307.
- [14] "めぞん一刻 (アニメ)." Wikipedia.org. October 1, 2022. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://ja.wikipedia.org/ wiki/めぞん一刻 (アニメ).
- [15] "あにめぞん感想、ざっくばらん24." 瀬戸際の暇人. February 25, 2012. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://blog.goo.ne.jp/kotobukibiyori /e/3e4a7bc51cc5ef0c80443335efd314d2.
- [16] "Hayashi Takafumi." AniDB.net. August 27, 2022. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/6739.
- [17] "Takafumi Hayashi." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=takafumi_hayashi+.
- [18] "Hirano Toshihiro." AniDB.net. February 13, 2020. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/1936.
- [19] "Toshihiro Hirano." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=toshihiro_hirano+.
- [20] "平野俊貴." Atwiki.jp. September 26, 2021. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://w.atwiki.jp/sakuga/pages/1977.html.
- [21] "Imai Masahiko." AniDB.net. September 4, 2011. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/28315.
- [22] "Kannan Masaaki." AniDB.net. November 16, 2021. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/5503.
- [23] "Masaaki Kannan." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=masaaki_kannan+.
- [24] "Katou Kyouko." AniDB.net. July 9, 2011. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/27460.
- [25] "Matoba Atsushi." AniDB.net. November 19, 2016. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/10437.
- [26] Yuji Moriyama." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=yuji_moriyama+.
- [27] "もりやまゆうじ." Atwiki.jp. June 1, 2021. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://w.atwiki.jp/anime_wiki/pages/143.html.
- [28] "Atsuko Nakajima." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=atsuko_nakajima+.
- [29] "Nakajima Atsuko." AniDB.net. February 13, 2015. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/1419.
- [30] "Nobe Hayao." AniDB.net. June 19, 2016. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/7610.
- [31] "Hidetoshi Oomori." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=hidetoshi_oomori+.
- [32] "Oomori Hidetoshi." AniDB.net. January 8, 2015. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/5090.
- [33] "Oosaka Takeshi." AniDB.net. July 9, 2009. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/6035.
- [34] "Sasaki Toshiko." AniDB.net. January 19, 2011. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/4992.
- [35] "Sawada Masahito." AniDB.net. May 20, 2022. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/12317.
- [36] "Masahito Sawada." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=masahito_sawada+.
- [37] "Shibuichi Setsuko." AniDB.net. February 7, 2017. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/5433.
- [38] "Takada Akemi." AniDB.net. November 6, 2016. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/3008.
- [39] "Takahashi Motosuke." AniDB.net. April 12, 2022. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/4788.
- [40] "Motosuke Takahashi." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=motosuke_takahashi+.
- [41] "Naoko Yamamoto." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=naoko_yamamoto+.
- [42] "Yamamoto Naoko." AniDB.net. June 12, 2016. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/11316.
- [43] "Kazuo Yamazaki." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=kazuo_yamazaki+.
- [44] "Yamazaki Kazuo." AniDB.net. March 28, 2011. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/1640.
- [45] "Naoyuki Yoshinaga." Sakugabooru. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://www.sakugabooru.com/ post?tags=naoyuki_yoshinaga+.
- [46] "Yoshinaga Naoyuki." AniDB.net. September 19, 2015. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/1646.
- [47] "Yatabe Yuuji." AniDB.net. July 18, 2016. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://anidb.net/creator/46357.
Harley Acres is an art historian and college professor. Alongside his brother, Dylan Acres, they have written extensive analyses on each of the animation directors of all of Rumiko Takahashi's anime adaptations including Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha and Yashahime, and Kyokai no RINNE.
