Masaaki Yuasa

Masaaki Yuasa (湯浅 政明, Yuasa Masaaki, born March 16, 1965) is a Japanese animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, anime television and film director known for his wild, freeform style. In June 2014, he announced that he, along with his close affiliate Eunyoung Choi, had founded an animation studio by the name of Science Saru. Yuasa retired as the president of Science Saru on March 25, 2020.

Influences

For a presentation in February 2009 on the eve of that year's Image par image animation festival in Val-d'Oise, France, for which he also illustrated the poster, Yuasa selected and commented on some examples of animated works that have been an influence on his. These were:

• a film by Tex Avery
• another by Ladislas Starevich
• extracts from Yellow Submarine
• Fantastic Planet
• The Fox and the Hound
• The Wrong Trousers
• a Batman pilot from Lightbox Animation
• the 1971 Tōei Dōga film Ali Baba to Yonjuppiki no Tōzoku
• a Masaaki Ōsumi-directed episode of the first Lupin III television series
• part 4 of The Hakkenden: Shinshō
• the Tiger Mask and Mrs. Pepper Pot opening and ending titles respectively.

Works

Director

• Vampiyan Kids pilot film (1999) – Director, storyboard, layout
• Mind Game (2004) – Director, screenplay, character designer
• Kemonozume (2006) – Series director and composition; episode screenplays, storyboards, direction and key animation
• Genius Party (2008) – Director on "Happy Machine" segment
• Kaiba (2008) – Series director and creator; episode screenplays, storyboards and direction
• The Tatami Galaxy (2010) – Series director and screenplay; episode storyboards and direction
• Kick-Heart (2013) – Director (Introduced "Kickstarter" crowd source funding for anime.[1])
• Ping Pong: The Animation (2014) – Series director, series composition, screenplay, storyboards and direction
• Adventure Time (2014) – Director, writer and storyboard artist for the season 6 episode "Food Chain"
• Space Dandy (2014) – Director, writer, animation supervisor and storyboard artist for the episode 16, "Slow and Steady Wins the Race, Baby"
• Night Is Short, Walk On Girl (2017) – Director
• Lu over the Wall (2017) – Director and screenplay
• Devilman Crybaby (2018) – Director
• Ride Your Wave (2019) – Director
• Super Shiro (2019–20) – Director
• Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (2020) – Director
• Japan Sinks (2020) – Director
• Inu-Oh (2021) – Director

Other

• Chibi Maruko-chan (1990) – OP and ED animation (first season)
• Crayon Shin-chan (1992) – OP animation (fifth and sixth seasons) and ED animation (third and fourth seasons), animation director on episodes 48, 126, 260, 291 and specials
• The Hakkenden (1994) – Animation director on episode 10, "Hamaji's Resurrection" (浜路再臨)
• Noiseman Sound Insect (1997) – Animation direction, character design, layout
• My Neighbours the Yamadas (1999) – Animation
• Cat Soup (2001) – Animation producer, screenplay, planning
• Kujiratori (2001) – Character design
• Samurai Champloo (2004) – Animation on episode 9
• Welcome to The Space Show (2010) – Opening titles for The Space Show (in story)
• Wakfu (2010) – Character design for "Noximilien" special episode

Awards