- Katsuhiro Otomo
-
Katsuhiro Otomo 
Born Katsuhiro Otomo
April 14, 1954
Miyagi Prefecture, JapanNationality Japanese Area(s) Writer, penciller Notable works Dōmu
AkiraAwards Will Eisner Award
Harvey Award
Nihon SF Taisho Award
Kodansha Manga AwardKatsuhiro Otomo (大友 克洋 Ōtomo Katsuhiro, born April 14, 1954) is a Japanese comic book creator, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation. Otomo has also directed several live-action films, such as the 2006 feature film adaptation of the manga Mushishi.
Contents
Biography
Katsuhiro Otomo was born in Miyagi Prefecture and grew up in Tome-gun. While he was in high school he was fascinated with movies, often taking a three-hour train during school holidays just to see them. In 1973 he graduated high school and left Miyagi, heading to Tokyo with the hopes of becoming a manga artist. On October 4, 1973, he published his first work, a manga adaptation of Prosper Merimee's short novel Mateo Falcone, titled A Gun Report.
In 1979, after writing multiple short-stories for the magazine Action, Otomo created his first science-fiction work, titled Fireball. Although the manga was never completed, it is regarded as a milestone in Otomo's career as it contained many of the same themes he would explore in his later, more successful manga such as Dōmu. Dōmu began serialization in January 1980 and ran for two years until completed. In 1983, it was published in book form and would win the Nihon SF Taisho Award,[1] the Japanese equivalent to the Nebula Award.
In 1982, Otomo made his anime debut, working as character designer for the animated film Harmagedon. The next year, Otomo began work on a manga which would become his most acclaimed and famous work: Akira. It took eight years to complete and would eventually culminate in 2000 pages of artwork. In 1987, Otomo continued working in anime, directing an animated work for the first time: a segment, which he also wrote the screenplay and drew animation for, in the anthology feature Neo Tokyo. He followed this up with two segments in another anthology, Robot Carnival.
While the serialization of Akira was taking place, Otomo decided to animate it into a feature film, although the comic was yet to be finished. In 1988, the animated film Akira was released.
Otomo has recently worked extensively with noted studio Sunrise. The studio has animated and produced his recent projects, including the 2004 feature film Steamboy, 2006's Freedom Project and his latest project, SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next, released in 2007.
Otomo is apparently going to be the executive producer of the live action adaptation of his manga series Akira.[2]
Bibliography
Comic and picture books
Year Title Role(s) 1973 A Gun Report Writer, Penciller 1979 Short Peace Writer, Penciller 1979 Highway Star Writer, Penciller 1979 Fireball Writer, Penciller 1980 Domu: A Child's Dream Writer, Penciller 1980 Kibun wa mō Sensō Writer, Penciller 1981 Sayonara Nippon Writer, Penciller 1982 Akira Writer, Penciller 1984 Visitors Writer, Penciller 1990 Kanojo no Omoide... Writer, Penciller 1990 The Legend of Mother Sarah Writer 1991 ZeD Writer 1996 SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers Writer, Penciller 1996 Batman: Black & White #4 (The Third Mask) Writer, Penciller 2001 Hipira: The Little Vampire Writer 2006 Park Writer, Penciller Artbooks
- Kaba (1989)
- Akira Club (1995)
- Akira Animation Archives (2003)
Filmography
Director
Year Title Segment 1987 Neo Tokyo Construction Cancellation Order 1987 Robot Carnival Opening, Ending 1988 Akira Directorial debut 1991 World Apartment Horror (live-action) 1995 Memories Cannon Fodder 2004 Steamboy 2006 Mushishi (live-action) Screenwriter
Year Title Segment 1987 Neo Tokyo Construction Cancellation Order 1987 Robot Carnival Opening, Ending 1988 Akira 1991 Roujin Z 1995 Memories Cannon Fodder, Stink Bomb 2001 Metropolis 2004 Steamboy 2006 Mushishi References
- ^ "Nihon SF Taisho Award Winners List". Science Fiction Writers of Japan. http://www.sfwj.or.jp/list.e.html. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ Damon Lavrinc. "Live action Akira movie coming, DiCaprio and Otomo signed on to produce". Autobog. http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/21/live-action-akira-movie-coming-dicaprio-and-otomo-signed-on-to.
- "Freedom". (May 2007) Newtype USA. p. 23.
External links
- Katsuhiro Ôtomo at the Internet Movie Database
- Biography of Katsuhiro Otomo
- Katsuhiro Otomo at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Categories:- 1954 births
- Anime directors
- Living people
- Japanese animators
- Japanese comics artists
- Japanese film directors
- Manga artists
- People from Miyagi Prefecture
- Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (General)
- Japanese screenwriters
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