Katsuhiro Otomo

Katsuhiro Ōtomo.

Katsuhiro Ōtomo (大友克洋 Ōtomo Katsuhiro) (born April 14, 1954) is a Japanese manga artist and director. He is perhaps best known for being the creator of the manga Akira and its anime adaptation, which are extremely famous and influential. Otomo has also directed several live action films, such as the recent 2006 feature film adaptation of the Mushishi manga.

Biography

Ōtomo was born in the former town of Hasama, in Miyagi Prefecture.

As a teenager growing up in the turbulent 1960s, he was surrounded by the demonstrations of both students and workers against the Japanese government. This period of change in Japan is what created the Japan we all know today - a Japan that is a sharp contrast to the occupation era that occurred after World War II. The riots, demonstrations, and overall chaotic conditions of this time would serve as the inspiration for his best known work, Akira. Some would argue that this seminal work is an allegory of 1960s Japan, and that one could easily substitute the year 2019 for 1969 and leave little difference in the basic story.

The animation from this period (especially the works coming out of Tokyo animation studios Mushi Production and Toei Doga) were influencing young Ōtomo. Works like Gigantor, Astro Boy, and Hols: Prince of the Sun would help push Ōtomo toward a career in animation. However, it was the films coming out of America that were driving his rebellious nature. Five Easy Pieces and Easy Rider would serve as inspiration for Shotaro Kaneda and his biker gang in Akira: rebellious youth who took too many drugs and didn't care about authority or the pressures put on them by their parents' generation.

Ōtomo has recently worked extensively with noted studio Sunrise with the studio animating and producing his most recent projects, the 2004 feature film Steamboy, 2006's Freedom Project and his latest project, Shin SOS Dai Tokyo Tankentai (新SOS大東京探検隊), which will be released in 2007.

Bibliography

• A Gun Report (1973)
• Fireball (1979)
• Domu (A Child's Dream) (童夢, 1980-1982)
• Sayonara Nippon (さよならにっぽん, meaning of "Goodbye Japan", 1981)
• Kibun wa mou sensou (気分はもう戦争, meaning of "Feeling Already Wars", 1982)
• Jiyu o Warera ni (自由を我等に, meaning of "Give Us Freedom", 1982)
• Akira (アキラ, 1982-1986)
• Memories (彼女の想いで, Kanojo no Omoide, meaning of "Her memories", 1990)
• Legend of Mother Sarah (1990-1996)
• Akira Club (1995 - Artbook)
• SOS Dai Tokyo Tankentai (ＳＯＳ大東京探検隊, meaning of "SOS Big Tokyo exploration corps", 1996)
• The Memory of Memories (1996 - Artbook)
• Hipira (2002)

Short story collections

• Short Peace (ショート・ピース, 1979)
• Highway Star (ハイウェイ・スター, 1979)
• Pafu (1979)
• Good Weather (グッド・ウエザー, 1981)
• Hansel and Gretel (1981)
• Apple Paradise (1979)
• Boogie Woogie Waltz (1982)

Filmography

• Shuffle (1981)
• Kôkô Erotopia: Akai seifuku (1979)
• Jiyū o Warera ni (自由を我等に, 1982)
• Harmagedon (幻魔大戦, 1983)
• Meikyû Monogatari (also known as Neo-Tokyo 迷宮物語, 1987)
  • "The Order to Cease Construction" (工事中止命令)
• Lab (ラブ, 1987)
• Robot Carnival (ロボット・カーニバル, 1987)
  • "Coming Soon"
  • "See You Again"
• Akira (アキラ, 1988)
• World Apartment Horror (ワールド・アパートメント・ホラー, 1991)
• Roujin Z (老人Z, 1991)
• Memories (1996)
  • "Magnetic Rose"
  • "Cannon Fodder"
  • "Stink Bomb"
• Spriggan (1998)
• Metropolis (メトロポリス, 2001)
• Steamboy (スチームボーイ, 2004)
• Mushishi (live action) (2006)
• Freedom Project (2006)
• Shin SOS Dai Tokyo Tankentai (新SOS大東京探検隊 (2006)
• defenders of nippon ムボーイ (2008)

External links

• Ōtomo Katsuhiro's JMDb Listing (in Japanese)
• Otomo Katsuhiro's AnimeNewsNetwork Encyclopedia Listing
• AKIRA 2019: Katsuhiro Otomo Biography
• Otomo Katsuhiro fansite, with detailed listings and images of all his works (in French)
• A site to buy some of Otomo's non-translated works