EASYUNI Ultimate University Guide 2013 Issue 4 | Page 32

CO U R S E S & C A REERS

ARTS & CREATIVE

Top 7
Asian Digital
Animators

From the earliest era of hand-drawn animation (also known
as “cel animation”) of Emile Cohl’s Fantasmagorie in France in
1908 to the groundbreaking era of digital animation (also known
as computer animation or computer-generated imagery (CGI))
in the mid-1990s led by Pixar’s Toy Story (1995), the animation
landscape has seen a lot of breakthroughs over the years.
With traditional hand-drawn animation almost becoming a
thing of the past, digital animation now reigns supreme across
the globe in today’s ever-competitive animation market. Apart
from the global dominance from the US and European countries,
Asia is also particularly knowledgeable in the digital animation
industry. Many great Asian digital animators out there have
made significant advances in digital animation worldwide.
These are our picks for top Asian digital animators:

Mamoru Oshii
Tokyo-born Mamoru Oshii was considered a pioneer in the Japanese animation
industry. In 1976, he graduated from Tokyo Gakugei University and subsequently
joined Tatsunoko Productions as a storyboard artist where he was involved in his
first anime television series called Ippatsu Kanta-kun (1977-1978). His big break
arrived when he was enlisted to direct the then-groundbreaking Patlabor anime
television series in the late 1980s. The series became a huge success in the mecha
genre, which focuses on robots or machines controlled by people and influenced a
lot of animators and filmmakers until today, including director Guillermo Del Toro
when he made Pacific Rim in 2013.
But it was not until 1995 that Mamoru Oshii cemented his reputation once and
for all with Ghost in the Shell, a landmark animated “cyberpunk” movie which
became one of the most influential anime classics ever made. Ghost in the Shell
was particularly praised for its effective mix of hand-drawn animation and digital
animation. Oshii’s other notable works include the live-action Japanese-Polish
science-fiction feature Avalon (2001), Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) and
The Sky Crawlers (2008).

Shinji Aramaki
Hailing from Fukuoka, Japan, Shinji Aramaki is a versatile anime director and
mechanical designer. He has been working in animation for more than 30 years,
and is particularly well-known for creating 3D CGI animation. Among his notable
works are the Appleseed trilogy (2004-2014) and Space Pirate Captain Harlock
(2013). He is also best known for some of the most popular mechanical designs
ever created in animated TV series, including Transformers, M.A.S.K., Astro Boy,
and Fullmetal Alchemist.

Shinichirô Watanabe
Kyoto-born Shinichirô Watanabe made his notable directorial debut in the fourepisode anime and theatrical movie Macross Plus in 1994 and 1995, which used
the then-groundbreaking combination of cel and CGI animation. Watanabe is
best remembered for directing the popular Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop
in 1998 and subsequently the movie Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
(2001). He also known as one of the directors responsible for The Animatrix
(2003), a compilation of nine animated short films based on the Wachowski
brothers’ The Matrix trilogy.

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easyuni Guide 2014

Issue 4