Katsuhiro Otomo

Katsuhiro Otomo

Born Katsuhiro Otomo
(1954-04-14) April 14, 1954
Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Nationality Japanese
Area(s)
  • Writer
  • Penciller
    • Notable works
    Awards

    Katsuhiro Otomo (大友 克洋 Ōtomo Katsuhiro, born April 14, 1954) is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation. He was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2005,[1] promoted to Officier of the order in 2014,[2] became the fourth manga artist ever inducted into the American Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2012,[3] and was awarded the Purple Medal of Honor from the Japanese government in 2013.[4] Otomo later received the Winsor McCay Award at the 41st Annie Awards in 2014 and the 2015 Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, the first manga artist to receive the award.[5][6]

    Early life

    Katsuhiro Otomo was born in Tome, 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 ride 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.

    Career

    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,[7] 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. In 1990, Otomo did a brief interview with MTV for a general segment on the Japanese manga scene at the time.[8]

    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.

    Reports have suggested that Otomo will be the executive producer of the live action adaptation of his manga series Akira.[9]

    In a 2012 interview, Otomo said he will start a new manga series, set during Japan's Meiji period (late 1800s early 1900s).[10] It will be his first long-form work since Akira.

    In 2013, Otomo released his newest film in over 9 years since Steamboy, called Short Peace, an anthology consisting on 4 shorts: His own short based on one of his stories called Combustible, a tragic love story set in the Edo period, Tsukumo, directed by Shuhei Morita in which everyday tools metamorphose into supernatural things, Gambo, directed by Hiroaki Ando, which features a battle between an oni goblin and a polar bear, and Buki yo Saraba directed by Hajime Katoki, depicting a battle in a ruined Tokyo. Combustible won the Grand Prize of the Cultural Affairs Agency's Japan Media Arts Festival Animation awards in 2012,[11] and it was shortlisted for the 2013 Best Animated Short at the 85th Academy Awards, but it failed to get nominated. Tsukumo, under the title Possessions, would become nominated for the 2014 Best Animated Short at the 86th Academy Awards.

    Bibliography

    Manga

    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 Dōmu 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
    2012 DJ Teck's Morning Attack Writer, Penciller

    Artbooks

    Filmography

    Director

    Year Title Notes
    1987 Neo Tokyo Segment: "Construction Cancellation Order"
    1987 Robot Carnival Segments: "Opening" and "Ending"
    1988 Akira
    1991 World Apartment Horror Live-action
    1995 Memories Segment: "Cannon Fodder"
    2004 Steamboy
    2006 Mushishi Live-action
    2013 Short Peace Segment: "Combustible"

    Screenwriter

    Year Title Notes
    1987 Neo Tokyo Segment: "Construction Cancellation Order"
    1987 Robot Carnival Segments: "Opening" and "Ending"
    1988 Akira
    1991 Roujin Z
    1995 Memories Segments: "Cannon Fodder" and "Stink Bomb"
    2001 Metropolis
    2004 Steamboy
    2006 Mushishi Live-action
    2013 Short Peace Segment: "Combustible"

    Additional work

    Besides his own animation, Otomo has contributed his art to anime as varied as the Genma Taisen movie, Harmagedon, the Crusher Joe movie, a special Gundam anniversary short film, and Space Dandy episode 22.

    Notes

    1. ↑ "Katsuhiro Otomo Receives Japan Medal with Purple Ribbon". Anime News Network. November 1, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
    2. ↑ "Akira's Katsuhiro Otomo Announces Live-Action Film Plans". Anime News Network. December 14, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
    3. ↑ "ANIME NEWS: Katsuhiro Otomo inducted into Eisner's Hall of Fame". Asahi Shimbun. August 14, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
    4. ↑ "ANIME NEWS: 'Akira' creator Katsuhiro Otomo honored by government". Asahi Shimbun. November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
    5. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-katsuhiro-otomo-annie-awards-20140131,0,7303756.story#axzz2s8Mi4U2B
    6. ↑ http://news.yahoo.com/japans-otomo-first-manga-artist-win-top-french-193542264.html
    7. ↑ "Nihon SF Taisho Award Winners List". Science Fiction Writers of Japan. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
    8. ↑ MTV spotlights Japanese comics (1990) on YouTube
    9. ↑ Damon Lavrinc. "Live action Akira movie coming, DiCaprio and Otomo signed on to produce". Autobog.
    10. ↑ Joseph Luster. "Akira's Katsuhiro Otomo Working on New Manga". substance-tv.
    11. ↑ http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000409655

    References

    • "Freedom". (May 2007) Newtype USA. p. 23.

    External links


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