Katsuya Kondo
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese manga artist
, character designer, animator
and animation director
. He is best known for his character design work on the Studio Ghibli
films Kiki's Delivery Service
and Ocean Waves, as well as the PlayStation
game Jade Cocoon
. His character designs are considered the epitome of the Studio Ghibli style.
After graduating from high school, he began working for Osamu Dezaki
and Akio Sugino at their Studio Annapuru. Under the direction of Shinji Ōtsuka, Kondō worked as a key animator of the TV anime series Cat's Eye
. He then worked as a free agent on such shows as The Mighty Orbots
, Rainbow Brite
and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
. His first work with Studio Ghibli was as a key animator on Castle in the Sky
. After working on the Gainax
film The Wings of Honneamise and the OVAs Devilman
and Meikyū Bukken File 538, Kondō began to be known for the high quality of his work.
Kondō collaborated with Ken'ichi Sakemi on a manga retelling of the Joan of Arc
story, as well as doing the character designs for the Jade Cocoon video game series. He also collaborated with Sakemi by creating the character designs for the 1990 NTV
TV movie Like the Clouds, Like the Wind
(based on Sakemi's novel Kōkyū Monogatari), which tells the story of a young country girl who is chosen to become one of the Emperor's concubines. He also worked with Tomomi Mochizuki
on the NHK
Minna no Uta
music video titled Kaze no Tōri Michi, produced by Ajia-do Animation Works
for Sayuri Horishita
. In 2007, he was announced as the supervising animator of the Studio Ghibli film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
.
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
, character designer, animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
and animation director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
. He is best known for his character design work on the Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...
films Kiki's Delivery Service
Kiki's Delivery Service
is a 1989 Japanese animated fantasy film produced, written, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was the fourth theatrically released Studio Ghibli film.The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1989...
and Ocean Waves, as well as the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
game Jade Cocoon
Jade Cocoon
is a video game for the Sony PlayStation, released by Crave in 1998. The game combines elements of role-playing video games and virtual pet management...
. His character designs are considered the epitome of the Studio Ghibli style.
After graduating from high school, he began working for Osamu Dezaki
Osamu Dezaki
, also known as , , or , was a Japanese director of anime born on November 18, 1943, in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. His older brother, Satoshi Dezaki, is also an anime director....
and Akio Sugino at their Studio Annapuru. Under the direction of Shinji Ōtsuka, Kondō worked as a key animator of the TV anime series Cat's Eye
Cat's Eye (anime)
is a comic written and drawn by Tsukasa Hojo. The comic was made into a televised animated series originally broadcast in 1983 on NTV. Cat's Eye has also aired in a number of countries outside Japan, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Philippines, and China...
. He then worked as a free agent on such shows as The Mighty Orbots
The Mighty Orbots
is an American/Japanese Super robot animated series created in a joint collaboration of TMS Entertainment and Intermedia Entertainment in association with MGM/UA Television. It was directed by veteran anime director Osamu Dezaki and features character designs by Akio Sugino...
, Rainbow Brite
Rainbow Brite
Rainbow Brite was a character franchise introduced by Hallmark Cards in 1983, with the animated television series starting the following year....
and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears is an American animated television series that aired in the United States in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s...
. His first work with Studio Ghibli was as a key animator on Castle in the Sky
Castle in the Sky
All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"The Girl Who Fell from the Sky" – 2:27#"Morning in Slag Ravine" – 3:04#"A Fun Brawl " – 4:27#"Memories of Gondoa" – 2:46#"Discouraged Pazu" – 1:46#"Robot Soldier " – 2:34...
. After working on the Gainax
Gainax
is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Gunbuster, The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which have gone on to critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as for their association with...
film The Wings of Honneamise and the OVAs Devilman
Devilman
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai which originally started as an anime adaptation of the concept of Nagai's previous manga series, Demon Lord Dante. A 39 episode anime series was developed by Toei in 1972 and Nagai began Devilman as a manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen...
and Meikyū Bukken File 538, Kondō began to be known for the high quality of his work.
Kondō collaborated with Ken'ichi Sakemi on a manga retelling of the Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
story, as well as doing the character designs for the Jade Cocoon video game series. He also collaborated with Sakemi by creating the character designs for the 1990 NTV
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
TV movie Like the Clouds, Like the Wind
Like the Clouds, Like the Wind
is a made-for-TV anime movie produced by Studio Pierrot for NTV and based on the novel by Ken'ichi Sakemi. It is often incorrectly thought to be produced by Studio Ghibli due to the character designs by Katsuya Kondō , partially due to an error in its first fan translation that attributed the...
(based on Sakemi's novel Kōkyū Monogatari), which tells the story of a young country girl who is chosen to become one of the Emperor's concubines. He also worked with Tomomi Mochizuki
Tomomi Mochizuki
, sometimes incorrectly romanized as Tomomichi Mochizuki, is an anime director and producer. He is married to animator Masako Gotō and sometimes uses the alias when writing screenplays or working on storyboards...
on the NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
Minna no Uta
Minna no Uta
, literally Everyone's Songs, is a five minute NHK TV and radio program broadcasting several times daily since 1961. The program is generally used as filler at the end of regular television programs...
music video titled Kaze no Tōri Michi, produced by Ajia-do Animation Works
Ajia-do Animation Works
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, noted for several anime series, including Spirit of Wonder, Zettai Shōnen, and several others...
for Sayuri Horishita
Sayuri Horishita
is a singer born on January 11, 1980 in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. She enjoys badminton and is a fan of the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away...
. In 2007, he was announced as the supervising animator of the Studio Ghibli film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
, initially titled in English as Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. It is Miyazaki's eighth film for Ghibli, and his tenth overall...
.
Animation
- The Mighty OrbotsThe Mighty Orbotsis an American/Japanese Super robot animated series created in a joint collaboration of TMS Entertainment and Intermedia Entertainment in association with MGM/UA Television. It was directed by veteran anime director Osamu Dezaki and features character designs by Akio Sugino...
(1984, key animation) - Cat's EyeCat's Eye (anime)is a comic written and drawn by Tsukasa Hojo. The comic was made into a televised animated series originally broadcast in 1983 on NTV. Cat's Eye has also aired in a number of countries outside Japan, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Philippines, and China...
(1985, key animation) - Disney's Adventures of the Gummi BearsDisney's Adventures of the Gummi BearsDisney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears is an American animated television series that aired in the United States in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s...
(1985, key animation) - Castle in the SkyCastle in the SkyAll compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"The Girl Who Fell from the Sky" – 2:27#"Morning in Slag Ravine" – 3:04#"A Fun Brawl " – 4:27#"Memories of Gondoa" – 2:46#"Discouraged Pazu" – 1:46#"Robot Soldier " – 2:34...
(1986, key animation) - Twilight QTwilight Qis an anime OVA series released in Japan in 1987 by Network Frontier . The series is similar to The Twilight Zone in content and presentation. It was aired in Japan on the anime television network Animax on August 5, 2007.-Story:...
(1987, character design) - The Wings of Honneamise (1987, key animation)
- DevilmanDevilmanis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai which originally started as an anime adaptation of the concept of Nagai's previous manga series, Demon Lord Dante. A 39 episode anime series was developed by Toei in 1972 and Nagai began Devilman as a manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen...
(1987, 1990 , OVA, key animation) - My Neighbor TotoroMy Neighbor Totoro, is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film follows the two young daughters of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan...
(1988, original design) - Kiki's Delivery ServiceKiki's Delivery Serviceis a 1989 Japanese animated fantasy film produced, written, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was the fourth theatrically released Studio Ghibli film.The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1989...
(1989, animation director, character design) - Like the Clouds, Like the WindLike the Clouds, Like the Windis a made-for-TV anime movie produced by Studio Pierrot for NTV and based on the novel by Ken'ichi Sakemi. It is often incorrectly thought to be produced by Studio Ghibli due to the character designs by Katsuya Kondō , partially due to an error in its first fan translation that attributed the...
(1990, animation director, character design) - Rainbow BriteRainbow BriteRainbow Brite was a character franchise introduced by Hallmark Cards in 1983, with the animated television series starting the following year....
(1990, key animation) - Only Yesterday (1991, animation director)
- Porco RossoPorco RossoPorco Rosso, known in Japan as is the sixth anime film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, produced by Studio Ghibli and released in 1992, of an Italian World War I fighter ace, now living as a freelance bounty hunter chasing "air pirates" in the Adriatic Sea. The man has been cursed and transformed into...
(1992, key animation) - Ocean Waves (1993, animation director, character design)
- Pom PokoPom Pokois a 1994 Japanese animated film, the eighth written and directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli.Consistent with Japanese folklore, the tanuki are portrayed as a highly sociable, mischievous species, able to use "illusion science" to transform into almost anything, but too...
(1994, key animation) - Princess MononokePrincess Mononokeis a 1997 epic Japanese animated historical fantasy feature film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. is not a name, but a general term in the Japanese language for a spirit or monster...
(1997, key animation) - My Neighbors the YamadasMy Neighbors the Yamadasis an anime film directed by Isao Takahata and released by Studio Ghibli on July 17, 1999. The movie is a family comedy that is presented in a comic strip style which is unusual since all the other Studio Ghibli movies are presented in the traditional anime style of Studio Ghibli...
(1999, key animation) - The Aurora (2000, 2D character design)
- Howl's Moving CastleHowl's Moving Castle (film)is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli and based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones...
(2004, animation supervisor, key animation) - Kaze no Tōri Michi (2004, music video, key animation)
- Dennō CoilDenno Coil, Coil — A Circle of Children, is a Japanese science fiction anime television series depicting a near future where semi-immersive augmented reality technology has just begun to enter the mainstream. The series takes place in the fictional city of Daikoku, a hotbed of AR development with an...
(2007, key animation) - Ponyo on the Cliff by the SeaPonyo on the Cliff by the Sea, initially titled in English as Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. It is Miyazaki's eighth film for Ghibli, and his tenth overall...
(2008, key animation, animation supervisor) - The Borrower Arrietty (2010, key animation)
- From up on Poppy Hill (2011, animation director, character design)
Games
- Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu (PlayStation) (1998, character design, key animation, animation director)
- Jade Cocoon 2Jade Cocoon 2is a 2001 role-playing video game for the PlayStation 2 and sequel to Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu by Genki. The game features a full 3D polygonal world, 200 cutscenes, and full voice-overs...
(PlayStation 2) (2001, character design, key animation, animation director)
Books and manga
- Boku ga Suki na Hito e: Umi ga Kikoeru yori (ISBN 4195551714, 1993-05-31, ¥1200)
- D'arc: Histoire de Jeanne D'arc, by Kenichi Sakemi and Kondō, Tokuma ShotenTokuma Shotenis a publisher in Japan, that was established in 1954.The company was also the parent company for the film studio Daiei Motion Pictures, bought in 1974, and the record label Tokuma Japan Communications, bought in 1972, until both were sold off when Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who established this company,...
- Volume 1: ISBN 4197700377, 1995-09-30, ¥950
- Volume 2: ISBN 4197700482, 1996-09-30, ¥950
- "Kondō Katsuya Art Works: Tamamayu Monogatari & Tamamayu Monogatari 2 (ISBN 4758010064, March 2002, ¥3990)