Kazuo Komatsubara
Encyclopedia
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...
, 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...
and character designer born in Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, Kanagawa Prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. He worked as an independently contracted
Independent contractor
An independent contractor is a natural person, business, or corporation that provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal agreement. Unlike an employee, an independent contractor does not work regularly for an employer but works as and when...
character designer for Toei Animation
Toei Animation
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a member of the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of animation studio Oh! Production
Oh! Production
, sometimes credited as Oh! Pro or Oh Pro, is an anime production studio in Amanuma, Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. It was established in May 1970 by animators Norio Shioyama, Kōichi Murata, Kazuo Komatsubara, and Kōshin Yonekawa.-Created by Oh! Pro:...
(which he helped found along with Norio Shioyama
Norio Shioyama
is an animator, illustrator, character designer, and animation director born on 1940-03-28 in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. He is most well known for his work as character designer on the anime TV series Armored Trooper Votoms...
, Kōichi Murata, and Kōshin Yonekawa). He died on March 24, 2000 due to a cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
ous tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
on his neck.
Profile
Beginning with DevilmanDevilman
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...
in 1972, Komatsubara moved on to work on other important 1970s anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
shows including Getter Robo
Getter Robo
is a Super Robot manga series created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa, as well as an anime series produced by Toei Animation. The series was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 4, 1974 to May 8, 1975, with a total of 51 episodes.- Plot :...
(1974), Getter Robo G
Getter Robo G
is a super robot anime series created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa and produced by Toei Animation. This direct sequel to Getter Robo was broadcast on Fuji TV from May 15, 1975 to March 25, 1976, with a total of 39 episodes .People familiar with Mattel's popular Shogun Warriors toy...
(1975), UFO Robo Grendizer (1975), and Magne Robo Gakeen
Magne robo gakeen
is a Japanese anime television series that aired from 1976 to 1977 in Japan. There were 39 episodes. It is also referred to as "Magnerobo Ga-Keen", "'Gakeen Supermagnetron", "'Gakeen Magnetic Robot", "Robotman Gakeen", "Gakeen"...
(1976), working closely with and succeeding Go Nagai
Go Nagai
, better known by the penname , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi, but is best known for creating Cutie Honey, Devilman, and Mazinger Z in the 1970s. In 2005, he became a...
on character designs for many of these shows. For the 1987 OVA remake of the Devilman series, Komatsubara worked as both character designer and animation director. He then caught the animation fandom book at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s as the character designer for Leiji Matsumoto
Leiji Matsumoto
is a well-known creator of several anime and manga series. His wife is also known as a manga artist.-Space opera:Matsumoto is famous for his space operas such as Space Battleship Yamato...
's Space Cruiser Yamato series, as well as working on the anime TV series Space Pirate Captain Harlock
Space Pirate Captain Harlock
is a manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, serialized Akita Shoten's Play Comic from 1977 to 1979. The series was adapted into an animated television series in 1978 directed by Rintaro and produced by Toei Animation....
and the anime film Galaxy Express 999
Galaxy Express 999
is a manga written and drawn by Leiji Matsumoto, as well as various anime films and TV series based on it. It is set in a space-faring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer their minds into mechanical bodies, thus achieving practical immortality.The manga won the...
. Komatsubara became the most popular anime character designer for Matsumoto's characters, and many of his illustrations were featured on the front covers of various magazines.
At the same time, Shingo Araki
Shingo Araki
was a Japanese animation artist and character designer. He developed an interest for drawing at age five. He graduated in Aichi Prefecture. In 1955, at age eighteen, he debuted as a cartoonist in the "Machi" magazine. He then joined Mushi Production as animator in 1965 and later founded Studio...
was also a very popular character designer at Toei Animation, though he was beginning to do more work for Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Tokyo Movie Shinsha
, formerly known as , is a Japanese animation studio, founded on October 1946. One of the oldest and most prominent anime studios in Japan, it has also produced numerous animated series airing in other countries such as France, the United States, and Italy. The company currently uses "TMS...
. Because of this, Komatsubara began to focus more on his work for Toei Animation. He collaborated with Rintaro
Rintaro
is the pseudonym of , a well-known director of anime. He works frequently with the animation studio Madhouse , though he is a freelance director not employed directly by any one studio. He began working in the animation industry—at age 17—as an in-between animator on the 1958 film Hakujaden...
on several projects, including the 1980 anime TV series Ganbare Genki
Ganbare Genki
is a sports manga by Yū Koyama about Horiguchi Genki, a boy who is raised by a single father, and who wants to be a boxer like him. It was adapted as an anime television series by Toei Animation...
and the anime film Metropolis
Metropolis (anime)
Metropolis is a 2001 [anime] film and loosely based on the 1949 Metropolis manga created by the late Osamu Tezuka, itself inspired by the 1927 German silent film of the same name, though the two do not share plot elements. The anime, however, does draw aspects of its storyline directly from the...
(released in 2001, after Komatsubara's death).
When not working on adaptations of the works of Nagai and Matsumoto, Komatsubara worked as character designer on shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series such as Miracle Shōjo Limit-chan (1973) and High-step Jun (1985). In 1984, he was invited by Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
to participate in the production of the anime film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, for which he did character designs and acted as animation director. Miyazaki acted as an advisor to Komatsubara during this time, and Komatsubara indicated he learned many things from him as a result of this mentoring.
Komatsubara also created original characters (not based on manga or other references) for the J9 series, including Galactic Whirlwind Braiger, Galactic Gale Baxinger, and Galactic Hurricane Sasuraiger.
Works
Listed alphabetically by year. Credits are for both character design and animation director unless otherwise noted.- Tiger MaskTiger Maskis a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's Bokura Magazine from 1968 to 1969 and was later published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1970 to 1971...
(1970, animation director) - 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...
(1972) - Cutey Honey (1973, animation director on two episodes)
- Miracle Shōjo Limit-chan (1973)
- Great Mazinger vs. Getter Robo (1975, animation director)
- Great Mazinger vs. Getter Robo G (1975, animation director)
- UFO Robo Grendizer (1975)
- Magne Robo GakeenMagne robo gakeenis a Japanese anime television series that aired from 1976 to 1977 in Japan. There were 39 episodes. It is also referred to as "Magnerobo Ga-Keen", "'Gakeen Supermagnetron", "'Gakeen Magnetic Robot", "Robotman Gakeen", "Gakeen"...
(1976) - UFO Robo Grendizer vs. Great Mazinger (1976, animation director)
- Chōjin Sentai Baratakku (1977)
- Space Pirate Captain HarlockSpace Pirate Captain Harlockis a manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, serialized Akita Shoten's Play Comic from 1977 to 1979. The series was adapted into an animated television series in 1978 directed by Rintaro and produced by Toei Animation....
(1978) - Galaxy Express 999Galaxy Express 999is a manga written and drawn by Leiji Matsumoto, as well as various anime films and TV series based on it. It is set in a space-faring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer their minds into mechanical bodies, thus achieving practical immortality.The manga won the...
(1979) - Adieu Galaxy Express 999 (1981)
- Galactic Whirlwind Braiger (1981, character designer)
- Arcadia of My YouthArcadia of My Youthis an anime film depicting the origin of Leiji Matsumoto's seminal character Captain Harlock. At one time, it was considered to be the central hub of the so called Leijiverse with other works such as Galaxy Express 999 and 1978's Space Pirate Captain Harlock television series occurring sometime...
(1982) - Galactic Gale Baxinger (1982, character designer)
- Gauche the CellistGauche the Cellistis a short story by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. It is about Gauche, a struggling small town cellist who is inspired by his interactions with anthropomorphized animals to gain insight into music. The story has been translated into English and Italian, and was adapted into a critically...
(1982, planning) - Galactic Hurricane Sasuraiger (1983, character designer)
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
- High-step Jun (1985)
- Mapletown Monogatari (1986, animation director)
- Devilman: Tanjō-henDevilmanis 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) - Hare Tokidoki Buta (1988, animation director)
- Devilman: Kaichō Shireinu-henDevilmanis 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...
(1990) - Little Twins (1992, animation director)
- Junkers Come HereJunkers Come Hereis an anime movie about a girl, Hiromi Nozawa, and her miniature Schnauzer, Junkers .Hiromi appears on the outside to be a mature, resilient girl, but on the inside she feels like she's falling apart. She hardly sees her parents at all, as they are always busy with work...
(1994)
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