Kitaro Kosaka
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese animator
and film director
.
. He left the studio in 1986 to become a freelance, and soon went on to work on numerous projects as a key and supervising animation director for the noted animation studio Studio Ghibli
, and with the famed director Hayao Miyazaki
, of whose work he is himself an acknowledged fan.
In 2003, he directed the cycling anime film, Nasu: Summer in Andalusia
, set on the Vuelta a España
road bicycle race, adapted from Iō Kuroda's manga
Nasu
, which Hayao Miyazaki, a fan of cycling, himself recommended to Kōsaka. The film soon went on to become the first Japanese anime film ever to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival
.
He has worked on numerous other projects for the studio Madhouse
, including adaptations of manga artist
Naoki Urasawa
's works with the studio, including Yawara
, Master Keaton
and Monster
, and adaptations of two of Clamp
's works, including Clover
and Double X
, both of them being short films.
Sources:
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 film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
Profile
He began his career in 1979 with the studio Oh! ProductionOh! 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:...
. He left the studio in 1986 to become a freelance, and soon went on to work on numerous projects as a key and supervising animation director for the noted animation studio 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...
, and with the famed director 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,...
, of whose work he is himself an acknowledged fan.
In 2003, he directed the cycling anime film, Nasu: Summer in Andalusia
Nasu: Summer in Andalusia
is a 2003 Japanese anime film by Madhouse, directed by Kitarō Kōsaka, the famed animation supervisor of the Oscar-winning anime film Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke and long-time collaborator of Studio Ghibli, and adapted from a short 3-tankōbon manga by Iō Kuroda, entitled Nasu, which was...
, set on the Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
road bicycle race, adapted from Iō Kuroda's manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
Nasu
Nasu (manga)
is a manga series by Iou Kuroda. Serialized in Kodansha's Afternoon manga magazine, the series spanned a total of 24 chapters and three tankōbon volumes, the first of which was released on July 2001, the second of which was released on May 2002, and the last of which was released on December 2002...
, which Hayao Miyazaki, a fan of cycling, himself recommended to Kōsaka. The film soon went on to become the first Japanese anime film ever to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
.
He has worked on numerous other projects for the studio Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
, including adaptations of manga artist
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...
Naoki Urasawa
Naoki Urasawa
is a Japanese manga artist.-Early life:He graduated from Meisei University with a degree in economics. In 2008, Urasawa had a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University, where he taught classes on manga.-Manga career:...
's works with the studio, including Yawara
Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl
YAWARA!, also known as Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl, is a Japanese manga series by Naoki Urasawa which ran in Big Comic Spirits from 1986 to 1993...
, Master Keaton
Master Keaton
is a Japanese manga series created by Hokusei Katsushika and Naoki Urasawa. It was serialized in Big Comic Original between 1988 and 1994 and ran for 18 volumes . An anime adaptation of the series aired between 1998 and 1999 in Japan on Nippon Television...
and Monster
Monster (manga)
is a seinen manga written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa, published by Shogakukan in Big Comic Original between 1994 and 2001, and reprinted in 18 tankōbon volumes. It was adapted by Madhouse as a 74-episode anime TV series, which aired on NTV from April 7, 2004 to September 28, 2005...
, and adaptations of two of Clamp
Clamp (manga artists)
, is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid 1980s. Many of the group's manga series are often adapted into anime after release. It consists of their leader , who provides much of the storyline and screenplay for all their works and adaptations of those works respectively ,...
's works, including Clover
Clover (manga)
is a manga series created by Clamp, a creative team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Mokona. The manga takes place in a dystopian future, where the government is out to control the "Clovers", a race of children with special powers....
and Double X
X (manga)
, also known as X/1999, is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by Clamp, a creative team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Nanase Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Mokona. It premiered in Monthly Asukas May 1992 issue and ran there until the magazine's editors showed concern with the increasingly violent...
, both of them being short films.
Works
- 1982 - Minami no Niji no LucyMinami no Niji no Lucyis a Japanese anime series by Nippon Animation. The 1982 adaptation of the studio's popular World Masterpiece Theater franchise, the anime is based on Southern Rainbow by Australian writer Phyllis Piddington , and tells the story of a young girl named Lucy and the hardships and excitement she and...
(key animation) - 1982 - Jarinko Chie (key and in-between animation)
- 1983 - Mīmu Iro Iro Yume no TabiMimu Iro Iro Yume no Tabiis a Japanese anime television show created by Nippon Animation. The show originally aired from 1983 to 1985 and was primarily educational. Episodes usually dealt with scientific discoveries and inventions, though there were also a few futuristic and science fiction stories and situations.The...
(key animation) - 1984 - Lupin III: Part IIILupin III, also known as Lupin the 3rd, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of...
(key animation) - 1984 - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (key animation)
- 1985 - Kamui no Ken (key animation)
- 1985 - Meitantei HolmesSherlock Houndis an anime television series based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series where almost all the characters are depicted as anthropomorphic dogs. The show featured regular appearances of Jules Verne-steampunk style technology, adding a 19th-century science-fiction atmosphere to the series...
(animation director) - 1985 - Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon (key animation)
- 1985 - Angel's EggAngel's Eggis a Japanese anime feature film produced by Tokuma Shoten in 1985. A collaboration between popular artist Yoshitaka Amano and director Mamoru Oshii, it incorporates surrealistic and existentialist qualities...
(key animation) - 1986 - Laputa: 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...
(key animation) - 1987 - Royal Space Force: The Wings of HonneamiseRoyal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamiseis a 1987 Japanese animated science fiction film and the first film produced by Gainax and Bandai Visual. It was directed and written by Hiroyuki Yamaga with assistant director Takami Akai. The film would eventually be a critically acclaimed Gainax classic, but it was poorly received and sold only...
(key animation) - 1987 - 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:...
(key animation) - 1988 - Grave of the FirefliesGrave of the Firefliesis a 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film written and directed by Isao Takahata. This is the first film produced by Shinchosha, who hired Studio Ghibli to do the animation production work...
(key animation) - 1988 - AkiraAkira (film)is a 1988 Japanese animated cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, and starring the voices of Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama and Taro Ishida. The screenplay is based on Otomo's manga Akira....
(key animation) - 1988 - Kaze wo Nuke! (key animation)
- 1989 - Yawara! A Fashionable Judo GirlYawara! A Fashionable Judo GirlYAWARA!, also known as Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl, is a Japanese manga series by Naoki Urasawa which ran in Big Comic Spirits from 1986 to 1993...
(storyboards, episode director, animation director, key animation) - 1993 - A-GirlA-Girlis a shōjo romance manga written by Fusako Kuramochi and serialized in Bessatsu Margaret from July 1984 until December 1984. The individual chapters were published in two tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, published in November and December 1985, respectively. On January 16, 1998, Shueisha re-released...
(director, character design, animation director) - 1993 - Double XX (manga), also known as X/1999, is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by Clamp, a creative team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Nanase Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Mokona. It premiered in Monthly Asukas May 1992 issue and ran there until the magazine's editors showed concern with the increasingly violent...
(key animation) - 1994 - 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...
(key animation) - 1995 - Whisper of the HeartWhisper of the Heart (film)is a 1995 Japanese animated drama film based on the manga of the same name by Aoi Hiiragi. It was directed by Yoshifumi Kondō and written by Hayao Miyazaki. It was the first theatrical Studio Ghibli feature to be directed by someone other than Miyazaki or Takahata, and the only film to be directed...
(animation director) - 1997 - 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...
(supervising animation director) - 1998 - Master KeatonMaster Keatonis a Japanese manga series created by Hokusei Katsushika and Naoki Urasawa. It was serialized in Big Comic Original between 1988 and 1994 and ran for 18 volumes . An anime adaptation of the series aired between 1998 and 1999 in Japan on Nippon Television...
(character design, animation director, layout supervisor, storyboards, etc.) - 1999 - CloverClover (manga)is a manga series created by Clamp, a creative team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Mokona. The manga takes place in a dystopian future, where the government is out to control the "Clovers", a race of children with special powers....
(director) - 2001 - Spirited AwaySpirited Awayis a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy-adventure film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film tells the story of Chihiro Ogino, a sullen ten-year-old girl who, while moving to a new neighborhood and after her parents are transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba,...
(supervising animation director) - 2001 - MetropolisMetropolis (manga), also known as Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis or Robotic Angel is a Japanese manga by Osamu Tezuka published in 1949. It has been adapted into a feature length anime, released in 2001...
(key animation) - 2003 - Nasu: Summer in AndalusiaNasu: Summer in Andalusiais a 2003 Japanese anime film by Madhouse, directed by Kitarō Kōsaka, the famed animation supervisor of the Oscar-winning anime film Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke and long-time collaborator of Studio Ghibli, and adapted from a short 3-tankōbon manga by Iō Kuroda, entitled Nasu, which was...
(director, screenplay, character design, animation director) - 2004 - MonsterMonster (manga)is a seinen manga written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa, published by Shogakukan in Big Comic Original between 1994 and 2001, and reprinted in 18 tankōbon volumes. It was adapted by Madhouse as a 74-episode anime TV series, which aired on NTV from April 7, 2004 to September 28, 2005...
(original character designs) - 2005 - 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...
(supervising animation director) - 2007 - Nasu: A Migratory Bird with SuitcaseNasu: A Migratory Bird with Suitcaseis a 2007 OVA by Madhouse, directed by Kitarō Kōsaka and featuring Ken'ichi Yoshida as animation director.-Development and production:It is a sequel to Nasu: Summer in Andalusia. Kōsaka and Yoshida were animation supervisors on Studio Ghibli on numerous titles, including Spirited Away and Princess...
(director) - 2008 - 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...
(supervising animation director) - 2010 - Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess (animation director)
- 2011 - From up on Poppy Hill (animation director)
Sources: