Yasuo Otsuka
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese animator
who worked with Toei Animation
and Studio Ghibli
.
Prior to becoming an animator, Ōtsuka worked in the Kantō
-Kōshin'etsu district drug enforcement office at the Ministry of Health and Welfare
. As a member of the support staff (a so-called "Drug G-man
"), he was responsible for the seizure of drugs and was required to operate and maintain a handgun. During his tenure as a Drug G-man, Ōtsuka would see the release of two types of firearms that later would show up in his animations: the Beretta
and the Colt Government - both appearing in the Lupin III
series (the former used by Fujiko Mine
and the latter by Inspector Zenigata).
Ōtsuka is proficient in both English and Chinese. Besides being an animator, he is a world-famous collector of Jeeps.
He was so enamoured with trains that he continued drawing them with greater and greater detail as he aged.
This led to a fascination with the machinery that is pervasive throughout much of his anime work.
He entered "Yamaguchi prefectural Yamaguchi industrial junior high school Engineering works department" founded in World War II.
He faced the end of the war when he was in Shimonoseki-shi, Yamaguchi for student mobilization.
Although he was able to take the qualification of graduate of a high school of the current system if going to the school during another year, he went out into the world, obtaining only the qualification of a junior high school graduate.
He failed to live up to his father's expectation.
Otsuka was surprised to see the jeep
and the truck
of a large amount of the United States armed forces
that had been brought in to Japan after the end of the war immediately. He stopped drawing the locomotive
, and begun to sketch military vehicles earnestly.
He hunted and collected a manual and others in the dump site of the U.S. forces to know the structure of the jeep.
As a result, he mastered English as the by-product, and he got the friend of Americans and New Zealander.
He associates with them with all his family still now.
Otsuka found employment in the statistics section of the general affairs department of the Yamaguchi prefectural office first.
Then, while working, he came up to Tokyo twice by the business trip.
At the time, the current-events satirical comics which he contributed to Yamguchi newspaper
were adopted, and the work was temporarily serialized.
Afterwards, he decides to go to Tokyo to become a political cartoonist.
But, in Tokyo of those days, the inflow of population was restricted.
Therefore, he received the employment test of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and passed it.
He was assigned to the narcotics agent office of the Kanto-Koshin'etsu area.
It was what is called drug G-man's work.
Every time he found spare time, he went to the sketch cram school, or he copied comics at a library, and was drawing the landscape in his own style.
He is impressed by the animation of the Soviet Union "The Humpbacked Horse" (1947), and the feature-length cartoon film of France "Le Roi et l'oiseau
" (1952), and came to be interested in animation.
However, he suffered from tuberculosis by irregular life, and received medical treatment for two years.
He was only able to read enough book.
In 1956, Otsuka finished the recuperation life and found the newspaper article that the production of the anime movie Hakujaden
was decided to Toei.
Then, he visited Nihon Douga (=Japan Animation) company that became the basis of inauguration of Toei Animation, and took the test.
The people representing the Japanese animation field such as Yasuji Mori
at that time received him, and the result of the examination was passing.
He was one of the Toei animators involved in experimenting with frame-rate modulation in animation.
This experimentation lead to what is commonly called the "money shot" style, where more important scenes are animated more fully than others.
He practiced animation while going to work, and was finally temporarily employed as one
of the first employees of Toei Animation.
However, unless they did overtime work after finishing the task twice or more the regular employment group, they were not able to live because the salary of the temporary employment group was a half of the regular employment group.
In addition he was a mentor to both Hayao Miyazaki
and Isao Takahata
and worked with them on many of their early projects.
Although he had the chance to do the director several times, he refused it.
It is because he witnessed that IsaoTakahata faced difficulties during the production of Hols: Prince of the Sun.
In a documentary about him, he stated that he revered Takahata's ability as the director in Hols.
And, he felt that his ability was insufficient by comparison.
Ōtsuka is currently running a school for animators in Japan, and recently Studio Ghibli produced a documentary about the 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...
who worked with 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...
and 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...
.
Prior to becoming an animator, Ōtsuka worked in the Kantō
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
-Kōshin'etsu district drug enforcement office at the Ministry of Health and Welfare
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan)
The ' is a cabinet level ministry of the Japanese government. It is commonly known as Kōrō-shō in Japan. This ministry provides regulations on maximum residue limits for agricultural chemicals in foods, basic food and drug regulations, standards for foods, food additives, etc.It was formed with...
. As a member of the support staff (a so-called "Drug G-man
G-Man
G-Man may mean:* G-Man , short for "Government Man", slang for agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and similar organizations...
"), he was responsible for the seizure of drugs and was required to operate and maintain a handgun. During his tenure as a Drug G-man, Ōtsuka would see the release of two types of firearms that later would show up in his animations: the Beretta
Beretta
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta is an Italian firearms manufacturer. Their firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and military purposes. It is also known for manufacturing shooting clothes and accessories. Beretta is the oldest active firearms manufacturer in the...
and the Colt Government - both appearing in the Lupin III
Lupin 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...
series (the former used by Fujiko Mine
Fujiko Mine
is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch, for his Lupin III series. Fujiko is a professional criminal, burglar and "confidence trickster"....
and the latter by Inspector Zenigata).
Ōtsuka is proficient in both English and Chinese. Besides being an animator, he is a world-famous collector of Jeeps.
Biography
Ōtsuka first started drawing as a small child when he saw trains carrying soldiers off to the war.He was so enamoured with trains that he continued drawing them with greater and greater detail as he aged.
This led to a fascination with the machinery that is pervasive throughout much of his anime work.
He entered "Yamaguchi prefectural Yamaguchi industrial junior high school Engineering works department" founded in World War II.
He faced the end of the war when he was in Shimonoseki-shi, Yamaguchi for student mobilization.
Although he was able to take the qualification of graduate of a high school of the current system if going to the school during another year, he went out into the world, obtaining only the qualification of a junior high school graduate.
He failed to live up to his father's expectation.
Otsuka was surprised to see the jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
and the truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
of a large amount of the United States armed forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
that had been brought in to Japan after the end of the war immediately. He stopped drawing the locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
, and begun to sketch military vehicles earnestly.
He hunted and collected a manual and others in the dump site of the U.S. forces to know the structure of the jeep.
As a result, he mastered English as the by-product, and he got the friend of Americans and New Zealander.
He associates with them with all his family still now.
Otsuka found employment in the statistics section of the general affairs department of the Yamaguchi prefectural office first.
Then, while working, he came up to Tokyo twice by the business trip.
At the time, the current-events satirical comics which he contributed to Yamguchi newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
were adopted, and the work was temporarily serialized.
Afterwards, he decides to go to Tokyo to become a political cartoonist.
But, in Tokyo of those days, the inflow of population was restricted.
Therefore, he received the employment test of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and passed it.
He was assigned to the narcotics agent office of the Kanto-Koshin'etsu area.
It was what is called drug G-man's work.
Every time he found spare time, he went to the sketch cram school, or he copied comics at a library, and was drawing the landscape in his own style.
He is impressed by the animation of the Soviet Union "The Humpbacked Horse" (1947), and the feature-length cartoon film of France "Le Roi et l'oiseau
Le Roi et l'oiseau
Le Roi et l'oiseau is a 1980 traditionally-animated feature film directed by Paul Grimault...
" (1952), and came to be interested in animation.
However, he suffered from tuberculosis by irregular life, and received medical treatment for two years.
He was only able to read enough book.
In 1956, Otsuka finished the recuperation life and found the newspaper article that the production of the anime movie Hakujaden
The Tale of the White Serpent
is the first color anime feature film, released in 1958. It was also the first to be released in America, under the title Panda and the Magic Serpent, preceding Magic Boy by three months...
was decided to Toei.
Then, he visited Nihon Douga (=Japan Animation) company that became the basis of inauguration of Toei Animation, and took the test.
The people representing the Japanese animation field such as Yasuji Mori
Yasuji Mori
Yasuji Mori was an animator who worked with Toei Animation, while it was still known as Toei Doga. He was also a famous illustrator of children's books....
at that time received him, and the result of the examination was passing.
He was one of the Toei animators involved in experimenting with frame-rate modulation in animation.
This experimentation lead to what is commonly called the "money shot" style, where more important scenes are animated more fully than others.
He practiced animation while going to work, and was finally temporarily employed as one
of the first employees of Toei Animation.
However, unless they did overtime work after finishing the task twice or more the regular employment group, they were not able to live because the salary of the temporary employment group was a half of the regular employment group.
In addition he was a mentor to both 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,...
and Isao Takahata
Isao Takahata
is a Japanese anime filmmaker that have earned critical international acclaim for his work as a director. Takahata is co-founder of Studio Ghibli with long-time collaborative partner Hayao Miyazaki. He has directed films such as the war-themed Grave of the Fireflies, the romantic-drama Only...
and worked with them on many of their early projects.
Although he had the chance to do the director several times, he refused it.
It is because he witnessed that IsaoTakahata faced difficulties during the production of Hols: Prince of the Sun.
In a documentary about him, he stated that he revered Takahata's ability as the director in Hols.
And, he felt that his ability was insufficient by comparison.
Ōtsuka is currently running a school for animators in Japan, and recently Studio Ghibli produced a documentary about the animator.
Animation Director
- The Castle of CagliostroThe Castle of Cagliostrois a 1979 Japanese animated film co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is one of the films featuring master thief Arsène Lupin III.The second animated Lupin III movie and arguably the best known, Castle of Cagliostro was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who also co-directed the first...
(movie) (ルパン三世 カリオストロの城 Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro), 1979
Character Design
- MoominMoominThe Moomins are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-Finn illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses...
(TV) (ムーミンMūmin), 1969 - Lupin III The pilot film (movie) (ルパン三世 パイロットフィルム Rupan Sansei Pairotto Firumu), 1969 （with Tsutomu Shibayama, Gisaburō SugiiGisaburo Sugiiis an anime director and Nihonga artist. He is currently a member of the anime studio Group TAC, and is most well known for his work as director of the Touch series and the movie Night on the Galactic Railroad...
, Osamu KobayashiOsamu Kobayashi (animation director)is an animator and animation director perhaps best known for Magical Angel Creamy Mami. He was born in Fuchuu-shi, Tokyo. He belongs to Ajia-do Animation Works. In 1963, he entered Toei animation at the same period as Tsutomu Shibayama and Hayao Miyazaki...
） - Lupin 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...
(TV) (ルパン三世 Rupan Sansei), 1971 - Samurai Giants (TV) (侍ジャイアンツ Samurai Jaianth), 1973–74
- Future Boy ConanFuture Boy Conanis an anime series, which premiered across Japan on the NHK network between April 4 and October 31, 1978 on the Tuesday 19:30-20:00 timeslot. The official English title used by Nippon Animation is Conan, The Boy in Future....
(TV) (未来少年コナン Mirai Shōnen Konan), 1978 （with Hayao MiyazakiHayao Miyazakiis 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,...
） - The Castle of CagliostroThe Castle of Cagliostrois a 1979 Japanese animated film co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is one of the films featuring master thief Arsène Lupin III.The second animated Lupin III movie and arguably the best known, Castle of Cagliostro was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who also co-directed the first...
(movie) (ルパン三世 カリオストロの城 Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro), 1979 - Chie the BratChie the Bratis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Etsumi Haruki. It was serialized by Futabasha in Manga Action between 1978 and 1997 and collected in 67 bound volumes, making it the 26th longest manga released...
(movie, TV) (じゃりン子チエ Jarinko Chie ), 1981-83 （with Yoichi KotabeYoichi Kotabe, is a Japanese manga artist and animator who has worked with Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. He is a lecturer at Tokyo Designer Academy in their cartoon film course....
）