Yoshiji Kigami
Japanese animator, director, and storyboarder (1957–2019)
Yoshiji Kigami (Japanese: 木上 益治, Hepburn: Kigami Yoshiji, 28 December 1957 – 18 July 2019) was a Japanese animator, director and storyboarder. He started working at Shin-Ei Animation, later became part of Animaruya and then he became affiliated with Kyoto Animation.
Career
When he was young, Kigami was a big fan of Disney movies and anime shows based on the manga series of Osamu Tezuka, and this lead him to becoming an animator. He started working at Shin-Ei Animation before joining Kyoto Animation. Kigami became well known in the industry for his work on Grave of the Fireflies and Akira as a key animator.[1] In 2003, Kigami directed his first work, Munto, and later became an instructor at Kyoto Animation's teaching program.[2] In Kyoto Animation productions, he used the pen name Ichirou Miyoshi (三好一郎) when storyboarding, and Fumio Tada (多田文男) when doing key animation.[3]
Death
On 18 July 2019, during the Kyoto Animation arson attack, Kigami was killed alongside 35 of his colleagues,[4] with 33 others wounded; Kigami was initially declared missing after the attack[5][6] due to his mother declaring that he could not be contacted immediately following the fire.[6] His death was confirmed on 2 August 2019.[7]
Filmography
- Grave of the Fireflies: Key Animation[8]
- Cat's Eye: Key Animation (4 episodes)
- Akira: Key Animation[8]
- Doraemon (7 movies): Key Animation
- Robotan: Episode director (ep 5)
- Lucky Star: Animation Director (ep 18)
- Clannad: Animation Director (ep 3); Key Animation (ep 12, ep 23, ep 24)[9]
- Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions: Episode Director (ep 6); Storyboard ep (ep 6)
- Crayon Shin Chan Movies (1; 3;7;9) : Key Animation
- Hyouka: Key Animation; Storyboard (ep 5); Episode Director (ep 5)
- K-On!: Key Animation (ep 10, ep 12)
- K-On! Movie: Key Animation
- Munto: Director
- Tamako Market: Episode Director (ep 2, ep 9), Storyboard (ep 9), Key Animation (ep 1)
- Violet Evergarden: Episode Director (ep 6), Storyboard (ep 6)[9]
- Nichijou: Episode Director (ep 6, ep 14, ep 20), Storyboard (ep 6, ep 14, ep 20)
- Air: Storyboard (ep 11), Episode Director (ep 11)
- Free!: Key Animation[9]
- Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Storyboard (ep 3, ep 7), Episode Director (ep 3, ep 7)
- Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid: Storyboard (ep 4, ep 8, ep 12), Episode Director (ep 4, ep 12)
- Sound! Euphonium: Episode Director (ep 5, ep 12)
- Baja no Studio: Director
- A Silent Voice: Key Animation[8][10]
References
- ^ "WEBアニメスタイル_もっとアニメを観よう". www.style.fm. Retrieved Jul 25, 2019.
- ^ "京都アニメーション プロ養成塾". Kyoto Animation (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
- ^ Cirugeda, Kevin (November 3, 2016). "Sound! Euphonium 2: Episode 5". Sakuga Blog. Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
- ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (2 August 2019). "Kyoto Police Release Names of 10 Victims Who Died in Kyoto Animation Fire". Anime Network News.
- ^ "京アニ「社員の師匠」木上さん、なお不明 「キャラに生命」「あの優しい人が…」". 毎日新聞. Retrieved Jul 25, 2019.
- ^ a b "Kyoto Animation Arson Attack: Veteran Animator of 'Akira' and Ghibli Feared Dead". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 July 2019. Retrieved Jul 25, 2019.
- ^ "犠牲者1０人氏名公表、京アニ事件で府警 「涼宮ハルヒ」監督も". Kyoto Shimbun. 2 August 2019. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ a b c "Yoshiji Kigami biography". IMDB.com.
- ^ a b c "Yoshiji Kigami overview". Anime Planet.
- ^ Harding, Daryl (27 July 2019). "A Silent Voice's Brilliant Staff Behind The Kyoto Animation Classic". Medium.
External links
- Yoshiji Kigami at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- v
- t
- e
Akira franchise by Katsuhiro Otomo
- Akira (1982–1990 manga)
- Akira (1988 anime)
- Akira (planned live-action film)
- Akira (1988 video game)
- Akira Psycho Ball (2002 video game)
- Satoshi Kon
- Makiko Futaki
- Yoshiji Kigami
- Japanese cyberpunk
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