Osamu Dezaki (出﨑 統, Dezaki Osamu, November 18, 1943 – April 17, 2011[1]), also known as Makura Saki (崎枕, Saki Makura), Kan Matsudo (松戸完, Matsudo Kan), Toru Yabuki (矢吹徹, Yabuki Toru) or Kuyou Sai (斉九洋, Sai Kuyou), was a Japanese anime director and screenwriter.[2][3]
Dezaki started out as a manga artist while still in high school. In 1963 he joined Mushi Production, which was founded by manga and anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka. He made his debut as a director in 1970 with Ashita no Joe.[3]
After working with Mushi Production, Dezaki co-founded Madhouse with Masao Maruyama, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
Dezaki was known for his distinct visual style, which makes use of split screen, stark lighting, extensive use of dutch angle, and pastel freeze frames that he called "postcard memories", which may be his most famous trademark. They feature a process whereby the screen fades into a detailed "painting" of the simpler original animation. Many of his techniques became popular and came to be seen as special techniques of Japanese animation. He particularly influenced Yoshiaki Kawajiri,[4] Yoshiyuki Tomino,[5] Ryūtarō Nakamura, Noriyuki Abe, Kunihiko Ikuhara,[6] Akiyuki Shinbo,[7] and Yutaka Yamamoto.[7]
His older brother, Satoshi Dezaki, is also an anime director.
Dezaki was a notorious chain smoker, and as a result, he died from lung cancer on April 17, 2011, at the age of 67.[8]