Japanese animator (born 1963)
Kawamoto in 2019 Toshihiro Kawamoto (川元 利浩 , Kawamoto Toshihiro , born July 15, 1963, in Mie Prefecture ) is a Japanese animator . He is the co-founder and director of the anime studio Bones . He was the character designer and animation director of Cowboy Bebop .
Biography Early period Upon graduating from high school, Kawamoto was first employed in the making and designing of precision machinery.[1] [2] During this early period, he became interested in becoming an animator due to the ongoing Macross series, Yoshiyuki Tomino 's Mobile Suit Gundam and Gainax 's amateur Daikon films.[1] [3] In particular, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko 's character designs were a major influence.[3] Within a year, Kawamoto left his previous profession and enrolled in the Nagoya branch of Tokyo Designer Gakuin College (currently known as Nagoya Designer Gakuin), which he attended for two years.[1] [2]
Career After graduating from college, he applied for a job at Group Donguri and was accepted.[1] [3] In 1986, he made his debut in Yasuhiko's 1986 film Arion , where he was supervised by Yoshinobu Inano and mentored by the lead character designer Sachiko Kamimura , with whom he later collaborated on numerous productions, including being her assistant in Venus Wars , which was also directed and written by Yasuhiko.[1] [3] Soon after, he began working in numerous other Sunrise series, being the lead character designer in the Gundam OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Last Blitz of Zeon , Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team and Cowboy Bebop .[1] [3] [4] While designing the characters for Bebop , Kawamoto modeled the character of Ed on composer Yoko Kanno , Spike Spiegel on Arsène Lupin III and City Hunter , and Ein on a friend's dog, from a suggestion by writer Keiko Nobumoto .[5]
In 1998, he co-founded Bones with fellow Sunrise staff members Masahiko Minami and Hiroshi Ōsaka .[6] He has recently provided the character designs for Wolf's Rain and Tenpō Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi , and the key animation to series such as Eureka Seven , Witch Hunter Robin , Sword of the Stranger , Fullmetal Alchemist , Ouran High School Host Club and Michiko to Hatchin .[1]
On March 11, 2010, Anime Expo announced Kawamoto will be an official Guest of Honor at the July Anime Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Works 1986 - Arion (in-between animation) 1986 - Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (key animation) 1987 - Metal Armor Dragonar (key animation) 1988 - Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (key animation) 1989 - Venus Wars (assistant animation director, key animation) 1989 - Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (animation director) 1989 - City Hunter 3 (key animation) 1990 - City Hunter: Bay City Wars (key animation) 1991 - Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (co-animation director) 1991 - Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (character design, animation director) 1992 - Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Last Blitz of Zeon (character design, animation director) 1993 - Super Dimension Century Orguss 02 (character design) 1993 - The Cockpit (character design, animation director) 1994 - Mobile Fighter G Gundam (OP key animation, key animation) 1994 - Oira Uchū no Tankōfu (character design, animation director) 1995 - Golden Boy (character design, animation director) 1995 - Memories (key animation) 1995 - Sega Saturn Mobile Suit Gundam game (animation director of anime parts) 1996 - Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (character design) 1998 - PlayStation Ghost in the Shell game (animation director and key animation of anime parts) 1998 - Cowboy Bebop (character design, animation director) 1999 - Blood: The Last Vampire (key animation) 2000 - Escaflowne (animation director, key animation) 2001 - Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (character design, animation director) 2001 - Kidō Tenshi Angelic Layer (OP key animation) 2002 - RahXephon (OP key animation, key animation) 2002 - Witch Hunter Robin (OP key animation) 2003 - Wolf's Rain (character design) 2003 - Fullmetal Alchemist (anime) (OP and ED key animation) 2003 - Scrapped Princess (key animation) 2004 - Kurau Phantom Memory (animation director) 2004 - Kenran Butōsai: The Mars Daybreak (animation director) 2005 - Eureka Seven (OP key animation) 2005 - Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa (key animation) 2006 - Ouran High School Host Club (key animation) 2006 - Jyu Oh Sei (key animation) 2006 - Tenpō Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi (character design) 2007 - Sword of the Stranger (co-animation director, key animation) 2008 - Nijū Mensō no Musume (OP and ED key animation) 2008 - Michiko to Hatchin (animation director, key animation) 2009 - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (OP key animation) 2010 - Heroman (chief animator, animation director, OP animation director) 2011 - Gosick (character design) 2011 - Towa no Quon (character design) 2013 - Tenkai Knights (main character design, OP key animation) 2014 - Noragami (character design, chief animation director) 2014 - Space Dandy (animation director) 2015 - Blood Blockade Battlefront (character design) 2016 - My Hero Academia (animation director, key animation) 2016 - Mob Psycho 100 (key animation) 2020 - Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (animation director, key animation) 2021 - SK8 the Infinity (key animation) 2021 - Eden (character design) 2024 - Metallic Rouge (character design) Artbooks 2004 - Toshihiro Kawamoto:COWBOY BEBOP Illustrations ~ The Wind ~ (SoftBank Creative) 2006 - Toshihiro Kawamoto Artworks The Illusives I&II (SoftBank Creative) Games Sources: [1] [3] [5] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
References ^ a b c d e f g h "川元利浩". Weblio. Retrieved February 4, 2009 . ^ a b David Ho (1999). "Anime Expo 1999 - Character Design Panel". EX. Archived from the original on January 12, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2009 . ^ a b c d e f Charles McCarter (1999). "Ein's Best Friend: An Exclusive interview With Kawamoto Toshihiro". EX. Archived from the original on January 12, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2009 . ^ Patten, Fred (2004). Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Stone Bridge Press. pp. 357–360. ISBN 978-1-880656-92-1 .^ a b Charles McCarter (1999). "Ein's Best Friend: An Exclusive interview With Kawamoto Toshihiro". EX. Archived from the original on September 23, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2009 . ^ "Bones Co-Founder Masahiko Minami to Attend Anime Expo (Updated)". Anime News Network . July 1, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2009 . ^ 川元利浩 (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database . Retrieved February 4, 2009 . ^ "Toshihiro Kawamoto joins web animation project". Anime News Network . September 8, 2000. Retrieved December 20, 2008 . ^ "Toshihiro Kawamoto at ACen". Anime News Network . February 13, 2002. Retrieved December 20, 2008 . ^ "New Otakon Guest of Honor: Toshihiro Kawamoto". Anime News Network . June 3, 2001. Retrieved December 20, 2008 . ^ Mateo, Alex (March 22, 2023). "Fuji TV Announces New Metallic Rouge Anime by BONES". Anime News Network . Retrieved April 22, 2023 . External links (In Japanese) Japan Movie Database(In Japanese) AllCinema Online