is a Japanese
animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...
, director, and
storyboard artist
A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.
Work
A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and marke ...
.
Early life
Ootani was born in
Fukui Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, Gi ...
on September 22, 1979.
He first became interested in animation while in high school after seeing
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
's film ''
Princess Mononoke
is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida ...
''.
Career
Ootani joined studio
Imagin
is the seventeenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu programs. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. It premiered January 28, 2007 on TV Asahi, and concluded airing on January 20, 2008. Its le ...
as an in-between animator around 2004. He mostly worked as a sub-contracting animator, and eventual episode director, for
Madhouse and Imagin. He made his directorial debut with an
OVA
, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
adaptation of
Ayano Yamane
is a Japanese josei manga artist, known for specializing in yaoi manga. She debuted as a professional manga artist in 1996 and since then has published several yaoi series and illustrated many light novels. Ayano Yamane is known for her humour a ...
's manga ''
A Foreign Love Affair
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ayano Yamane. The manga is licensed in North America by Digital Manga Publishing, which released the first volume in March 2008, and in Germany by Tokyopop. It was adapted into a two-epis ...
''.
Ootani's final projects with Imagin were ''
Needless
''Needless'' (stylized as ''NEEDLESS'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kami Imai. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Ultra Jump'' from October 2003 to June 2013, with its chapters collected in ...
'' (2009) and ''
Wolverine
The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...
'' (2011), which the studio assisted under Madhouse for, where he was promoted to series assistant director.
After the dissolution of Imagin, former studio producer Yasuhiro Okada joined studio
Shaft
Shaft may refer to:
Rotating machine elements
* Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power
* Line shaft, a power transmission system
* Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque
* Axle, a shaft around whi ...
with Ootani, where the latter mainly did episodic direction and storyboard art. In 2020, he made his series directorial debut as the chief episode director on ''
Assault Lily Bouquet'' with
Shouji Saeki
is a Japanese director, storyboard artist, writer, and animator known for directing and writing several series for studios Gainax and Shaft.
Career
Saeki began working as an in-between animator with Gainax, which was a role that carried on in ...
,
and the following year debuted as director of ''
Pretty Boy Detective Club
, also known as the , is a Japanese mystery novel series written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Kinako. Kodansha released twelve volumes from October 2015 to May 2021 under their Kodansha Taiga label. A manga adaptation with art by Suzuka O ...
'' under
Akiyuki Shinbo
is a Japanese animator, director, writer, and storyboard artist. Best known for his works with Shaft (company), Shaft, he has attained international recognition with the studio for his unique visual style and storytelling methods.
Born in Koor ...
.
After ''Pretty Boy Detective Club'', he decided that he wanted to try directing at a different studio since he had been working with Shaft for so long;
so, in the middle of the production for the series ''
Dance Dance Danseur
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by George Asakura. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Big Comic Spirits'' since September 2015. An anime television series adaptation by MAPPA aired f ...
'', produced by
MAPPA
is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Suginami, Tokyo. Founded in 2011 by Madhouse co-founder and producer Masao Maruyama, it has produced anime works including ''Terror in Resonance'', ''Yuri!!! on Ice'', ''In This Corner of the Wo ...
, he was asked if he wanted to join the series as its "ballet director."
Style
In an interview between him and Shaft colleague
Kenjirou Okada
is a Japanese director and storyboard artist best known for directing '' March Comes In like a Lion''.
Career
Okada started off in the anime industry as a production assistant for '' Zoids: Genesis'' in 2005 at Group TAC
was a Japanese anim ...
, the two were asked to describe each other's styles and processes as directors. Okada stated that Ootani didn't hesitate to put appealing art and animations first and foremost, and that he admired that about Ootani. Akiyuki Shinbo also commented in a separate interview that he felt Ootani shared a very similar sense of visual direction as him.
Despite originally being inspired by director
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
, Ootani has commented that his style is much more eccentric and different from Miyazaki's, which he described was due to trying to survive and stand out in the industry.
Works
Television series
Highlights roles with series directorial duties.
Highlights roles with assistant director or supervising duties.
OVAs
Highlights roles with series directorial duties.
Video games
Highlights roles with major directorial duties.
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ootani, Hajime
Living people
Anime directors
1979 births