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 ...

, character designer, illustrator and

animation director An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of co ...

best known for her work on ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The seri ...

'' and as the creator of ''

Princess Tutu is a Japanese magical girl anime series created by illustrator and animator Ikuko Itoh. Inspired by ballet and fairy tales, particularly ''The Ugly Duckling'' and ''Swan Lake'', the story follows a duck who is transformed into the mythical b ...

''.

Career

Ikuko Itoh graduated at Tokyo Designer Gakuin College, and started working as key animator and animation director for various series and movies in 1980s. From 1992 to 1994, she was recognized from her work as an animation director for various episodes of ''

'' (''

'' and ''

Sailor Moon R The second season of the '' Sailor Moon'' anime series ''Sailor Moon R'' (originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R''), was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Junichi Sato and Kunihiko Ikuhara. Accordi ...

''). After ''R'' had ended, Itoh took over

Kazuko Tadano is a Japanese animator, character designer, illustrator and animation director. She's mostly known for her character design work for the first two seasons of the 1990s ''Sailor Moon'' anime series. Career Tadano first worked on as an animatio ...

's role as a character designer from ''

Sailor Moon S The third season of the '' Sailor Moon'' anime series, ''Sailor Moon S'' (originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S''), was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. It began broadcasting on ...

'' in 1994 till the end of ''

Sailor Moon SuperS The fourth season of the '' Sailor Moon'' anime series, ''Sailor Moon SuperS'' (originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon SuperS'') was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. It adapts the ...

'' in 1995. After ''Sailor Moon'', she character designed for '' Fushigi Mahou Fun Fun Pharmacy'' and ''

Magic User's Club is a magical girl/magical boy, boy anime created by Triangle Staff and Junichi Sato. It was first released as a six-part OVA in 1996 and then a 13-episode TV series in 1999, which was broadcast by WOWOW, and then by the anime television ne ...

'' in late 1990s. In 2002, she created and character designed ''

'', a ballet fairy tale anime that is inspired from ''

The Ugly Duckling "The Ugly Duckling" ( da, Den grimme ælling) is a Danish literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published on 11 November 1843 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. Fir ...

'' and ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

''. From 2006 and onwards, Itoh provided character designs for ''

Living for the Day After Tomorrow is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by J-ta Yamada. The manga was serialized in Mag Garden's magazine '' Comic Blade Masamune'' between March 3, 2005 and June 15, 2007; five bound volumes were released in Japan. The manga was ...

'', ''

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Puyo. The series is a spinoff of Nagaru Tanigawa's ''Haruhi Suzumiya'' light novel series, and is based on the alternate universe originally featured in the series' fourth volume and fea ...

'', and ''

Somali and the Forest Spirit is a Japanese fantasy manga series by Yako Gureishi. It was serialized online from April 2015 to October 2019 via Tokuma Shoten's online manga magazine '' Web Comic Zenyon''. It was collected in six ''tankōbon'' volumes. An anime television ...

''.

Works

Anime

Anime film

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Itoh, Ikuko Living people Japanese animators Japanese animated film directors Japanese women film directors Japanese women animators Women television directors Japanese television directors Anime character designers 1961 births