is a Japanese special effects director and

visual effects supervisor In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process ...

Life and career

Onoue was born in 1960 in

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

, Japan. He went to high school in Saga, Kyushu, Japan, and moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

upon entering university. When he was a student, Onoue became involved in independent films, and started working part-time at Taiko Shokai, a company that handles props for television shows. He began his career working on art in 1982's '' Burst City''. Since then, he has been working in art and special effects departments, focusing on movies and concerts. In 1985, he became an employee Special Effects Laboratory and became an important figure at the company after working on ''

Jikuu Senshi Spielban is a Japanese tokusatsu television series, part of the Metal Hero Series franchise created by Toei Co. Ltd. and aired from to . ''Spielbans footage was used for Saban’s live-action series, '' VR Troopers''. For distribution purposes, Toei ...

'' and ''

Choujinki Metalder is the sixth and shortest entry of the Metal Hero Series franchise, running from March 16, 1987, to January 17, 1988, for only 39 episodes. It was the first series to air on Sundays instead of Mondays. ''Metalder'' bears many similarities to ...

'' in 1987. He made his debut as a special effects director on 1994's ''

Blue SWAT is the thirteenth installment in the Metal Hero Series franchise. It ran from January 30, 1994 to January 27, 1995 for a total of 51 episodes and one theatrical film, aired as part of the 1994 ''Manga Matsuri'', which compiled episodes 1 and 2. ...

''. Since then he has worked on many blockbusters, including: ''

Onmyōji was one of the official positions belonging to the of the Ministry of the Center under the ritsuryō system in ancient Japan, and was assigned as a technical officer in charge of divination and geomorphology based on the theory of the yin-an ...

'' (2001), '' Samurai Commando: Mission 1549'' (2005), ''

Sinking of Japan is a 2006 Japanese ''tokusatsu'' disaster film directed by Shinji Higuchi. It is an adaptation of the novel ''Japan Sinks'' and a remake of its earlier film adaptation '' Tidal Wave'', both released in the year 1973. It stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, ...

'' (2006), '' Saiyūki'' (2007), '' Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess'' (2008), '' Oba: The Last Samurai'' (2011), '' The Floating Castle'' (2012), '' Attack on Titan'' (2015), ''Persona Non Grata'' (2015), ''

Shin Godzilla is a 2016 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, with a screenplay by Anno and visual effects by Higuchi. Produced by Toho Pictures and Cine Bazar and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the 31st film in the '' ...

'' (2016), ''Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit'' (2017), ''Idaten: Tokyo Orinpikku-banashi'' (2019), and ''

Shin Ultraman is a 2022 Japanese superhero ''kaiju'' film directed by Shinji Higuchi and written, co-produced, and co-edited by Hideaki Anno. A reimagining of ''Ultraman'', the film is a co-production between Toho Studios and Cine Bazar, and presented b ...

'' (2022).

Filmography

Film

* '' Burst City'' (1982) * ''

'' (2001) * ''

Returner is a 2002 Japanese science fiction film directed by Takashi Yamazaki and starring Anne Suzuki and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Plot Milly is a soldier from 2084, where humanity is on the verge of extinction because of the "Daggra", an alien race. In m ...

'' (2002) * '' Onmyōji II'' (2003) * ''Cutie Honey'' (2004) * '' Nin x Nin: Ninja Hattori-kun, the Movie'' (2004) * '' Samurai Commando: Mission 1549'' (2005) * ''

'' (2006) * '' Saiyūki'' (2007) * '' Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess'' (2008) * '' Oba: The Last Samurai'' (2011) * '' Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo'' (2012) * '' The Floating Castle'' (2012) * '' Attack on Titan'' (2015) * ''Persona Non Grata'' (2015) * ''

'' (2016) * ''Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit'' (2017) * ''Idaten: Tokyo Orinpikku-banashi'' (2019) * '' Ultraman Taiga The Movie'' (2020) * ''

'' (2022) - associate director and cinematographer * ''Instigator: Umeyasu Fujieda'' (2023) - senior VFX supervisor * ''Shin Kamen Rider'' (2023) - associate director * ''Instigator: Umeyasu Fujieda 2'' (2023) - senior VFX supervisor

Television

* ''ikuu Senshi Spielban'' (1986-1987) * ''

'' (1987-1988) * ''

'' (1994-1995)

References

External links

* *
Katsuro Onoue
at CG Kyoto
Katsuro Onoue
at Eiga.com Japanese film directors Living people 1960 births Special effects people Visual effects supervisors Visual effects artists People from Kagoshima Prefecture {{Japan-film-director-stub