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 ...

known for his work with Madhouse. Primarily a key animator and animation director for

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series, Kitao has also on occasion done character designs. Recently, he has won much praise for his adapted character designs for the popular ''

Death Note ''Death Note'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2003 to May ...

'' TV series. Consequently, ''Death Note'' has become his best known work. Along with ''Death Note'' director

Tetsurō Araki is a Japanese animator, storyboard artist, and director. He goes by the alias when working as an episode director and key animator. His most notable direction titles include '' Death Note'' and the first three seasons of '' Attack on Titan''. ...

, he was a Guest of Honor at Anime Expo 2007. When asked by fans at Anime Expo 2007, he revealed that L from ''Death Note'' is his favorite character, both to empathize with and to draw. He also stated that he would like to work on an L-themed spin-off anime, and that fans in America and Japan should request one if they too are interested.

Sequences as an Animator

At Anime Expo 2007, Kitao revealed some of the sequences he had been personally responsible for on several of his television and theatrical works. On the '' X Movie'' from 1996, he animated scenes of the character Hinoto, as well as drawing special-effects animation of collapsing buildings. In 1999's '' Cardcaptor Sakura The Movie'', as assistant animation director he supervised the sequence where

Sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

and

Tomoyo Tomoyo is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Tomoyo can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: * 知世, "wisdom, world" * 友世, "friend, world" * 倫世, "ethics, world" * 智代, "knowledge, world" * 灯代, " ...

spend the night at Syaoran's home in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. And as a chief animator on the '' Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card'' in 2000, he was responsible for the Mirror House sequence. Most recently, on the 2006 TV series ''

NANA Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana ( ...

'', he animated shots of the crowd dancing at

Nana Osaki The Japanese manga series ''Nana'', written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa, features a cast of fictional characters of which the two main characters share the name Nana. The series chronicles their friendship and their lives as each chases her dr ...

's concert during the opening credits.

Notable works

Television Series

*''

Azuki-chan is a manga series about a young student, schoolgirl named Azusa Noyama, nicknamed Azuki-chan because when she was in first grade, Ken Takayanagi, a boy in her class, accidentally reads her name, "Azusa(あずさ)", as "Azuki(あずき)". O ...

'' (1995–1998) - Animation Director, Animation Supervisor, Storyboard Artist *''

Cardcaptor Sakura , abbreviated as ''CCS'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. Serialized monthly in the ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from May 1996 to June 2000, it was also published in 12 ''tankōbon'' ...

'' (1998–2000) - Episode Director (episode 15), Storyboard Artist (episode 67) *''

Galaxy Angel is a ''bishōjo'' science fiction, sci-fi metaseries composed of anime, manga and dating sim video games. It was created by Broccoli (company), Broccoli in July 2000, when it launched a multi-platformed project called ''Project G.A.'' ...

'' (2001–2004) - Animation Director, Storyboard Artist (season 1) *''

Chobits is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the Japanese manga collective Clamp. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from September 2000 to October 2002, with its chapters collected ...

'' (2002) - Animation Director (episodes 15, 21) *''

Gungrave is a 2002 third-person shooter video game developed and published by Red Entertainment (Sega in North America and Activision in Europe) for the PlayStation 2. ''Gungrave'' follows its main character through a variety of stages on a path of rev ...

'' (2003–2004) - Animation Director *''

Gokusen is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kozueko Morimoto. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''You'' from 2000 to 2007, with its chapters collected in fifteen '' wideban'' volumes. The story follows Kumiko Yamaguchi, the grand ...

'' (2004) - Animation Director, Key Animator *''

Rozen Maiden is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Peach-Pit. It was serialized in '' Monthly Comic Birz'' between the September 2002 and July 2007 issues. The individual chapters were collected and released into eight ''tankōbon'' ...

'' (2004) - Animation Director (episodes 3, 10) *''

'' (2006–2007) - Apparel Designer, Key Animator (opening credits) *''

'' (2006–2007) - Character Designer, Chief Animation Director *''

Kobato. is a Japanese manga series by Clamp. It was first published in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Sunday Gene-X'' from December 2004 to August 2005, under the title ''Kobato (kari)''. It was later serialized in Kadokawa Shote ...

'' (2009) - Key Animator (episode 1) *''

Highschool of the Dead ''Highschool of the Dead'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written by Daisuke Satō and illustrated by Shōji Satō. It was serialized in Fujimi Shobo's ''Monthly Dragon Age'' between the September 2006 and May 2013 issues, but ...

'' (2010) - Animation Director (episode 8) *''

The Idaten Deities know Only Peace is a Japanese manga series written by Amahara and illustrated by Coolkyousinnjya. It has been serialized in Hakusensha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Young Animal'' since August 2018 and has been collected in five ''tankōbon'' volumes. It ...

'' (2021) - Chief Animation Director (ED, episode 2-10 even), Assistant Chief Animation Director (episode 11), Key Animator (episode 2)

Feature films

*'' Yawara! Soreyuke Koshinuke Kiss!!'' (1992) - Key Animator *'' X'' (1996) - Key Animator *'' Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie'' (1999) - Assistant Animation Director, Chief Animator *'' Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card'' (2000) - Chief Animator *''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

'' (2001) - Key Animator

OVAs

*''

Gunbuster ''Gunbuster'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese OVA anime series produced by Bandai, Victor, and Gainax and released from 1988 to 1989. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, best known as the creator and director of ''Neon Genesis ...

'' (1988) - Animator *'' A-Girl'' (1993) - Key Animator *''

Pops Pops may refer to: Name or nickname * Pops, an informal term of address for a father or elder * Pops (nickname), a list of people * Pops (Muppet), a Muppets character * Pops (Johnny Bravo), a character from the Cartoon Network animated television ...

'' (1993) - Character Designer, Animation Director *'' Oedo wa Nemurenai!'' (1993) - Key Animator *'' Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals'' - Key Animator *''

Phantom Quest Corp is a comedy/horror anime produced by Madhouse and Pioneer LDC. It was originally released as a four-episode original video animation (OVA) in Japan between August 25, 1994 and February 25, 1995. An English-dubbed version was released in No ...

'' (1994–1995) - Key Animator *''

Ichigo 100% is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mizuki Kawashita. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from February 2002 to August 2005, with its chapters collected in 19 ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series was li ...

'' (2004) - Chief Animation Director *'' Tsubasa Spring Thunder Chronicles'' (2009) - Key Animator

External links

* * Living people Japanese animators Japanese animated film directors Madhouse (company) people 1961 births {{Anime-bio-stub