is a Japanese
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 ...
director who is known for such series as ''
Shaman King
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroyuki Takei. It follows the adventures of Yoh Asakura as he attempts to hone his shaman skills to become the Shaman King by winning the Shaman Fight. Takei chose shamanism as the ma ...
'', ''
Fullmetal Alchemist
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology magazine ''Gangan Comics#Monthly Shōnen Gangan, Monthly Shōnen Gangan'' between July 20 ...
'', ''
Mobile Suit Gundam 00
is a Japanese anime television series, the eleventh installment in Sunrise studio's long-running ''Gundam'' franchise comprising two seasons. The series is set on a futuristic Earth and is centered on the exploits of the fictional paramilita ...
'', ''
Un-Go
is a 2011 anime television series produced by Bones which aired on Fuji TV's noitamina program block between October 13, 2011 and December 22, 2011. Based on the noted Japanese intellectual and novelist Ango Sakaguchi's novel , the series ...
'', and ''
Concrete Revolutio
is a Japanese superhero anime television series created and written by Shō Aikawa, directed by Seiji Mizushima, produced by Bones, and featuring character designs by Yoshiyuki Ito. It began airing in Japan in October 2015. A second sea ...
''. His first directorial film project, ''
Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa'', won the 60th
Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film
The is an award given to the best animated feature film at the Mainichi Film Awards. The award was established to reward large scale cinematic animation, enabling the Ōfuji Noburō Award to focus on shorter pieces. This award was first presented ...
. In 2015, he won the Individual Award at the 20th
Animation Kobe
The was an event established by Kobe in 1996 to promote anime and other visual media. The were given annually until 2015 by Kobe and the Organising Committee to creators and creations.
Event
Animation Kobe has been held annually in Kobe since ...
Awards.
His name is occasionally rendered in full
katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...
when he is in charge of episode directing or storyboarding. He is not related to
Tsutomu Mizushima
is a Japanese animation and sound director.
Career
Mizushima was born in Chitose, Hokkaido and raised in Hata, Nagano (now Matsumoto, Nagano). He produced independent films in high school and when he graduated from Nagano Prefectural Matsumoto M ...
, who is also an anime director and shares his surname, but they often jokingly call each other "brother" on Twitter.
Career and style
After graduating from Tokyo Designer Gakuin College (now Tokyo Net Wave), Mizushima joined Tokyo Animation Film. While being involved in the photography of ''
Doraemon
''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with List of Doraemon chapters, its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ' ...
'' and ''Obocchama-kun'', he studied under director of photography Masahiro Kumagai, and then went to work for
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Terminology
Al ...
as a production assistant, aiming to become a full-fledged director. After leaving the company, he worked on video game cutscenes, and then moved on to animation.
For most of his directorial projects, Masafumi Mima serves as the sound director. In addition to
Katsuyuki Konishi
is a Japanese voice actor from Wakayama, Wakayama. He is affiliated with Ken Production. His debut role was Volfogg/Big Volfogg in ''GaoGaiGar''. He is most well known for portraying Kamina in ''Gurren Lagann'', Laxus Dreyar in ''Fairy Tail'' ...
, who appears in most of his productions, he also actively uses voice actors he first used for his earlier projects in later works. A fan of
Puffy AmiYumi
is a Japanese pop rock duo formed in Tokyo in 1995, consisting of singers Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura. In the United States, they adopted the name Puffy AmiYumi to avoid legal naming conflicts with Sean Combs, who also performed under the name ...
, when he asked them to sing a theme song for an anime, they gladly agreed to it, which led them to sing the theme song of ''
Oh! Edo Rocket''. In addition, the August 2007 issue of ''
Newtype
is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime (and to a lesser extent, tokusatsu, manga, Japanese science fiction, seiyuu, and video games). It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985, with i ...
'' featured a photo of Mizushima with a big smile on his face surrounded by Puffy.
Mizushima often mentions
Hideaki Anno
is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotio ...
as an anime director that he respects, and when he was asked to direct ''
Hanamaru Kindergarten
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuto and published by Square Enix. The series follows Anzu, a kindergarten girl who is in love with her teacher and tries to win his affection but always fails. It has been adapted into an ...
'' by
Gainax
Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; ja, 株式会社ガイナックス, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ) is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', ''Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, Roya ...
, a company that has a close relationship with him, he revealed that he accepted the job because it was a different direction for him and because it was meaningful to him to work with the staff. In addition, he highly praised
Ayahi Takagaki
is a Japanese actress and singer. She had her first major voice acting roles in 2007, voicing Jasmine in '' Deltora Quest'' and Lucia Nahashi in ''Venus Versus Virus''.
Her career as a musician began with her performance of the opening themes o ...
, who appeared in the ''
Mobile Suit Gundam 00
is a Japanese anime television series, the eleventh installment in Sunrise studio's long-running ''Gundam'' franchise comprising two seasons. The series is set on a futuristic Earth and is centered on the exploits of the fictional paramilita ...
'' series, and praised "Kigurumi Planet", which was used as the ending theme for ''Hanamaru Kindergarten'', as a song made possible only by her.
In 2011, he participated as a member of the selection and evaluation committee for the "Young Animator Training Project 2011" organized by the
Japanese Animation Creators Association
The or JAniCA, is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving working conditions for workers in the anime industry. The group was formed in June 2007.
History
On October 15, 2007 over 500 animators gathered together to announce the formatio ...
.
Mizushima has a hobby of
egosurfing
Egosurfing (also vanity searching, egosearching, egogoogling, autogoogling, self-googling) is the practice of searching for one's own name, or pseudonym on a popular search engine in order to review the results. Similarly, an egosurfer is one who ...
and has often admitted that he searches for opinions of his work on 2chan, Twitter, blogs, etc.
Works
Anime television series
*''
Neon Genesis Evangelion
, also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. ''Evangelion' ...
'' (1995–10
Generator Gawl
is a 1998 12-episode anime television series produced by Tatsunoko Productions and the Victor Company of Japan (JVC, now JVCKenwood). The story is set in 2007, when Professor Takuma Nekasa uncovers a gene code that will unlock the human body's ...