is a Japanese animator and character designer. In 1994, he was put in charge of character designs for the first time with ''

Marmalade Boy is a shōjo manga series by Wataru Yoshizumi. It was published by Shueisha in the magazine '' Ribon'' from May 1992 to October 1995 and collected in eight ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series was adapted by Toei Animation as a 76-episode an ...

''. Since then, he has done character designs for many series, such as '' HeartCatch PreCure!'', ''

Ojamajo Doremi , alternatively titled ''Magical DoReMi'' in English, is a Japanese magical girl anime television series created by Toei Animation. It focuses on a group of elementary school girls, led by Doremi Harukaze, who become witch apprent ...

'', and ''

My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected into ...

''.

Biography

Yoshihiko Umakoshi was born in

Hakata, Ehime was a town located in Ochi District, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 7,683 and a density of 368.31 persons per km2. The total area was 20.86 km2. On January 16, 2005, Hakata, along with the towns ...

in 1968. Umakoshi debuted as a character designer in 1994 with ''

''. In 2011, due to his work on '' HeartCatch PreCure!'', he won the award for best character designer at the 2011

Tokyo Anime Award The Tokyo Anime Awards started in 2002, but was named in 2005. The first, second and third award ceremonies were simply named 'Competition'. The award ceremonies were held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) until 2013. In 2014, after the ...

. Starting in 2016, Umakoshi created the character designs for the anime adaptation of ''

''. He also provided the character designs for the three anime films based on the series. The series has received praise, with '' Paste'' ranking the adaptation among the top 40 anime of all time. ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

'',

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

, and ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' also named the adaptation as one of the best anime of the 2010s. At the

Crunchyroll Anime Awards The Crunchyroll Anime Awards, also known simply as The Anime Awards, are awards given annually by the anime streaming service Crunchyroll to recognize the best anime of the previous year. Announced in December 2016, the awards were first prese ...

, the adaptation was nominated for anime of the year in 2016 and the film '' My Hero Academia: Two Heroes'' won the award for best film in 2018. In 2020, Umakoshi did the character designs for ''

Looking for Magical Doremi is a 2020 Japanese drama and coming-of-age animated film produced by Toei Animation for the 20th anniversary of the magical girl anime series ''Ojamajo Doremi'' (known internationally as ''Magical Doremi''), which aired from 1999 to 2005. The f ...

'', which won the

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 ...

Works

TV series

* ''

'' (1994–1995) (character designer) * ''

Neighborhood Story is a manga by Ai Yazawa. It was published by Shueisha from 1995 to 1998 in the magazine '' Ribon''. It was adapted by Toei Animation as a 50-episode anime series which aired on TV Asahi from September 10, 1995, to September 1, 1996, with ...

'' (1995–1996) (character designer) * ''

Boys Over Flowers , is a Japanese ''shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Yoko Kamio and set in Tokyo, Japan, and the fictional "Eitoku Academy" (an elite school for children from rich families). It tells the story of Tsukushi Makino, a girl fr ...

'' (1996–1997) (character designer) * ''

Berserk Berserk (meaning "very angry" or "out of control") may refer to: * ''Berserk'' (manga), a 1989 Japanese manga by Kentaro Miura ** ''Berserk'' (1997 TV series), the first anime adaption of the manga ** ''Berserk'' (2016 TV series), a second adap ...

'' (1997) (character designer) * ''

'' (1999–2004) (character designer) * ''

Air Master is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yokusaru Shibata. It was serialized in Hakusensha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Young Animal'' from 1996 to 2006, with its chapters collected in twenty-eight ''tankōbon'' volumes. The st ...

'' (2003) (character designer) * '' Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor'' (2005–2006) (character designer) * ''

Mushishi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Urushibara. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Afternoon Season Zōkan'' from 1999 to 2002, and in ''Monthly Afternoon'' from December 2002 to August 200 ...

'' (2005–2014) (character designer) * ''

Casshern Sins is a reboot of the 1973 anime series ''Casshan'', produced by Tatsunoko Productions and animated by Madhouse, it aired from October 2008 to March 2009. The series made its English broadcast premiere on Funimation Channel in December 2010. A ...

'' (2008–2009) (character designer) * '' HeartCatch PreCure!'' (2010–2011) (character designer) * ''

Saint Seiya Omega is an anime series produced by Toei Animation. It is a spin-off of the ''Saint Seiya'' anime series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada, produced in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the franchise.

'' (2012–2014) (character designer) * ''

'' (2016–present) (character designer)

Films

* '' Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation'' (2000) (character designer) * '' My Hero Academia: Two Heroes'' (2018) (character designer) * '' My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising'' (2019) (character designer) * ''

'' (2020) (character designer) * '' My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission'' (2021) (character designer)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Umakoshi, Yoshihiko 1968 births Anime character designers Japanese animators Living people People from Ehime Prefecture