is a noted

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese

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, animation director and mecha and character designer.

Biography

After graduating from high school in 1985, Masami Obari began his career when he joined the animation studio

Ashi Production is a Japanese anime studio, located in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan, known for its four magical-girl anime, especially ''Magical Princess Minky Momo''. It was established by Toshihiko Sato and other artists on December 20, 1975, as ''Ashi Productions ...

, where he worked on shows such as ''

Special Armored Battalion Dorvack is a 36 episode anime series aired from 1983 to 1984 in Japan and also aired in Hong Kong at roughly the same time. Other loosely translated names include "''Dorvack''", "''Dolbuk''", "''Special Powered Armor Troop Dorvack''", "''Powered Armo ...

'', ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, ...

'' (outsourced by

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

to them sometimes), and '' Star Musketeer Bismarck''. Soon after, at the age of 19, he got his first major break when he landed the role of mecha designer on ''

Dancouga – Super Beast Machine God is a Super Robot anime television series produced by Ashi Productions, directed by Seiji Okuda and written by Keisuke Fujikawa. It ran on TBS for 38 episodes from 5 April 1985 to 27 December 1985. The TV anime was licensed by Central P ...

''. Not too long after, at the young age of 21, he was given his first directorial role by directing episodes 5 and 6 of the ''

Bubblegum Crisis is a 1987 to 1991 cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by AIC and Artmic. The series was planned to run for 13 episodes, but was cut short to just 8. The series involves the adventures of the K ...

'' OVA series. He also made three

Fatal Fury ''Fatal Fury'', known as in Japan, is a fighting game series developed by SNK for the Neo Geo system. Games Canon * '' Fatal Fury'' – The first game of the ''Fatal Fury'' series allowed players to select one of three characters, Terr ...

OVAs from December 23, 1992, to July 16, 1994. In 1993, he founded Studio G-1 with fellow animators

Kazuto Nakazawa is a Japanese character designer and director of numerous anime series and video games who also goes by the pseudonym . His directorial work includes ''Parasite Dolls'', the anime sequence in '' Kill Bill: Volume 1'', and the Moondrive segmen ...

, Masahiro Yamane, Takehiro Nakayama, and Atsuko Ishida, to whom Masami Obari was married, but from whom he is now divorced. Studio G-1 was later disbanded and was reformed under the name of Studio G-1 Neo in the year 2000. Although not originally interested in animation, he was inspired when he formed a high school friendship with classmate

Satoshi Urushihara , the "Master of Breasts", is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator known for his distinctive style of beautiful characters. His work is the basis for anime such as '' Plastic Little'' and '' Legend of Lemnear'', and appears in the '' Langrisse ...

In 2016, Obari married the professional model maker Ritsu Togasaki. He has a younger brother named Takami, who's currently serving as the president and CEO of

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority sha ...

Filmography

Director

Original Video Animation

* 1988 ''Moonlight Rambler'' (Part 5 of

) * 1989 ''Red Eyes'' (Part 6 of

) * 1991–1992 '' Detonator Orgun'' * 1996 ''

Battle Arena Toshinden is a weapons-based fighting game developed by Tamsoft and published by Takara and Sony Computer Entertainment in 1995 for the PlayStation, followed by 1996 ports for the Sega Saturn, Game Boy and MS-DOS. It was one of the first fighting gam ...

'' * 1996 ''

Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer ''Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer'' is a 1995 superhero-themed head-to-head fighting game produced by Technos Japan Corp. for the Neo Geo arcade and home console. It was the companys second attempt at a fighting game, following the Neo Geo fighting g ...

'' * 1997–1998 ''

Voogie's Angel is a three-episode Japanese original video animation series, based on a 1996 radio drama series of the same name created by Aoi Takeuchi. Character designs in the animation were redone by Masami Oobari, based on the original designs created ...

'' (co-directed with Aoi Takenouchi) * 1999 '' Dangaizer 3'' * 2001–2003 ''

Angel Blade :''It is entirely unrelated to the 1997 PlayStation game "Angel Blade - Neo Tokyo Guardians".'' is part of the Vanilla Series of explicit mature OVA. It was created and directed by Masami Ōbari, who was also responsible for the design o ...

'' * 2001–2003 '' Marine a Go Go'' * 2002 ''Viper GTS'' * 2004–2005 ''

Angel Blade Punish! In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles includ ...

'' * 2017 '' Gundam Build Fighters: Battlogue'' * 2020 '' Gundam Build Divers Battlogue''

Television series

* 1997 ''

Virus Buster Serge is a Japanese anime television series directed by Masami Ōbari, produced by Plum, and broadcast on AT-X and TV Tokyo from October 2 to December 19, 1997. It is based on the Sega Saturn adventure game ''Virus'', which was made in collabor ...

'' * 2000 ''

Platinumhugen Ordian is a Japanese anime series. Directed by Masami Ōbari is a noted Japanese anime director, animation director and mecha and character designer. Biography After graduating from high school in 1985, Masami Obari began his career when he joine ...

'' * 2002 ''

Gravion is a Japanese anime television series produced by Gonzo. It aired in Japan from October 7, 2002 to December 16, 2002 and ran for 13 episodes. In 2004, was released and aired from January 8 to March 25 in Japan, running for twelve additional ...

'' * 2004 '' Gravion Zwei'' * 2007 ''

Jūsō Kikō Dancouga Nova is an area in Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, Yodogawa-ku in north central Osaka, Japan. The core of the area is Jūsō Station, the hub station of the Hankyu Railway system. The area typifies the unique culture of Osaka. Situated across the Yodo Rive ...

'' * 2007 ''

Prism Ark is a Japanese erotic video game and the sequel of '' Prism Heart'' developed by Pajamas Soft. Its first release was on August 25, 2006. This work contains adult-only content of a sexual nature. An anime entitled ''Prism Ark'' began air ...

'' * 2010–2011 '' Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Inspector'' * 2013 ''Bakujyuu Kasshin Ziguru Hazeru''

Animated feature film

* 1994 '' Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture''

Designer

Character design

= Direct-to-video animation

= * 1988-1990 ''Guy: Double Target'' (Monster Design) * 1990–1992 ''

Guardian of Darkness is a three-episode OVA anime series released by J.C.Staff between March 1990 through January 1992. The episodes are licensed for release in North America by Central Park Media and in the United Kingdom by ADV Films UK division. Plot Terumi () ...

'' (Monster Design) * 1993-1994 '' Time Bokan: Royal Revival'' (Key animation; episode 2) * 1996-1997 ''

'' * 1997–1998 ''

'' * 2001–2003 ''

'' (Monster Design) * 2004–2005 ''

= Television series

= * 1997 ''

'' * 1998 ''

Weiss Kreuz Weiss or Weiß may refer to: People * Weiss (surname), including spelling Weiß * Weiss Ferdl (1883-1949), German actor Places * Mount Weiss, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada * Weiss Lake, Alabama * Weiß (Sieg), a river in North Rhine-W ...

'' (Animation director for the 1st opening sequence)

= Animated feature film

= * 1992 '' Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf'' * 1993 '' Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle'' * 1994 '' Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture''

= Video games

= * 1995 ''

'' (also voices Brider in the game) * 2022 '' The King of Fighters XV''

Mecha design

= Direct-to-video animation

= * 1985–1987 ''

Fight! Iczer One ''Iczer One'', known in Japan as , is a 1983 sci-fi horror and yuri manga published in the hentai magazine ''Lemon People''. It was created by Aran Rei. In 1985 the story was adapted into a three part Original Video Animation directed by T ...

'' * 1987–1991 ''

'' (DD design) * 1987–1989 ''

Dangaioh is a Japanese anime OVA series produced and animated by AIC and Artmic and released in Japan in 1987. Dangaioh featured character designs by creator Toshiki Hirano, mechanical designs by Shoji Kawamori, and animation direction by Masami � ...

'' * 1999 ''Dangaizer 3'' * 2001–2003 '' Marine a Go Go''

= Television series

= * 1985 ''

'' * 1991-1992 ''

The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird is a 1991 anime television series, created by Takara and Sunrise under the direction of Katsuyoshi Yatabe. It is the second incarnation in the long-running " ''Brave''", (or ''Yūsha''), franchise. This series's title's English translation b ...

'' (chief animator, mecha designer for 9 episodes, opening sequence solo animator) * 1992-1993 '' Tekkaman Blade'' (opening sequence animator) * 1994-1995 '' Magic Knight Rayearth'' (opening sequence animator) * 1994–1995 ''

Brave Police J-Decker is the fifth series of the anime television meta Brave series (Yūsha) created by Takara and Sunrise. It aired in Japan from February 5, 1994 to January 28, 1995. ''Brave Police J-Decker'' returns the series to a subtly lighter tone, focusing mo ...

'' (Guest Mecha Design for episodes 1–3) * 2000 ''

'' * 2002 ''

'' * 2004 '' Gravion Zwei'' * 2007 ''

'' * 2010–2011 '' Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Inspector'' * 2015-2017 '' Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans'' (Animation direction, key animation, in-between animation) * 2019 '' Pop Team Epic TV Special'' (1st half prologue skit and opening sequence) * 2022 ''Pop Team Epic Series 2'' (Episode 2 story part and ending sequence)

= Video games

= * 1989 '' Moto Roader'' * 2007 '' Super Robot Wars: Original Generations'' * 2007 ''

Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden is a 2007 tactical role-playing game, and direct sequel to Super Robot Taisen: Original Generations, for the PlayStation 2. The bonus segments of Original Generations, entitled ''Original Generation 2.5: Unified Wisdom'', was regarded as a prev ...

'' * 2008 ''

Super Robot Wars Z This list provides an index of video game titles in Banpresto's ''Super Robot Wars'' franchise, known as ''Super Robot Taisen'' in Japan. Most of the games in the series are tactical role-playing games, but several games representing other genres ...

'' * 2012 '' 2nd Super Robot Wars Z'' * 2015 '' 3rd Super Robot Wars Z'' * 2018 '' Mobile Corps Iron Saga'' * 2019 '' Super Robot Wars DD''

References

"Prism Ark". ''Newtype USA''. 6 (11) p. 11. November 2007. .

External links

* *
Masami Obari
anime works at Media Arts Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Obari Masami Sunrise (company) people 1966 births Living people Japanese animated film directors Anime directors Anime character designers Mechanical designers (mecha) Japanese animators People from Hiroshima Prefecture Place of birth missing (living people) Brave series