is an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...

game A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...

creator, character designer and animator born on November 21, 1961 in

Yonago is a city in western Tottori Prefecture, Japan, facing the Sea of Japan and making up part of the boundary of Lake Nakaumi. It is adjacent to Shimane Prefecture and across the lake from its capital of Matsue. It is the prefecture's second larges ...

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hiro ...

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 ...

Career history

Akai attended

Osaka University of Arts is a private arts university located in Kanan, Minamikawachi District, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The university was founded in 1945 as , changing its name to in 1957, and then to in 1964. The university adopted the current name in 1966. Nota ...

majoring in

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

. While studying there, Akai created the character designs for the

Daicon III The ''Daicon III'' and ''IV Opening Animations'' are two 8mm film anime short films that were produced for the 1981 Daicon III and 1983 Daicon IV Nihon SF Taikai conventions. They were produced by a group of amateur animators known as Daicon ...

opening animation. The main staff for the Daicon III and

Daicon IV The ''Daicon III'' and ''IV Opening Animations'' are two 8mm film anime short films that were produced for the 1981 Daicon III and 1983 Daicon IV Nihon SF Taikai conventions. They were produced by a group of amateur animators known as Daicon ...

opening animations went on to create the animation studio Gainax. Akai was in the same class as

Hiroyuki Yamaga is a Japanese anime director and producer, and a founding member of the animation studio Gainax. He is best known for directing the film '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'' (1987) at age 24, directing '' Mahoromatic'' (2001), '' Magi ...

and

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 ...

. He was a board member of

Gainax Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; ja, 株式会社ガイナックス, Hepburn: ) is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Royal Space Force'', '' Gunbuster'', '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue Wa ...

. His wife is Kimiko Higuchi. He stepped down from Gainax board after an incident in which he and another employee made disparaging remarks about fan criticisms made on the Japanese

Internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least tempora ...

2channel , also known as 2ch, Channel 2, and sometimes retrospectively as 2ch.net, was an anonymous Japanese textboard founded in 1999 by Hiroyuki Nishimura. Described in 2007 as "Japan's most popular online community", the site had a level of influ ...

. He runs his own company titled NineLives. He is portrayed by actor

Tomoya Nakamura is a Japanese actor. He is known for the Japanese voice of Aladdin in the 2019 live action remake Career Nakamura made his debut in the film '' The Innocent Seven'' in 2005. Filmography Film Television Japanese dub Awards References ...

in the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

TV Drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

Aoi Honō is a Japanese coming-of-age manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Shimamoto. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Sunday'' from March 2007 to July 2008, when the magazine ceased its publicati ...

'' based on the

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

by his fellow

alumnus

Kazuhiko Shimamoto is a Japanese manga artist. He attended college at the Osaka University of Arts in the fine arts department. While in college in February 1982, he debuted in the spring special issue of Shōnen Sunday with Hissatsu no Tenkōsei. At this point h ...

Works

*''

Aikoku Sentai Dai-Nippon Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; ja, 株式会社ガイナックス, Hepburn: ) is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Royal Space Force'', ''Gunbuster'', '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue Wate ...

'' *''

Akai Takami Works Akai ( ja, 赤井, ) is a Hong Kong manufacturer of consumer electronics. It was founded as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo, Japan, in 1946. Grande Holdings in Hong Kong purchased the Akai brand, and now distributes various electronic produc ...

'' *'' Banner of the Stars'' (anime, character designs) *'' Crest of the Stars'' (anime, character designs) *'' Dennō Gakuen'' *'' Magical Pop'n'' (package artwork) *'' Kaettekita Ultraman'' (Daicon Film) *''

Petite Princess Yucie is an anime series, which was produced by Gainax, aired from 2002 to 2003, and ran for 26 episodes. The story centers on Yucie, a 17-year-old who is trapped in a 10-year-old's body, and follows her and her friends, all of whom are designated ...

'' (anime, original story, character design) *''

Princess Maker is a series of social simulation bishōjo games where the player must act as a parental figure and raise a young girl. The series was produced by the video game and anime production company Gainax. The first ''Princess Maker'', while popular en ...

'' (game, character design, director) *'' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise'' *'' Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann'' *'' Yamata no Orochi no Gyakushū''

References

External links

*
NineLives Official SiteGainax Net

Akai interview

''Gurren Lagann'' interview

''Lagann''
'' Daicon'' interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Akai, Takami 1961 births Living people Gainax Japanese animators Anime character designers Artists from Tottori Prefecture Osaka University of Arts alumni People from Yonago, Tottori

Career history

Works

See also

References

External links