is a Japanese director, screenwriter, and animator affiliated with

Science SARU Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

, a Japanese animation studio which he co-founded with producer

Eunyoung Choi Eunyoung Choi () is a South Korean studio executive, producer, director and animator. She is the President and CEO of Science SARU, a Japanese animation studio which she co-founded with Masaaki Yuasa in 2013, and has served as producer of the ...

in 2013. Yuasa previously served as president of Science SARU, but stepped down from this role in 2020. Recognized for his idiosyncratic art style and directorial voice, Yuasa began his career as an animator on the landmark television series ''

Chibi Maruko-chan is a shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Momoko Sakura. The series depicts the simple, everyday life of Momoko Sakura, a young girl everyone calls ''Maruko'', and her family in suburban Japan in the year 1974. Maruko is a tro ...

'' (1990–1992) and '' Crayon Shin-chan'' (1992–present), before moving into directing with the feature film ''

Mind Game Playing mind games (also power games or head games) is the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the ag ...

'' (2004) and developing a cult appeal following. Yuasa spent much of the 2000s and early 2010s working in television directing, helming a trio of series, '' Kemonozume'' (2006), '' Kaiba'' (2008), and ''

The Tatami Galaxy is a 2004 Japanese varsity novel written by Tomihiko Morimi and published by Ohta Publishing. Its first-person narrator is an unnamed upperclassman at Kyoto University reminiscing on the misadventures of his previous years of campus lif ...

'' (2010), before releasing the

crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

short film '' Kick-Heart'' (2013). During the production of ''Kick-Heart'', Choi proposed the establishment of Science SARU, and the resultant works created at the studio, combined with increased international distribution, led to mainstream breakout successes in the 2010s and saw Yuasa rise to prominence as one of Japan's foremost independent creators. At Science SARU, Yuasa focused on directing both television and feature film productions, starting with an episode of the American animated series ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' (2014);, and continuing with '' Ping Pong the Animation'' (2014), ''

The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl is a 2017 Japanese animated romantic comedy film directed by Masaaki Yuasa. The film is based on the 2006 novel ''The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl'' written by Tomihiko Morimi and illustrated by Yusuke Nakamura, who also served as the film's o ...

'' (2017), ''

Lu Over the Wall is a 2017 Japanese animated fantasy film produced by Science Saru and released by Toho about the eponymous ningyo. It was directed by Masaaki Yuasa, and written by Yuasa and Reiko Yoshida. The music was composed by Takatsugu Muramatsu. It is ...

'' (2017), ''

Devilman Crybaby ''Devilman Crybaby'' is a 2018 Japanese original net animation (ONA) series based on Go Nagai's manga series ''Devilman''. The web anime is directed by Masaaki Yuasa, produced by Aniplex and Dynamic Planning, animated by Science SARU, and r ...

'' (2018), '' Ride Your Wave'' (2019), '' Super Shiro'' (2019), ''

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sumito Ōwara. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Big Comic Spirits'' since 2016 and has been collected in seven ''tankōbon'' volumes as of July ...

'' (2020), '' Japan Sinks: 2020'' (2020), and ''

Inu-Oh is a 2021 Japanese animated musical film directed by Masaaki Yuasa and produced by Science SARU. Based upon the novel ''Tales of the Heike: Inu-Oh'' by Hideo Furukawa, the film is set in 14th century Japan and centers on the friendship betwee ...

'' (2021). Yuasa's productions have won international critical acclaim, receiving awards from Annecy, the

Japan Academy Film Prize The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

, the

Mainichi Film Awards The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 193 ...

, and the

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by a ...

. In recognition of his collective career accomplishments, he has been recognized by the Japanese government and received the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon, as well as the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Cabinet Minister Award for Media Fine Arts. Yuasa's latest project is the musical drama feature film ''Inu-Oh'', which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2021 and was released worldwide in August 2022.

Early life

Masaaki Yuasa was born on March 16, 1965 in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

, Japan. As a child, Yuasa liked animation, and as early as his kindergarten years found he could entertain classmates with his drawings. Despite pressure to abandon animation and move onto more serious interests as he grew to adolescence, Yuasa was encouraged by the early boom of Japanese animation aimed at adults spurred by the success of ''

Space Battleship Yamato is a Japanese science fiction anime series produced and written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions. The series aired in Yomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975 ...

'', and this led him to continue drawing. He graduated from

Kyushu Sangyo University was founded in 1960 in Fukuoka City, and currently has twenty departments and six graduate schools. It is a private university. Undergraduate Faculties and departments *Faculty of Economics **Department of Economics *Faculty of Commerce **Depar ...

with a degree in fine arts and a focus on oil painting. During his college years, Yuasa worried he would not be able to make a living as an animator, but continued to study television animation as it aired and familiarize himself with animators whose personal styles resonated with him.

Influences

In his youth, Yuasa was initially drawn to the television animation series ''

Mazinger Z is a Japanese super robot manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later was reissued in Kodansha ''TV Magazin ...

'' (1972–1974) and ''Space Battleship Yamato'' (1974–1975). A crucial influence which led Yuasa to work in the industry was

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

's landmark feature film debut '' Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro'' (1979). In the 1980s, Yuasa began to focus on the study of individual animators, namely

Takashi Nakamura is an accomplished Japanese animator and anime director. He is also a founding member of the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) labor group. Nakamura's 2001 film ''A Tree of Palme'' was an official selection of the Berlin Film Fes ...

and his work on '' Golden Warrior Gold Lightan'' (1981–1982). He also studied international animation, with particular influences being the works of

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His mo ...

, the British film '' Yellow Submarine'' (1968), '' The King and the Mockingbird'' (1980) by French filmmaker

Paul Grimault Paul Grimault (; 23 March 1905 – 29 March 1994) was one of the most important French animators. He made many traditionally animated films that were delicate in style, satirical, and lyrical in nature. His most important work is '' Le Roi et l ...

, and

Glen Keane Glen Keane (born April 13, 1954) is an American animator, author and illustrator. He was a character animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for feature films including ''The Little Mermaid'', ''Beauty and the Beast'', ''Aladdin'', ''Pocahonta ...

's animation work on the climactic fight sequence in ''

The Fox and the Hound ''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. The 24th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the st ...

'' (1981). Outside of animation, Yuasa was also influenced by the art of

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

. Yuasa described his process of inspiration:

I get inspired with a lot of things I see, hear, smell, and touch in everyday life... I often derive inspiration even from really modest visuals; a commercial, a cut from a movie, a movement from an anime as well as nameless flowers and grasses blooming on the road, clouds, stars, and moons in the sky. I’m also inspired with what I’m currently interested in and feeling. My humble wish for creating anime is to have common images, conversations, and scenes sublimed into art works.

Career

Beginnings as an animator

Upon graduation, Yuasa sought work by consulting recruitment advertisements published in the animation magazine '' Animage''. After answering an advertisement posted by Ajia-do, he was hired by the studio as an inbetween animator. Yuasa initially struggled and came to believe he lacked talent and therefore had no future in the business. After an illness, he contemplated quitting, but lacking a good opportunity to actually do so, he continued on. A key turning point in his perception of his artistic skills came during his transition from drawing inbetween animation, which requires clean, uniform lifework that is consistent from artist to artist, to drawing key animation, which establishes the key poses of motion and are more reflective of the individual sensibilities of movement of each artist. Yuasa's natural drawing style was fast, intuitive, and rough; it lacked the fine lines emphasized for inbetweening. As a result, when Yuasa became a key animator, he was able to utilize his rougher line style for greater personal expression and began to make a name for himself. During this time, Yuasa also received encouragement and advice from Ajia-do's co-founder Osamu Kobayashi, a veteran animator with decades of experience. Kobayashi told Yuasa that he could not consider himself a master of animation unless he utilized abstract drawings as part of his movement; though these individual frames are not distinguishable in the blur of completed motion, they subconsciously influence viewer perception of the motion and the scene as a whole. The advice synchronized with Yuasa's own study of international animation techniques, and increasingly, he integrated them into his work. Yuasa was also advised by another co-founder of Ajia-do, animator and director

Tsutomu Shibayama is a Japanese anime director of film and television. He is known for directing the 1980 and 2006 '' Doraemon'' series. He was born in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo. In 2012 he won Agency for Cultural Affair Award. Yuasa earned his first significant credits as a key animator in 1990 on the landmark television series ''

'' (1990–1992), which Ajia-do worked on as a subcontractor studio. Based on a popular manga, ''Chibi Maruko-chan'' was a major hit and provided opportunities for Yuasa to refine his skills. His next breakthrough came with the film ''Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song'' (1992), on which he was entrusted with two musical sequences. Yuasa storyboarded the sequences, the first time he'd taken on this responsibility, and was able to animate them in his own characteristic style; he later identified these segments as the first time that appreciation of his work by fellow artists led him to view his own work as good. In 1992, the next major step in Yuasa's animation career occurred when he joined the production team of the long-running and immensely popular series '' Crayon Shin-chan'' (1992–present). Consisting of a television series, numerous television specials, and annual theatrical film releases, the ''Crayon Shin-chan'' franchise quickly became a massive undertaking with continuous work and production opportunities. Working under the guidance of supervising director

Mitsuru Hongo is a Japanese anime director of television and film. Hongo originally worked at Ajiado as an animator but moved to Shin-Ei Animation where he directed '' Crayon Shin-chan''. He left in 1996 and went on to direct ''Immortal Grand Prix'', ''Outla ...

, Yuasa took on a variety of roles within the franchise's many television and film productions, including key animation, storyboarding, set and background design, prop and vehicle design, and contribution of story concepts and ideas. Yuasa quickly became a specialist at imagining, designing, and animating the inventive visual climaxes of the annual ''Crayon Shin-chan'' films, a practice he continued for nearly a decade. It was during his work on ''Crayon Shin-chan'' that Yuasa at last found enjoyment in his artistic work, as well as his first desire to become a director. That same year, Yuasa had his first chance to direct with an episode of the original video animation (OVA) series ''Anime Rakugo Kan'' (1992). Yuasa directed the third episode of the series, entitled ''The Squash Seller''. Stylistically, the episode reflected Yuasa's admiration for the animation created by Kobayashi and Shimoyama earlier in their careers, and thus had a different visual aesthetic than Yuasa's later works. More than just an homage, the episode reflected a continuation of Yuasa's personal artistry; though he initially thought he would develop a completely different style, in the end, he incorporated elements of Kobayashi and Shimoyama's animation into his own. 1994 saw two significant developments in Yuasa's animation career: leaving Ajia-do to become a freelance animator, and participating as an

animation director An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of co ...

on the fourth episode of the landmark OVA series '' The Hakkenden: A New Saga'' (1993–1995). Based on the epic historical novel ''

Nansō Satomi Hakkenden ''Nansō Satomi Hakkenden'' ( ja, 南総里見八犬伝, label=shinjitai; ja, 南總里見八犬傳, label=kyūjitai) is a Japanese epic novel (''yomihon'') written and published over twenty-eight years (1814–42) in the Edo period, by Kyokute ...

'' (1814–1842) and animated in a serious, realistic style, ''The Hakkenden'' was a unique challenge to Yuasa, who until that point had worked on comedic works with a loose, free-flowing visual aesthetic. This resulted in initial mistrust of Yuasa by the production team at AIC, the studio responsible for the series. However, Yuasa had been invited to join the production by episode director and maverick animator Shinya Ohira, who after seeing his work on ''Crayon Shin-chan'' sought him out and placed him in a position of responsibility for overseeing the animation on his episode of the series, entitled ''Hamaji’s Resurrection''. Although the production was chaotic due to a compressed schedule which did not allow sufficient time for ensuring the visual coherence traditionally prized in animation, the result was a distinctive episode with an emphasis on realism, moving camera techniques, and expressive attention to small character acting details. As a result of this work, Ohira collaborated with Yuasa on subsequent productions. ''Hamaji's Resurrection'' generated considerable conversation within Japan's animation industry, was cited as one of the most important Japanese animated productions of the 1990s, and described as a masterpiece of Japanese animation. Following the success of ''Hamaji's Resurrection'', Yuasa continued working as a freelance animator for the remainder of the 1990s, including work on the

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and h ...

feature film ''

My Neighbors the Yamadas is a 1999 Japanese animated comedy film written and directed by Isao Takahata, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Hakuhodo and Buena Vista Home Entertainment, and distributed by Shochiku. ...

'' (1999). This freelance work brought additional early directorial and supervisory opportunities. These included the television pilot film '' Vampiyan Kids'' (1999), which Yuasa directed and storyboarded; the short film ''Slime Adventures: Yay, the Sea!'' (1999), based on the popular '' Dragon Quest'' franchise, which Yuasa directed; and the acclaimed short film ''

Cat Soup is a 2001 Japanese animated short experimental film directed by Tatsuo Satō, based on the manga created by Nekojiru. The surreal film follows Nyata, an anthropomorphic kitten, on his travel to the land of the dead and back in an effort t ...

'' (2001), on which he served as screenwriter and animation producer. ''Cat Soup'' was a critical success, winning an Excellence Award for animation at the

. The ''Cat Soup'' project in particular served as a springboard for Yuasa to move fully into the directorial phase of his career.

Move to directing and ''Mind Game''

Yuasa's opportunity to move into feature film directing came when

Eiko Tanaka is the chief executive officer and the president of STUDIO4°C, an animation studio she founded in 1986. Tanaka is also the chief executive officer of a producing company called Beyond C. Eiko Tanaka was an animation producer on '' TEKKON KINKR ...

, the co-founder and CEO of

Studio 4°C is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka and Koji Morimoto in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense. History Studio 4 °C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film t ...

, requested Yuasa adapt the Robin Nishi manga ''

''. Although the manga was little-known by the general public, several prominent staff members of Studio 4°C were passionate about the title, and studio co-founder

Kōji Morimoto is a Japanese anime director. Some of his works include being an animator in the '' Akira'' film; shorts in '' Robot Carnival'', ''Short Peace'', and '' The Animatrix''; and key animation in anime such as '' Kiki's Delivery Service'', '' City H ...

had previously introduced Yuasa to the series. Yuasa felt the material suited him and agreed to direct the project. The production utilized an experimental visual sensibility, incorporating a variety of illustrated styles and including the use of live-action footage. Yuasa was inspired to make use of this combination of styles in order to preserve the feeling of the original manga, which was drawn in a rough, visual-gag style. In Yuasa's words, "I wanted it to look as though we hadn’t worked very hard on it, though of course we had." Although the film's story stuck closely to that of the original manga, Yuasa made one significant change: he altered the ending to be more positive for all of the characters, not only the protagonist. The intent of this change would be reflected in Yuasa's future works: a desire to create positive stories, where passionate action results in the culmination of dreams and desires. Produced on a small budget, the making of ''Mind Game'' took two years and nine months from planning to completion. The production was also Yuasa's first project with frequent artistic collaborator Nobutake Ito, who was tasked with animating the film's climactic sequence; Ito would subsequently serve as a character designer and animation director on many of Yuasa's later projects. ''Mind Game'' was released in 2004 but did not achieve commercial success; following the release of the film, Yuasa struggled to find producers who would support him. However, ''Mind Game'' went on to become a cult hit and achieved widespread global critical acclaim, winning the

Ōfuji Noburō Award The is an animation award given at the Mainichi Film Awards. It is named after Japanese animator Noburō Ōfuji. History Following the death of pioneering animator Noburō Ōfuji in 1961, Mainichi established a new award in his honour to recogni ...

, the Japan Media Arts Festival Grand Prize for Animation, and the

Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

awards for Best Film, Director, Screenplay, and Visual Accomplishment, as well as the Audience Award for Best Animated Film. Upon the film's eventual release in the United States, ''Mind Game'' achieved a 100% rating on the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

Television directing at Madhouse

Following the release of ''Mind Game'', Yuasa's next directorial opportunity came when Masao Maruyama, the co-founder of Madhouse, provided a unique chance. Maruyama, who over his decades in the business had developed a reputation for making animated projects that no other producer would consider, offered Yuasa the chance to direct television series' at Madhouse. Moreover, Maruyama used his power as a veteran producer to push the television networks to take risks, allowing Yuasa creative freedom and the opportunity to make precisely the sort of content that he wanted to make. The first of these projects was the original horror romance series '' Kemonozume'' (2006), which Yuasa created, directed, and wrote. The production marked a significant development in Yuasa's career, as it resulted in him meeting a key collaborator: South Korean artist Eunyoung Choi, who had recently moved to Japan to become an animator. Choi's work on ''Kemonozume'' as a key animator and episode animation director won praise from fellow animators and fans, and led to her participation in Yuasa's subsequent projects. ''Kemonozume'' was awarded a Jury Selection Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival, continuing Yuasa's run of critical successes. Before beginning his next project at Madhouse, Yuasa briefly returned to Studio 4°C to direct a short film for the studio's anthology project ''

Genius Party are two anthology films made up of 12 short animated films from Studio 4°C. It was envisioned to form a single release. Releases The first volume, containing seven shorts and entitled ''Genius Party'', was released on July 7, 2007. The secon ...

'' (2007). The film, entitled ''Happy Machine'', centered on an infant's travels through a mysterious and dangerous world. Produced with a small crew of just four key animators, ''Happy Machine'' represented a continuation of the development of Yuasa's surreal visual style, winning acclaim both for its atmospheric sense of wonderment, and for Yuasa himself as a leader of Japan's experimental animation scene. The following year Yuasa helmed his next television production at Madhouse, the original sci-fi drama series '' Kaiba'' (2008), which he created, directed, and wrote. The project saw an expansion of the collaboration with Eunyoung Choi, who directed and storyboarded episodes of the series, as well as co-writing an episode with Yuasa. A narratively-ambitious series dealing with memory, identity, and societal inequality, ''Kaiba'' received an Excellence Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival, and earned positive critical attention for its dreamlike visuals and imaginative story, with particular focus on the emotional impact generated from combining childlike imagery with mature themes and at times devastating loss. In 2010, Yuasa completed his third and final television series at Madhouse, the absurdist psychological dramedy ''

'' (2010). Adapted from a novel by Tomihiko Morimi, the series follows the misadventures of a nameless student who, via supernatural means, repeatedly relives his final year at college in an attempt to achieve his idealized conceptions of romance and happiness. After being approached with the opportunity to adapt the novel, Yuasa quickly saw the story's appeal and agreed, though the project presented challenges in transferring the witty, dialogue-intensive style of the original work into a visual medium. To capture the appeal of the novel, Yuasa emphasized the use of rapid-fire editing and fast-paced dialogue, in order to convey the protagonist's

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First L ...

narration. Unlike the earlier ''Kemonozume'' and ''Kaiba'', which aired on the satellite television network WOWOW, ''The Tatami Galaxy'' was broadcast on national television via

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

Noitamina is a Japanese programming block on Fuji TV devoted to anime, originally broadcast every Thursday late night/Friday morning from 00:45 to 1:15. It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typical young male dem ...

programming block. The broadcasting deal with Fuji TV marked the start of an ongoing relationship with producer Kōji Yamamoto, who served as the chief producer of Noitamina before leaving to found his own development company Twin Engine; this relationship would cover the release of several later projects over the following decade. ''The Tatami Galaxy'' was an immediate critical success, winning both the Japan Media Arts Festival Grand Prize for Animation, as well as the Award for Outstanding Television Animation at the Tokyo Anime Awards Festival. As the first of Yuasa's projects to receive a streaming release in North America, the series helped increase awareness of his work globally, and was subsequently named one of the best Japanese animated series of the decade. Following the completion of ''The Tatami Galaxy'', Madhouse was acquired by the broadcasting media conglomerate

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

,. The studio's corporate culture underwent change, and Madhouse's creative head Masao Maruyama left to found a new production company. Yuasa once again sought opportunities with other studios, including briefly joining the production of the

A-1 Pictures is a Japanese animation studio founded by ex- Sunrise producer Mikihiro Iwata and it is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. History The studio was established by SMEJ's animation production division ...

film ''

Welcome to the Space Show is a 2010 Japanese animated science fiction film produced by A-1 Pictures and distributed by Aniplex. It was directed by Koji Masunari from a script by Hideyuki Kurata, and stars the voices of Tomoyo Kurosawa, Honoka Ikezuki, Shōtarō Uzawa, T ...

'' (2010), for which he directed and animated a short sequence. He also directed the short series '' Shin-men'' (2010–2012), a group of special episodes embedded within the main ''Crayon Shin-chan'' television series.

Collaboration, crowdfunding, and the founding of Science SARU

Yuasa took advantage of the conclusion of his work at Madhouse to reunite with collaborator Eunyoung Choi, who had left Madhouse after working on ''The Tatami Galaxy'' to lead Ankama Japan, a Japan-based subsidiary of the French entertainment and animation company

Ankama Ankama is a French entertainment company headquartered in Roubaix, France, focused on the design of massive multiplayer online role playing games (''Dofus'', ''Dofus Arena'' and ''Wakfu''). The company is also active in publishing, animation a ...

. The newly-opened studio combined techniques of traditional hand-drawn animation with digital animation created via

Adobe Animate Adobe Animate (formerly Adobe Flash Professional, Macromedia Flash, and FutureSplash Animator) is a multimedia authoring and computer animation program developed by Adobe Inc. Animate is used to design vector graphics and animation for televisi ...

and other programs, a new approach which Yuasa had not previously used. The studio was not only an international business enterprise, but a creative one as well, with 25 European animators working in the Tokyo-based studio. In a reversal of their prior roles, Yuasa joined a project which Choi had organized, an episode of the company’s ''

Wakfu ''Wakfu'' is a tactical turn-based MMORPG developed by Ankama Games and released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on 29 February 2012. The game takes place 1,000 years after Ankama's previous game, '' Dofus''. A spin-off game, '' Isla ...

'' animated series entitled ''Noximilien the Watchmaker'' (2010); Choi directed the episode, while Yuasa served as character designer. Shortly after completion of the episode, the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

occurred and Ankama closed the Japan studio. However, the experience at Ankama Japan, which mixed an international animation crew with a production method utilizing both traditional and digital animation, served as a model for Yuasa and Choi's later studio, Science SARU. Yuasa and Choi continued their collaboration on their next project, the

short film '' Kick-Heart'' (2013), which Yuasa directed and wrote, and for which Choi served as assistant director. An unlikely love story revolving around a masochistic male wrestler and his sadistic female opponent, the film was produced at

Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...

and was the first large-scale Japanese animated project to be successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter, raising over $200,000 from more than 3,200 backers worldwide. The film received a pair of unannounced surprise screenings on Cartoon Network's

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

programming block which achieved viewer ratings of 708,000 and 618,000, and earned positive reviews for its colorful visual storytelling. ''Kick-Heart'' was an official competition selection at Annecy, was awarded a Jury Selection Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival, and won the prize for Best Animated Short Film at the

Fantasia Festival Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

. During the production of ''Kick-Heart'', Choi proposed establishing a studio with Yuasa. In February 2013, the new company was established under the name

. Yuasa and Choi settled on the name, which translates into English as "Science Monkey", in an attempt to combine both an international, technological focus (the 'Science' portion of the name, rendered in English), with a Japanese, traditional animation identity (the 'SARU' portion, rendered in Japanese). Additionally, Yuasa, who frequently drew himself as a monkey in self-portraits, wanted the studio to be smarter than an ape; as a result, he added the word ''Science'' in front of ''SARU'' with the intent of having a company that possesses both instinct and intelligence. The studio's first production location was a small suburban house converted into an impromptu workspace; by the end of 2013, the company had expanded to a staff of five.

Early works at Science SARU

Yuasa's new studio began its corporate activities by taking on subcontracting work, as well as by collaborating with other companies. Science SARU's first project was an episode of the American television series ''

''; the episode, entitled ''

Food Chain A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web starting from producer organisms (such as grass or algae which produce their own food via photosynthesis) and ending at an apex predator species (like grizzly bears or killer whales), de ...

'' (2014), was directed by Yuasa, co-directed by Choi, and produced entirely in-house. ''Food Chain'' received critical acclaim as one of the best episodes of the series, was an official competition selection at Annecy, and was nominated for the Annie Award for Outstanding Television Direction. Later the same year, Yuasa returned to television series direction with an adaptation of

Taiyō Matsumoto is a Japanese manga artist from Tokyo. He has won several awards, including the Shogakukan Manga Award, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and Eisner Award. ''Ping Pong'' and ''Blue Spring'' have been adapted into live-action feature films. Ani ...

's sports manga '' Ping Pong the Animation'' (2014). In addition to directing the series, Yuasa wrote and storyboarded all of the episodes. Science SARU provided 'digitally assisted' animation production services, while

Tatsunoko Production and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and "sea dragon", the inspiration for its seahorse logo. Tatsunoko's headquarters are i ...

served as the primary studio. The series also reunited Yuasa with his old animation collaborator Shinya Ohira, who contributed the opening credits sequence. A major critical success, the series was highlighted as one of the best Japanese animated series of the decade. ''Ping Pong the Animation'' was awarded a Jury Selection Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival, and won the Grand Prize for Television Animation at the Tokyo Anime Awards Festival; additionally, character designer and longtime collaborator Nobutake Ito won the Best Animator award for individual achievement. Yuasa finished 2014 by directing an episode of the

BONES A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

television series ''

Space Dandy , is a 2014 Japanese comic science fiction anime television series produced by Bones. The series follows the misadventures of Dandy, an alien hunter who is "a dandy guy in space", in search for undiscovered and rare aliens with his robot assi ...

'' (2014). The episode, entitled ''"Slow and Steady Wins the Race, Baby"'', was jointly produced by BONES and Science SARU and received critical acclaim.

Return to feature films

By early 2016, Science SARU had gained experience and was ready to undertake large-scale projects. The studio's first feature film production, the family-friendly fantasy film ''

'' (2017), was produced in less than 16 months using 'digitally assisted' animation techniques. Yuasa directed and co-wrote ''Lu Over the Wall''; it was his first feature film with an original story. The film features the importance of self-expression as a central theme; Yuasa emphasized this aspect of the story in hopes of encouraging young people in Japan, who he felt were often not able to express their true feelings and emotions. Yuasa also decided to focus this project on a family audience out of a desire to return to the sensibility of his earlier works as an animator, including ''Crayon Shin-chan'' and ''Chibi Maruko-chan''. During the production of ''Lu Over the Wall'', Yuasa was offered the opportunity to produce a second feature film, the comedy romance ''

'' (2017), based on the novel by Tomihiko Morimi. The offer served as a unique chance for Yuasa, who had previously hoped to adapt the novel in 2010 after the completion of ''The Tatami Galaxy'', but due to circumstances at the time was unable to. When he was given another chance in 2016, he immediately agreed and made use of the preparatory work he had done when initially offered the project. The film reunited a majority of the key creative staff who had worked on ''The Tatami Galaxy'', with the story serving both as a spiritual successor and as a parallel narrative to the earlier series. The timing of the project resulted in the pre-production work on ''The Night is Short, Walk On Girl'' overlapping with the post-production of ''Lu Over the Wall''. Although ''Lu Over the Wall'' was completed first, it was released after ''The Night is Short, Walk On Girl''; this was in part due to a marketing suggestion that it might be preferable for the studio's first film to be based on a pre-existing property familiar to Japanese audiences. Both ''Lu Over the Wall'' and ''The Night is Short, Walk On Girl'' received immediate critical acclaim. ''Lu Over the Wall'' received the Annecy Cristal du long métrage, the Mainichi Film Awards' Ōfuji Noburō Award, and the Japan Media Arts Festival Grand Prize for Animation. ''The Night is Short, Walk On Girl'' was awarded the

Japan Academy Film Prize for Animation of the Year The of the Japan Academy Film Prize is one of the annual Awards given by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association. History Although the Japan Academy Film Prize has been awarded annually since 1978 to Japanese films, animation films were disregar ...

, the

Ottawa International Animation Festival The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized by ...

Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature, a Jury Selection Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival, and has been listed as one of the best Japanese animated films of the decade.

International recognition

In 2018, Yuasa achieved widespread international recognition following the release of his prior feature film works, as well as the debut of a landmark new series. The beginning of the year saw ''Mind Game'', ''Lu Over the Wall'', and ''The Night is Short, Walk On Girl'' licensed for North American release by acclaimed animation distributor

GKIDS GKIDS is an American film distributor based in New York with, according to the ''Los Angeles Times'', a focus on "sophisticated, indie" animation. GKIDS releases critically acclaimed, mostly hand-drawn, international films—such as the works o ...

. However, even more important for Yuasa's international prominence was the release of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series ''

Devilman crybaby ''Devilman Crybaby'' is a 2018 Japanese original net animation (ONA) series based on Go Nagai's manga series ''Devilman''. The web anime is directed by Masaaki Yuasa, produced by Aniplex and Dynamic Planning, animated by Science SARU, and r ...

'' (2018), based on the manga by

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', but is best known for creating popular 1970s ...

. Yuasa had been a fan of the original manga since childhood, but had never dreamed he would have the opportunity to adapt it. Among his key creative decisions in adapting the story were to depict the sexual and violent content in an unrestricted way that was not possible when the manga was initially published, and to update the juvenile delinquent characters of the original as young rappers who use music to speak their minds freely. ''Devilman crybaby'' was an immediate and massive international hit; with 90% of its viewers outside Japan, the series achieved the largest global audience for both Yuasa and Science SARU to that date. The series inspired

internet memes An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

, was profiled by YouTuber

PewDiePie Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg ( , ; born 24 October 1989), better known as PewDiePie ( ), is a Swedish YouTuber known for his Let's Play videos and comedic formatted videos and shows. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media coverage ...

, and was widely discussed on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. The series was nominated in 7 categories 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 presen ...

and won for Anime of the Year and Director of the Year, was awarded a Jury Selection Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival, was cited by ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' as containing one of the 100 most influential sequences in global animation history, and was listed as one of the best Japanese animated series of the decade. In 2019, Yuasa directed his next feature film, the romance '' Ride Your Wave'' (2019). An original story, the film centers on an unlikely couple who are able to come together despite heartbreak, and deals with meditative themes of loss. Despite the success of ''Lu Over the Wall'', following completion of that film, Yuasa grappled with the same lack of confidence in his work that had marked his earlier career. He felt that depicting a story with two characters who lacked self-confidence, but were able to overcome this and other obstacles by accepting risk and riding the metaphorical waves of life, would be meaningful to both audiences and himself. ''Ride Your Wave'' received worldwide critical acclaim. The film was an official competition selection at Annecy, was nominated for the Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film, was nominated for Annie Awards in the categories of Best Indie Feature and Outstanding Feature Film Direction, received a Jury Selection Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival, and won Best Animated Feature Film awards at the

Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (, French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai''), abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia. "China's biggest film festival" according to the Hollywood Reporter. Nex ...

, Fantasia International Film Festival, and Sitges Film Festival. Also in 2019, Yuasa served as director of the series '' Super Shiro'' (2019–2020), an installment of the popular ''Crayon Shin-chan'' franchise. Yuasa collaborated on directorial duties with veteran animator Tomohisa Shimoyama, who made his directorial debut with the series. The project, animated at Science SARU and produced in association with main ''Crayon Shin-chan'' studio

Shin-Ei Animation is a Japanese animation studio owned by TV Asahi and founded in Tokyo in 1965 as A-Production by Daikichirō Kusube, who was previously an animator for Toei Animation. Shin-Ei is known for being the animation studio behind two of the anime tele ...

, served as a culmination of Yuasa's long and enduring association with ''Crayon Shin-chan'' which dated back to his years as an animator. The series was distributed via streaming and broadcast in Japan and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, excluding China. The end of the year saw the 2010s heralded as Masaaki Yuasa's "breakout decade"; collectively, ''Devilman crybaby'' and the release of Yuasa's films in the United States led to him being acknowledged as one of the most important and exciting directors in animation. In 2020, Yuasa directed the comedy television series ''

'' (2020), based on the manga by Sumito Ōwara. The series revolves around three high school girls who create animation as passionate amateurs. Prior to the project being proposed, Yuasa had discovered the manga after seeing comments from fans online suggesting that he adapt the title. The production encouraged members of the Science SARU staff, including Yuasa, to share their own experiences about creating animation, all of which added to the story. The series boosted sales of the original manga, inspired internet memes, and won the Japanese Broadcast Critics Association's monthly Galaxy Award during its broadcast run. Following the conclusion of the broadcast, ''Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!'' received critical acclaim as one of the best Japanese animated series of both the season that it aired and the year as a whole, and was recognized by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' as one of the best television series of 2020. The series was nominated in 10 categories at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards and won for Director of the Year and Best Animation, was awarded the Grand Prize for Television Animation at the Tokyo Anime Awards Festival, and received the Japan Media Arts Festival Grand Prize for Animation. Later that year, Science SARU produced the Netflix series '' Japan Sinks: 2020'' (2020), based on the disaster novel by Sakyo Komatsu. Yuasa directed in conjunction with Pyeon-Gang Ho, who made her directorial debut with the series. The project represented a unique challenge for Science SARU in that it depicted serious subject matter in a more realistic style. Central to Yuasa's conception of the series were the immediacy of focus on a single family amid national catastrophe, as well as the idea of societal reincarnation, where the process of breaking and rebuilding can yield something better than what came before. The series attracted criticism within Japan for its condemnation of

Japanese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture, and promotes the cultural unity of the Japanese. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas ...

, but also received positive attention for its multiculturalism and inclusiveness, and was named as one of the best anime series of 2020. The first episode of the series was awarded the Annecy Jury Prize for a Television Series, and the series as a whole received two nominations at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. A film compilation version of the series was subsequently released in Japanese theaters in November 2020, and was awarded a Jury Selection Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival. On March 25, 2020, Yuasa stepped down as president and representative director of Science SARU. He cited his desire to take a break from directing after seven years of continuous work, but reaffirmed his commitment to completing additional projects with Science SARU in the future. Eunyoung Choi subsequently became CEO and president of the studio. She likewise affirmed Yuasa's continued involvement with the studio as a creator. Yuasa spoke further about his planned break from directing in September 2021, stating that he was "taking a break to study" during his time away from active production. In early 2021, Yuasa was recognized by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs, which awarded him the Cabinet Minister Award for Media Fine Arts for his career achievements. Yuasa thanked the creative collaborators, artistic staff, and cast members of his works, saying that they shared jointly in the honor. Later that year, Yuasa was further recognized with the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon by the Japanese government in recognition of his distinguished contributions to artistic and cultural development. Yuasa's latest project is the musical drama ''

'' (2021), based on the novel by Hideo Furukawa. Set in 14th Century Japan, the story centers on a blind musician and a

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

actor afflicted by a terrible curse; Yuasa's goals with the film were to portray both characters as historical equivalents of modern-day pop stars, and to utilize the themes of the narrative to highlight people marginalized by society. The film features character designs by ''Ping Pong'' creator Taiyō Matsumoto, is produced by Science SARU, and was licensed for North American theatrical and home-video distribution by GKIDS. The film made its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2021, and a worldwide theatrical release followed in August 2022. ''Inu-Oh'' earned Yuasa the best reviews of his career and achieved universal critical acclaim during its international film festival run. The film won the won the Best Animated Feature Film award at the Fantasia International Film Festival, the Bucheon International Animation Festival's Special Distinction Prize for an International Feature Film, and was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time at the 64th Golden Globe Awards in 2007. It was the first time that the Golden Globe Awards had created a separate category for anima ...

Works

* ''Anime Rakugo Kan - Episode 3'' (1992) * ''Slime Adventures: Yay, the Sea!'' (1999) * '' Vampiyan Kids - TV Pilot'' (1999) * ''

'' (2004) * '' Kemonozume'' (2006) * '' Genius Party: Happy Machine'' (2007) * '' Kaiba'' (2008) * ''

'' (2010) * '' Shin-men'' (2010–2012) * '' Kick-Heart'' (2013) * '' Space Dandy - Episode 16: Slow and Steady Wins the Race, Baby'' (2014) * '' Ping Pong The Animation'' (2014) * ''

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl is a 2017 Japanese animated romantic comedy film directed by Masaaki Yuasa. The film is based on the 2006 novel ''The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl'' written by Tomihiko Morimi and illustrated by Yusuke Nakamura, who also served as the film's o ...

'' (2017) * ''

'' (2018) * '' Ride Your Wave'' (2019) * '' Super Shiro'' (2019-20) * ''

'' (2020) * '' Japan Sinks: 2020'' (2020) * '' Japan Sinks: 2020 Theatrical Edition'' (2020) * ''

'' (2021)

Themes and creative sensibilities

Yuasa's works have been described as emphasizing love, kindness, and acceptance. The importance of communication, self-expression, and the ability to reveal one's true feelings are themes that Yuasa has repeatedly expressed and highlighted as central to his works. Yuasa feels a particular affinity for intensely-felt love stories; in portrayals of sex and eroticism, he seeks to visualize the emotions his characters are experiencing, and to understand how their desires would be expressed. In depicting emotions, Yuasa's intent is to maintain realism and authenticity, but the visuals through which the emotions are represented can be expressionistic; moreover, it is Yuasa's view that characters who move freely and unrestrained by strict realism can express a greater and more faithful range of emotionality. Transformation is also a central and recurring motif, whether utilized for the frightening

body horror Body horror or biological horror is a subgenre of horror that intentionally showcases grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body. These violations may manifest through aberrant sex, mutations, mutilation, zombification, ...

of ''Kemonozume'' and ''Devilman: crybaby'', the visualization of life cycles in ''Food Chain'', the unexpected transformation of a dog into a superhero of ''Super Shiro'', the magical shapeshifting of ''Lu Over the Wall'', or the societal renewal of ''Japan Sinks: 2020''. Yuasa's male protagonists have been described as quintessentially aimless, hapless, and afraid to communicate honestly, but who are able to find their voice over the course of the story. While female characters in his earlier works received some criticism for not being as well developed, Yuasa's later works have received recognition for strong, independent female protagonists who are neither defined nor restricted by gender assumptions. Generational issues are also presented in Yuasa's works, with a recurring theme of young people utilizing acceptance and positivity to help the older generation overcome fears that have caused pain and discrimination in the past. A representative and humanistic identification with people marginalized by society, whether due to race, disability, gender identity, sexuality, or other reasons, runs throughout Yuasa's work. In telling a story, Yuasa has noted that he hopes to give the audience freedom to feel a variety of different ways about the work. He does not see it as his place to tell viewers how they must feel, but rather to maintain a space between his intent and the audience's interpretation that allows for individual impressions of meaning. With regard to Yuasa's views on the Japanese animation industry, Yuasa has expressed a desire to move away from a culture of excessive work and long hours which have traditionally been endemic to the business, and to instead focus on practices which more closely resemble those utilized in American and European animation. As a result, Science SARU has modeled itself on these ideas, with emphasis on providing rest, taking time off, and maintaining regular working hours. It is Yuasa's opinion that, in order for Japanese animation to achieve true global success, the industry must itself create a better work environment for its artists and creators. Yuasa has also noted the importance of preserving

traditional animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proc ...

, noting that if the industry does not continuously show how wonderful traditional animation can be, the pressure to switch to computer animation will result in it being supplanted.

Awards and acclaim

Masaaki Yuasa's works have achieved significant acclaim both in Japan and throughout the world. Projects which Yuasa has directed, or for which he has served as a chief creative collaborator, have been recognized by the

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

(2 wins, 3 nominations), the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (1 win), the Golden Globe Awards (1 nomination), the

(2 wins, 1 nomination), the

(4 wins, 2 excellence awards, 7 jury selections), the

Tokyo Anime Awards 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 th ...

(4 wins), the

(4 wins, 16 nominations), the

(1 win, 1 nomination), the

(1 win, 1 nomination) the Sitges Film Festival (1 win, 3 nominations), the

(3 wins, 1 silver, 1 bronze), the Satellite Awards (1 nomination), and the

Annie Awards The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in Film, cinema and television. Originally ...

(3 nominations). Additionally, Yuasa has been recognized by the Japanese government, receiving the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Cabinet Minister Award for Media Fine Arts, and the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon for his career accomplishments.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuasa, Masaaki 1965 births Anime directors Anime screenwriters Crunchyroll Anime Awards winners Fantasy film directors Japanese animators Japanese film directors Japanese storyboard artists Japanese television writers Living people People from Fukuoka Prefecture Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Science Saru people