Hisayuki Toriumi was a Japanese animation director, screenwriter, and novelist whose career spanned over four decades, from the late 1960s until his death in 2009. He was born on July 9, 1941, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and graduated from the Department of Political Science at Chuo University. With an interest in filmmaking, he attended a screenwriting institute while in college and subsequently joined the influential animation studio Tatsunoko Production in 1966.

At Tatsunoko, Toriumi rose to prominence as a series director, becoming best known for his work on the 1972 television series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. He directed numerous other Tatsunoko series throughout the 1970s, including Hurricane Polymar and Tekkaman: The Space Knight. After the death of Tatsunoko’s founder, Tatsuo Yoshida, Toriumi left the studio in 1978 to become a freelancer. He briefly worked at Sunrise before becoming one of the founding members of Studio Pierrot. There, he served as chief director on acclaimed series such as The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and The Mysterious Cities of Gold.

Toriumi is also recognized for his significant role in the development of the original video animation format. In 1983, he collaborated with his protégé, director Mamoru Oshii, on Dallos, a science fiction series that is widely considered the first OVA ever released. Toriumi served as the original creator, co-director, and screenwriter on the project. His other notable directorial credits from this period include the OVAs Area 88, Lily C.A.T., and Salamander. In 1990, he served as general director for the television film Like the Clouds, Like the Wind, which featured key staff from Studio Ghibli. In his later years, he focused on the long-running children’s series Shima Shima Tora no Shimajirō.

Beyond his animation work, Toriumi was a prolific novelist, authoring nearly two dozen books from the 1980s onward. His literary work included novelizations of anime and original historically-themed novels. According to his protégé Mamoru Oshii, Toriumi’s directorial style was defined by a focus on drama and family as a central theme, particularly the relationship between father and son, while showing little interest in romantic drama between men and women. Oshii, who worked with him on Dallos, has publicly referred to Toriumi as his mentor. Hisayuki Toriumi died of heart failure on January 23, 2009, at the age of 67.