Yuji Moriyama
Description
Yuji Moriyama was born on January 6, 1960, in Tokyo. He began his career in animation while still a student at Kanto Daiichi High School, where he started by helping with in-between animation. After graduating, he joined Studio Musashi, finding the job through a newspaper advertisement. His first official work as an in-between animator was on the Toei Animation television series Wakusei Robo Danguard Ace. He subsequently moved to Studio Cockpit, where he worked on Galaxy Express 999, and then to NeoMedia. At NeoMedia, he worked on Sunrise's Invincible Robo Trider G7, where he was promoted from an in-between animator to a key animator, as well as the 1979 Doraemon series and Belle and Sebastian. He left NeoMedia in 1982 to work as a freelancer, starting with Combat Mecha Xabungle.
Moriyama's breakthrough came in 1982 when he began working on the popular anime Urusei Yatsura. On this series, he made his debut as an animation director and storyboard artist and was responsible for the opening animation for the first time, quickly establishing himself as a prominent animator. The director of Urusei Yatsura, Mamoru Oshii, took notice of Moriyama and encouraged him to try his hand at manga, leading to Moriyama illustrating a manga written by Oshii titled Todo no Tsumari..., which was serialized in Animage magazine in 1984. Following the conclusion of Urusei Yatsura, Moriyama was selected as the character designer for its successor series, Maison Ikkoku, a role he held for the first 26 episodes. In 1987, he won the 4th Japan Animation Awards in the Animation Director category. After this period, he began shifting his focus from animating to directing.
Yuji Moriyama is credited as the original creator for several works in the Project A-Ko series. For the original theatrical film Project A-Ko released in 1986, he served as character designer and animation director. He then took on the role of director for the sequel, Project A-Ko 2: Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group, an original video animation released in 1987, for which he is also listed as the original creator, character designer, and animation director. He continued in these roles for subsequent OVA sequels, serving as director, character designer, and contributing the original story for Project A-Ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody and Project A-Ko 4: Final. His other original creations include the OVA Jungle de Ikou!, where he acted as director, storyboard artist, character designer, animation director, and original story creator. He also created the original work for the OVA Exper Zenon, on which he served as director, scriptwriter, and storyboard artist.
Throughout his extensive career, Moriyama has worked under a large number of pen names, including Motoyama Yuji, Kazama Kotaro, Sunakawa Norihiro, MONTAN, Shibakano Wataya, Shibamata Toya, Aran Sumishi, Nekobu Nachiko, and Gyoden Tadao. The pen name Motoyama Yuji originated from a typo in the credits of the series Creamy Mami, which he decided to adopt for future use. He was one of the founding members of Studio MIN, a group formed by freelance animators. After the group disbanded in 1991, he continued to participate in numerous works, primarily for the animation studios Chaos Project and Pierrot. His industry significance is reflected in his long and varied career, transitioning from a key animator on landmark series like Galaxy Express 999 and Urusei Yatsura to a character designer for major television series such as Saiyuki and Tokyo Underground, and finally to a director on numerous original video animations. His work on the Project A-Ko series, particularly as an original creator and director on its sequels, cemented his place in anime history during the OVA boom of the late 1980s.
Moriyama's breakthrough came in 1982 when he began working on the popular anime Urusei Yatsura. On this series, he made his debut as an animation director and storyboard artist and was responsible for the opening animation for the first time, quickly establishing himself as a prominent animator. The director of Urusei Yatsura, Mamoru Oshii, took notice of Moriyama and encouraged him to try his hand at manga, leading to Moriyama illustrating a manga written by Oshii titled Todo no Tsumari..., which was serialized in Animage magazine in 1984. Following the conclusion of Urusei Yatsura, Moriyama was selected as the character designer for its successor series, Maison Ikkoku, a role he held for the first 26 episodes. In 1987, he won the 4th Japan Animation Awards in the Animation Director category. After this period, he began shifting his focus from animating to directing.
Yuji Moriyama is credited as the original creator for several works in the Project A-Ko series. For the original theatrical film Project A-Ko released in 1986, he served as character designer and animation director. He then took on the role of director for the sequel, Project A-Ko 2: Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group, an original video animation released in 1987, for which he is also listed as the original creator, character designer, and animation director. He continued in these roles for subsequent OVA sequels, serving as director, character designer, and contributing the original story for Project A-Ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody and Project A-Ko 4: Final. His other original creations include the OVA Jungle de Ikou!, where he acted as director, storyboard artist, character designer, animation director, and original story creator. He also created the original work for the OVA Exper Zenon, on which he served as director, scriptwriter, and storyboard artist.
Throughout his extensive career, Moriyama has worked under a large number of pen names, including Motoyama Yuji, Kazama Kotaro, Sunakawa Norihiro, MONTAN, Shibakano Wataya, Shibamata Toya, Aran Sumishi, Nekobu Nachiko, and Gyoden Tadao. The pen name Motoyama Yuji originated from a typo in the credits of the series Creamy Mami, which he decided to adopt for future use. He was one of the founding members of Studio MIN, a group formed by freelance animators. After the group disbanded in 1991, he continued to participate in numerous works, primarily for the animation studios Chaos Project and Pierrot. His industry significance is reflected in his long and varied career, transitioning from a key animator on landmark series like Galaxy Express 999 and Urusei Yatsura to a character designer for major television series such as Saiyuki and Tokyo Underground, and finally to a director on numerous original video animations. His work on the Project A-Ko series, particularly as an original creator and director on its sequels, cemented his place in anime history during the OVA boom of the late 1980s.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview