Yoshitomo Yonetani is a Japanese animation director, scriptwriter, and original creator, born on May 13, 1963, in Tokyo. He graduated from Tokyo Designer Gakuin and began his career in the animation industry as a production assistant at Toei Douga before moving to Shin-Ei Douga and eventually joining Sunrise, where he became the leader of Studio 7. Initially working under his birth name, Kometani Yoshitomo, he adopted the name Yoshitomo Yonetani around 1999.

Yonetani is a prolific creator known for directing and contributing to numerous television series, films, and original video animations. His directorial credits include prominent titles such as The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, Betterman, Brigadoon: Marin & Melan, and Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma. As an original creator, he developed the concept and story for the science fiction OVA Amuri in Star Ocean, also known as Hoshi no Umi no Amuri. Released in 2008, this three-part CGI animated series was written and directed by Yonetani and produced by Studio Hibari. The story is set in a future era where children born with special abilities called Allergies must navigate a space-faring adventure.

In conjunction with the anime, a manga adaptation of Amuri in Star Ocean was serialized. While the manga was illustrated by Shinya Inase, Yonetani is officially credited as the original creator, with the series running in the shonen magazine Dengeki Daioh from November 2007. A single compiled volume was later published by MediaWorks, an imprint of ASCII Media Works. Beyond this work, he has also been credited as the original planner for series such as Betterman and Brigadoon: Marin & Melan.

Yonetani is recognized for a dynamic and expressive directorial style, with a particular strength in facial expressions and comedic timing, heavily influenced by Osamu Tezuka and Go Nagai. He is also a musician, performing and writing theme songs for his projects under the pseudonym Mai. His career reflects a deep engagement with the super robot genre, as seen in GaoGaiGar, while also demonstrating versatility in adapting popular manga like Food Wars for television. His long-standing association with Sunrise and his continued activity in the industry, including revisiting his earlier works for crossover projects, underscore his significance as a veteran creator in Japanese animation.