55 Facts About Masaaki Yuasa

Masaaki Yuasa is a Japanese director, screenwriter, and animator affiliated with Science SARU, a Japanese animation studio which he co-founded with producer Eunyoung Choi in 2013.

Masaaki Yuasa spent much of the 2000s and early 2010s working in television directing, helming a trio of series, Kemonozume, Kaiba, and The Tatami Galaxy, before releasing the crowdfunded short film Kick-Heart.

Masaaki Yuasa's productions have won international critical acclaim, receiving awards from Annecy, the Japan Academy Film Prize, the Mainichi Film Awards, and the Japan Media Arts Festival.

Masaaki Yuasa was born on March 16,1965, in Fukuoka, Japan.

Masaaki Yuasa had no idea about the animation industry and initially thought about becoming a manga artist.

Masaaki Yuasa then studied design in high school and majored in oil painting at the art department of Kyushu Sangyo University.

Masaaki Yuasa studied international animation, with particular influences being the works of Tex Avery, the British film Yellow Submarine, The King and the Mockingbird by French filmmaker Paul Grimault, and Glen Keane's animation work on the climactic fight sequence in The Fox and the Hound.

Outside of animation, Masaaki Yuasa was influenced by the art of Salvador Dali.

Masaaki Yuasa initially struggled and came to believe he lacked talent and therefore had no future in the business.

Masaaki Yuasa's natural drawing style was fast, intuitive, and rough; it lacked the fine lines emphasized for inbetweening.

Masaaki Yuasa was advised by another co-founder of Ajia-do, animator and director Tsutomu Shibayama, who served as a mentor and gave him formative artistic guidance.

Masaaki Yuasa earned his first significant credits as a key animator in 1990 on the landmark television series Chibi Maruko-chan, which Ajia-do worked on as a subcontractor studio.

Masaaki 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.

That same year, Masaaki Yuasa had his first chance to direct with an episode of the original video animation series Anime Rakugo Kan.

Masaaki Yuasa directed the third episode of the series, entitled The Squash Seller.

However, Masaaki 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.

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

Masaaki Yuasa felt the material suited him and agreed to direct the project.

Masaaki 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.

Mind Game was released in 2004 but did not achieve commercial success; following the release of the film, Masaaki Yuasa struggled to find producers who would support him.

The first of these projects was the original horror romance series Kemonozume, which Masaaki Yuasa created, directed, and wrote.

Kemonozume was awarded a Jury Selection Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival, continuing Masaaki Yuasa's run of critical successes.

In 2010, Masaaki Yuasa completed his third and final television series at Madhouse, the absurdist psychological dramedy The Tatami Galaxy.

Masaaki Yuasa sought opportunities with other studios, including briefly joining the production of the A-1 Pictures film Welcome to the Space Show, for which he directed and animated a short sequence.

Masaaki Yuasa directed the short series Shin-men, a group of special episodes embedded within the main Crayon Shin-chan television series.

Masaaki 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.

The newly opened studio combined techniques of traditional hand-drawn animation with digital animation created via Adobe Animate and other programs, a new approach which Masaaki Yuasa had not previously used.

Science SARU's first project was an episode of the American television series Adventure Time; the episode, entitled Food Chain, was directed by Masaaki Yuasa, co-directed by Choi, and produced entirely in-house.

Later the same year, Masaaki Yuasa returned to television series direction with an adaptation of Taiyo Matsumoto's sports manga Ping Pong the Animation.

Masaaki Yuasa finished 2014 by directing an episode of the BONES television series Space Dandy.

Masaaki 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; Masaaki 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.

Masaaki Yuasa 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.

The offer served as a unique chance for Masaaki 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.

In 2018, Masaaki Yuasa achieved widespread international recognition following the release of his prior feature film works, as well as the debut of a landmark new series.

Masaaki Yuasa had been a fan of the original manga since childhood, but had never dreamed he would have the opportunity to adapt it.

In 2019, Masaaki Yuasa directed his next feature film, the romance Ride Your Wave.

Masaaki Yuasa 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.

Also in 2019, Masaaki Yuasa served as director of the series Super Shiro, an installment of the popular Crayon Shin-chan franchise.

Masaaki Yuasa collaborated on directorial duties with veteran animator Tomohisa Shimoyama, who made his directorial debut with the series.

Masaaki Yuasa directed in conjunction with Pyeon-Gang Ho, who made her directorial debut with the series.

On March 25,2020, Masaaki Yuasa stepped down as president and representative director of Science SARU.

Masaaki Yuasa 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.

Masaaki Yuasa likewise affirmed Yuasa's continued involvement with the studio as a creator.

Masaaki 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, Masaaki 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.

Masaaki Yuasa thanked the creative collaborators, artistic staff, and cast members of his works, saying that they shared jointly in the honor.

Later that year, Masaaki 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.

Masaaki 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 Masaaki Yuasa has repeatedly expressed and highlighted as central to his works.

In depicting emotions, Masaaki Yuasa's intent is to maintain realism and authenticity, but the visuals through which the emotions are represented can be expressionistic; moreover, it is Masaaki Yuasa's view that characters who move freely and unrestrained by strict realism can express a greater and more faithful range of emotionality.

In telling a story, Masaaki Yuasa has noted that he hopes to give the audience freedom to feel a variety of different ways about the work.

Masaaki Yuasa has noted the importance of preserving traditional animation, 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.

Masaaki Yuasa's works have achieved significant acclaim both in Japan and throughout the world.

Additionally, Masaaki 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.