Kouji Morimoto

Kouji Morimoto (森本　晃司) was born in 1959.

Animator from Osamu Dezaki’s Studio Annapuru. Following the lead of Annapuru senior Akio Sugino, he and his wife Atsuko Fukushima developed an animation aesthetic that looked more like moving illustrations than traditional key animation. Morimoto’s breakout KA role was in Dezaki’s Golgo 13: The Professional, where he drew the beer sign assassination scene and the ensuing car chase. The trippy polychromatic color work and delicate FX work on the flames, which resembled solar prominences, garnered Morimoto much praise¹.

He and Fukushima were impressed by the realistic motion Takashi Nakamura was producing in the early 80s. They left Annapuru and joined up with Nakamura to work on Urashiman. Around this time Morimoto started to consider the role of movement more in his drawings, creating his own brand of animated surrealism. He co-animated the final scene of Bobby’s in Deep with Takashi Nakamura and assisted Nakamura with animation direction on Akira¹.

As an animator his masterpiece is the Dirty Pair: Project Eden OP, which took the neon drenched iconography of the late 80s and transformed it into an abstract fantasy realm. His light show concert scene in Macross Plus was a return to this mode¹.

Made his debut as a director in Robot Carnival with Franken’s Gears (1987). Morimoto’s style as a director is just as pronounced as his animation. He creates dense, multilayered compositions with stark use of lighting, eccentric character acting, and a bizarre narrative rhythm. He litters his works with small bits of serialism; flickering lights, repetitive editing structure, and so on. Almost all of his directorial works have been set in alien urban settings¹.

Following the unorthodox Franken’s Gears, Morimoto toned down his direction somewhat. Fly! Peek the Whale (1991) was a children’s movie with designs by Satoru Utsunomiya and a script by Keiko Nobumoto. The only visual experimentation in his Ai Monogatari short Hero (1992) was an energetically rendered rugby match. He and Fukushima collaborated on a version of Jack in the Beanstalk (1993) noted for its storybook visuals. This era of Morimoto’s career culminated with Magnetic Rose from Memories (1995), a Satoshi Kon-penned scifi story about repressed memories. It’s generally regarded as the best of the collection and was Morimoto’s first project at the newly formed Studio 4C, a studio he established with producer Eiko Tanaka¹.

Morimoto’s subsequent projects at Studio 4C saw him working with younger talent like Masaaki Yuasa and Yasuhiro Aoki. His works also became increasingly inscrutable; Tobira o Akete (1995), Eternal Family (1997), Noiseman Sound Insect (1997), Beyond from The Animatrix (2003), and Dimension Bomb from Genius Party Beyond (2008), the latter perhaps Morimoto’s most uninhibited work. He mentored Masaaki Yuasa during this time, showing him the Mind Game manga which Yuasa would later adapt into a feature length film produced by 4C. He also directed the CG pilot for Tekkon Kinkreet in 1999 before handing off the project to younger 4C staffers¹.

Studio 4C’s main music video director. He’s directed music videos for Ken Ishii, Ayumi Hamasaki, The Bluetones, Glay, and Hikaru Utada¹.

He still does regular work for 4C and directed the opening for Katsuhiro Otomo’s Short Peace and the animated section of Lexus’s A Better Tomorrow¹.

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Works

• Ace wo Nerae!(1979/Movie)

1. In-betweens.

• Bocchan(1980/TVSP)

1. In-betweens.

• Makoto-chan(1980/Movie)

1. In-betweens.

• Ashita no Joe 2(1980~1981/TV)

1. Key Animator: #12, #15, #17, #18, #19, #21, #23, #25, #27, #29, #31, #33, #34, #40, #42~#47.
2. In-betweens: #1.

• Unico(1981/Movie)

1. In-betweens.

• Ashita no Joe 2(1981/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• Cobra Space Adventure(1982/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• Space Cobra(1982~1983/TV)

1. Key Animator: #1, #4(NC), #5, #10, #12.

• Urusei Yatsura Only You(1983/Movie)

1. Key Animator(NC).

• Genma Taisen(1983/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• Golgo 13(1983/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• Mirai Keisatsu Urashiman(1983/TV)

1. Key Animator: #26, #33.

• Macross: Do You Remember Love?(1984/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• SF Shinseiki Lensman(1984/Movie)

1. Mecha Design.
2. Key Animator.

• Galactic Patrol Lensman(1984~1985/TV)

1. OP Animation.

• Hokuto no Ken(1984~1987/TV)

1. Key Animator: #5(NC).

• Kamui no Ken(1985/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• Bobby ni Kubittake(1985/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• Hi no Tori: Houou-hen(1986/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• Toki no Tabibito: Time Stranger(1986/Movie)

1. Mecha Design.

• Megazone 23 Part 2(1986/OVA)

1. Key Animator.

• Dirty Pair(1987/OVA)

1. OP Animaiton.

• Robot Carnival(1987/OVA)

1. Director: "Franken’s Gears".
2. Scenario: "Franken’s Gears".
3. Character Designs: "Franken’s Gears".

• Manie-Manie: Meikyuu Monogatari(1987/Movie)

1. Key Animator: "The Order to Stop Construction".

• Akira(1988/Movie)

1. Animation Director Assistant.

• Midnight Eye: Gokuu(1989/OVA)

1. Key Animator.

• City Hunter 3(1989~1990/TV)

1. Storyboard: OP.
2. Key Animator: OP.

• Kiki's Delivery Service(1989/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• Mister Ajikko(1987~1989/TV)

1. Key Animator: #99.

• Dragon Quest(1989~1990/TV)

1. Title Animation.

• Gaki Deka(1989~1990/TV)

1. Episode Director: #16.
2. Storyboard: #16.

• Tobe! Kujira no Peek(1991/Movie)

1. Director.

• Kekkou Kamen(1991/OVA)

1. OP Animation.

• Roujin Z(1991/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• Ai Monogatari(1991/OVA)

1. Director: "Hero".
2. Character Designs: "Hero"(Joint).

• Jack to Mame no Ki(1993/OVA)

1. Director.

• Macross Plus(1994~1995/OVA)

1. Concert Scene Animation: #2.

• Memories(1995/Movie)

1. Director: #1.

• Tobira wo Akete(1995/Short)

1. Director.
2. Scenario.
3. Animation Director.

• Extra(1995/PV)

1. Ditector.
2. Character Designs.
3. Storyboard.
4. Animation.

• Eikyuu Kazoku(1997/Short)

1. Director.
2. Character Designs.
3. Worldview Setting.

• Onkyo Seimeitai Noiseman(1997/Movie)

1. Director.
2. Character Designs.
3. Animation Director(Joint).

• SPRIGGAN(1998/Movie)

1. Director.

• 4-Day Weekend(1998/PV)

1. Director.
2. Character Designs.
3. Storyboard.
4. Animation.

• Blue Submarine No. 6(1998~2000/OVA)

1. Key Animator: #4.

• Survival 2.7D(1999/PV)

1. Director.
2. Character Designs.
3. Storyboard
4. Animation.

• The Animatrix(2003/TV)

1. Director: "Beyond".
2. Screenplay: "Beyond".
3. Character Designs: "Beyond".
4. Key Animator: "Beyond".

• Steamboy(2004/Movie)

1. Setting Development.

• Mind Game(2004/Movie)

1. Mindgame Remix Director.

• Utada Hikaru "Passion"(2005/Music Video)

1. Director for Animation Part
2. Key Animator for Animation Part.

• Utada Hikaru "Exodus Flux Animation"(2005/Music Video)

1. Director: Opening, Exodus04, Crossover Interlude.
2. Key Animator: Opening, Exodus04, Crossover Interlude.

• Amazing Nut!(2006/OVA)

1. Character Draft: "Glass Eye".

• Tekkon Kinkreet(2006/Movie)

1. Storyboard(Joint).

• Genius Party Beyond(2008/Movie)

1. Director: "Dimension Bomb".
2. Character Designs: "Dimension Bomb".
3. Animation Director: "Dimension Bomb".
4. Key Animator: "Toujin Kit".

• Cencoroll(2009/Movie)

1. Special Thanks.

• Black Jack Final(2011/OVA)

1. Key Animator: #12.

• Short Peace Opening(2013/Movie)

1. Design Works.
2. Animation Director.
3. Director.

• Lexus Short Films "A Better Tomorrow"(2013/TV)

1. Animation Part Character Designs.
2. Background Director.
3. Screenplay.
4. Key Animator.

• Rays of Darkness & The Last Dawn(2014/PV)

1. Director for Animation.
2. Character Designs.
3. Key Animator.
4. Background Director.
5. Backgrounds.

• Lupin Sansei - Italian Game(2016/TVSP)

1. Storyboard: OP.
2. Episode Director: OP.
3. Key Animator: OP.
4. Backgrounds: OP.

• 18if(2017/TV)

1. General Supervision.
2. Director: #10.
3. Screenplay: #10.
4. Storyboard: #10.
5. Animation Director: #10.
6. Design Cooperation: #10.
7. Key Animator: #10.
8. Backgrounds: #10.