Norimitsu Suzuki

He was a Madhouse animator who got his start on Morio Asaka’s 90s/early 00s shows. At Madhouse he was influenced by Hiromi Kato and Shinya Hasegawa and he briefly belonged to Kunihiko Ikuhara’s Be-Papas group. Eventually wound up at BONES as one of their star key animators. Associated with BONES’s cinematographer Yoshiyuki Takei.^[1].

Japanese Wiki Page - Camonte -sakugabooru - ANN - MAL

Animation Style

Suzuki’s animation is noted for being meticulously on-model. His drawings are so accurate that casual viewers often mistake them for CG. His scenes are complemented by tricky background animation creating a strong impression of 3D space. For in-show KA Suzuki often leaves his cuts uncredited.^[2].

Anime Career

Starting with Cardcaptor Sakura ED3, Suzuki became a specialist in EDs. The vast majority of his work after leaving Madhouse are EDs he solo animates and directs. Suzuki’s EDs mess with fonts, organize shots into registers, are drawn in pastel colors, contain comic book flourishes like Ben Day dots and panels, and occasionally have distinctive lineart and shading reminiscent of graphic novels. Some of his better BONES EDs include Eureka Seven ED1-2, Soul Eater ED1-4, Fullmetal Alchemist ED1-4, Ayakashi Ayashi ED2, Star Driver ED1-2, Un-Go ED, and Captain Earth ED2. He’s done several EDs outside of BONES as well, including Death Note ED1, Rozen Maiden: Traumend ED, Akagi ED2, and the infamous strip club Highschool DxD ED.^[3].

When working on ED animation for studio Bones works, he often asked Yoshiyuki Takei from studio Bones shooting department for photo shoots to use it as a reference in his works.

Works

• Cowboy Bebop(1998/TV)

1. Key Animation: #7.

• Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Adolescence Mokushiroku(1999/MOVIE)

1. Key Animation.

• Soul Eater(TV/2008)

1. Storyboard: (ED1, ED2, ED3, ED4).
2. Key Animation: (#1, #16, #51, ED1, ED2, ED3, ED4).
3. Episode Director: (ED1, ED2, ED3, ED4).

• Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira(2001/MOVIE)

1. Animation Director Support.

• Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor(2009/TV)

1. Storyboard: (ED).
2. Unit Director: (ED).
3. Key Animation: (ED),#1,#9.

• High School DxD(2012/TV)

1. Storyboard: (ED1).
2. Unit Director: (ED1).
3. Key Animation: (ED1).

• Un-Go(2011/TV)

1. Storyboard: (ED).
2. Unit Director: (ED).
3. Key Animation: (all ED).

• Captain Earth(TV/2014)

1. Storyboard: (ED2).
2. Unit Director: (ED2).
3. Animation: (ED2).
4. Key Animation: (Ep24).

• Cardcaptor Sakura(TV/1998)

1. Storyboard: (ED3).
2. Unit Director: (ED3)
3. Key Animation (#1,#3,#56,#60,#64,#69)

• Eureka Seven(TV/2005)

1. Director: (ED1,ED2).
2. Storyboard: (ED1,ED2).
3. Key Animation: (ED1,ED2).

• Revolutionary Girl Utena(1997/TV)

1. Key Animation: (#17,#21,#24,#28,#31,#35,#38-#39)

• Star Driver(TV/2010)

1. Storyboard: (ED 1-2).
2. Unit Director:: (ED 1-2)
3. Animation: (ED 1-2)
4. Key Animation: #1.