Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (貞本　義行) was born in 1962.

After college learned the ropes of key animation under Yasuo Otsuka at Telecom alongside Tatsuyuki Tanaka before becoming a founding member of Gainax. Though not an unskilled animator by any means (he did the climactic scene in Gunbuster 6 and the attempted rape in Honneamise), his reputation rests mainly on his character designs. Nearly all of Gainax’s biggest productions have Sadamoto’s designs: Honneamise, Nadia, Evangelion, FLCL, and Diebuster. If a single person can be said to be responsible for the general “look” of Gainax anime, Sadamoto is a strong contender. His slender, simple designs have proven massively influential for the younger Gainax character designers¹.

His characters are thin and gangly, and in stills can look frail. Facial features are sharp but understated. He pays more attention to fashion than most character designers. The most alluring quality of his designs is how he can make characters expressive with a minimum of effort. He’s proven himself expert at creating iconic characters, something evident in the reception to Evangelion’s cast¹.

Most of his influences come from manga: Katsuhiro Otomo, Yoshitaka Amano, Kazuo Umezu and Leiji Matsumoto. He was the author of the Evangelion manga and the R20 manga (the latter poised for a feature length adaptation, though a short pilot by Mahiro Maeda is all that remains)¹.

After Evangelion, Sadamoto has remained active as a character designer. He was the original character designer for the .hack series. He’s also been the go-to character designer for Mamoru Hosoda in his feature films Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Wolf Children. Set to do character designs on Hiroyuki Yamaga’s Blue Uru¹.

Currently an adviser at Studio Khara.

Twitter - SakugaBooru - Japanese Wiki Page

Works

• Macross(1982~1983/TV)

1. Key Animator: #9(NC).

• Daivon IV OP(1983/Self-Produced)

1. Key Animator.
2. In-betweens.

• Meitantei Holmes(1984~1985/TV)

1. In-betweens(NC).

• Mighty Orbots(1984/TV)

1. Key Animator.
2. In-betweens.

• Ouritsu Uchuugun: Honneamise no Tsubasa Pilot(1985)

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

• The Chocolate Panic Picture Show(1985/OVA)

1. Key Animator(NC).

• Tenshi no Tamago(1985/OVA)

1. Key Animation Assistant.

• Ouritsu Uchuugun: Honneamise no Tsubasa(1987/Movie)

1. Character Designs.
2. Animation Director.
3. Production Design.
4. Layout Design.

• Project A-Ko 2: Daitokuji Zaibatsu no Inbou(1987/OVA)

1. In-betweens.

• Robot Carnival(1987/OVA)

1. Character Designs: #7.

• Genji Monogatari(1987/Movie)

1. Key Animator.

• F(1988/TV)

1. Key Animator: #1, #6.
   1. #1: Mainly mecha key animation(Source).

• Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster(1988~1989/OVA)

1. Setting(Joint).
2. Key Animator: #1, #4, #5, #6.

• Dragon Quest Fantasia Video(1988/PV)

1. Effects Animation.

• DATA NO.6(1989/PV)

1. Animation Director.
2. Rotoscope.

• Baoh Raihousha(1989/OVA)

1. Key Animator(NC).

• Fushigi no Umi no Nadia(1990~1991/TV)

1. 1. He also did some general animation direction without credit.
2. Character Designs.
3. Animation Director: #8(Joint), #21, #39(Joint).
4. Key Animator.

• Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S(1994~1995/TV)

1. Key Animator: #103(NC).

• Neon Genesis Evangelion(1995~1996/TV)

1. Character Designs.
2. Animation Director: #22(Home Video Release, Joint).
3. Layout Correction: #24.

• Neon Genesis Evangelion Death & Rebirth(1997/Movie)

1. Character Designs.
2. Key Animator.

• Neon Genesis Evangelion The End of Evangelion(1997/Movie)

1. Character Designs.
2. Layout Cooperation.

• Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou(1998~1999/TV)

1. Key Animator: #13, #18.

• Top wo Nerae2!(2004~2006/OVA)

1. Character Designs.
2. Character Animation Director: #1(Joint).
3. Animation Director: OP.

• Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo(2006/Movie)

1. Character Designs.

• Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone(2007/Movie)

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

• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann(2007/TV)

1. Key Animator: #27.

• Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance(2009/Movie)

1. Main Character Designs.
2. Animation Director Assistant.

• Summer Wars(2009/Movie)

1. Character Designs.

• Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki(2009/Movie)

1. Character Designs.

• Mercedes Benz Next A-Class(2012/WEB)

1. Character Designs.

• Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo(2012/Movie)

1. Main Character Designs.
2. Image Boards.

• Short Peace "Gambo"(2013/Movie)

1. Character Designs Drafts.

• Houkago no Pleiades(2015/TV)

1. Spaceship Design: #6, #12.

• Bridge for Future(2015/CM)

1. Character Designs.

• Black Rose Suspects(2016/Game)

1. Main Character Designs.

• Mouse Band CM(2018/CM)

1. Character Designs.

• FLCL Alternative(2018/Movie)

1. Character Draft.

• FLCL Progressive(2018/Movie)

1. Character Draft.

• Great Pretender(2020/TV)

1. Character Designs.