WHideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995). His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotions, often through unconventional scenes presenting the mental deconstruction of those characters. The Evangelion franchise has had a significant influence on the anime television industry and Japanese popular culture, with many deeming Anno as one of the medium's first auteurs.
WShinji Higuchi is a Japanese filmmaker and anime storyboard artist, and one of the top special effects supervisors in Japan, best known in the west for his work on Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera trilogy in the 1990s. He works on both anime and tokusatsu projects.
WKenji Kamiyama is a Japanese anime director.
WKenji Kodama is a Japanese anime director, and storyboard artist. He is best known for being one of the main directors on the long-running anime Case Closed, as well as the City Hunter series and Lupin III Part III.
WSatoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaidō and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). Tsuyoshi Kon, a guitarist, is his brother. He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art University. He is best known for his acclaimed anime films Perfect Blue (1997), Millennium Actress (2001), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), and Paprika (2006). He died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 46 on August 24, 2010.
WFumio Kurokawa , is a Japanese storyboard artist and animated film director. He directed a number of animated television series produced by Nippon Animation during the 1970s and 1980s. Kurokawa was the series director of Animated Classics of Japanese Literature, included among the "100 Must-See Japanese Animation Masterpieces" in the 2007 encyclopedia Anime Classics Zettai!.
WHayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished filmmakers in the history of animation.
WMamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984), Angel's Egg (1985), Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993), and Ghost in the Shell (1995). He also holds the distinction of having created the first ever OVA, Dallos (1983). As a writer, Oshii has worked as a screenwriter, and occasionally as a manga writer and novelist. His most notable works as a writer include the manga Kerberos Panzer Cop (1988–2000) and its feature film adaptation Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999).
WMasaaki 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. Yuasa previously served as president of Science SARU, but stepped down from this role in 2020. Recognized for his idiosyncratic art style and directorial voice, Yuasa began his career as an animator on the landmark television series Chibi Maruko-chan (1990–1992) and Crayon Shin-chan (1992–present), before moving into directing with the feature film Mind Game (2004) and developing a cult appeal following.