Ippei Kuri


Ippei Kuri, real name Toyoharu Yoshida, is a Japanese manga artist and the third president of animation production company Tatsunoko Pro.

History

Ippei Kuri was born Toyoharu Yoshida on January 1, 1940 in Kyoto, Japan. As a child, he read comics such as Superman that were discarded by American troops stationed in Japan during the Allied occupation following World War II. Kuri stated he wanted to make a manga like that when he grew up. This had an influence on his manga and anime character design style. He attended Kyoto Municipal Rakuyō High School, but left in 1958 before graduating in order to join his older brother Kenji in Tokyo to work as a manga artist.
He worked as an assistant for his older brother Tatsuo, who was already a successful illustrator and manga artist. Kuri made his manga debut in 1959 with Abare Tengu, published as an akahon and in the Japanese magazine Z-Boy from Shueisha. From 1960-1961, Kuri worked on Mach Sanshirō with creator Minoru Kume. In 1962, Kuri co-founded the animation production company Tatsunoko Productions with his brothers Kenji and Tatsuo. Since then, he has worked in many different roles, including as an animation producer, in planning and design, and as a director.
Kuri was appointed the managing director of Tatsunoko Pro subsidiary Anime Friend in 1977. In 1987, due to the retirement of his brother Kenji, Kuri became the president of Tatsunoko Pro. Anime Friend was dissolved in 1990. Tatsunoko Pro became a subsidiary of the major toy manufacturer Takara on July 1, 2005, and Kuri stepped down as president at that time. The Yoshida brothers' involvement in the company has since been very limited.
At the 10th Animation Kobe event in October 2005, Kuri was awarded the special award for lifetime contributions to anime as a general producer at Tatsunoko Pro. Kuri is currently a guest professor at the Kyoto University of Arts and Crafts.

Works

Listed in chronological order.

Manga