Osamu Dezaki


Osamu Dezaki, also known as Makura Saki, Kan Matsudo, Toru Yabuki or Kuyou Sai, was a Japanese anime director and screenwriter.

Biography

Dezaki started out as a manga artist while still in high school. In 1963 he joined Mushi Production, which was founded by manga and anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka. His made his debut as a director in 1970 with Ashita no Joe.
After working with Mushi Production, Dezaki co-founded Madhouse with Masao Maruyama, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
Dezaki was known for his distinct visual style, which makes use of split screen, stark lighting, extensive use of dutch angle, and pastel freeze frames that he called "postcard memories", which may be his most famous trademark. They feature a process whereby the screen fades into a detailed "painting" of the simpler original animation. Many of his techniques became popular and came to be seen as special techniques of Japanese animation. He particularly influenced Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Ryūtarō Nakamura, Noriyuki Abe, Kunihiko Ikuhara, Akiyuki Shinbo, and Yutaka Yamamoto.

Death

Dezaki was known to be a notorious chain smoker, and as a result, he died from lung cancer on April 17, 2011, at the age of 67.

Personal life

His older brother, Satoshi Dezaki, is also an anime director.

Works

Television series

Television specials

TitlePositionYear
Frosty the SnowmanAnimation DirectorDecember 7, 1969
Sweet SeaDirectorSeptember 1985
BotchanSupervisorJune 13, 1989
Lupin III: Bye-Bye Liberty CrisisDirectorApril 1, 1989
Lupin III: Mystery of the Hemingway PapersDirectorJuly 20, 1990
Lupin III: Steal Napoleon's Dictionary!DirectorAugust 9, 1991
Lupin III: From Russia With LoveDirectorJuly 24, 1992
Lupin III: The Pursuit of Harimao's TreasureDirectorAugust 4, 1995
Koushi-den DirectorOctober 15, 1995

Original video animations

Movies