Vyse
09-24-2007, 10:43 PM
Hiroshi Ōsaka, a character designer and animator for Sunrise (G Gundam, Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop) and a co-founder of studio BONES (the Bebop movie, Fullmetal Alchemist, passed away on September 24 at the age of 44. Here's the full story from ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-09-24/bones-co-founder-hiroshi-osaka-passes-away-at-44):
Posters on the 2ch board have noted a mixi social community site's diary entry that reports the passing of Hiroshi Ōsaka, the co-founder of the BONES animation studio and animation director of several works including The Vision of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa. Animation director Kazuaki Moori (Pokémon, The Daichis - Earth Defence Family) confirmed on his official website's diary that his mentor Ōsaka passed away on the morning of September 24. Ōsaka was reportedly diagnosed with cancer in spring of 2007, and had been convalescing in his family home in Osaka. He had just attended Anime Expo 2005 as a Guest of Honor.
Ōsaka was an anime fan as far back as high school, when he emulated the style of the first Mobile Suit Gundam series and the works of Mitsuru Adachi (Touch, H2). Ōsaka began working in Japanese animation as a part-time job while he still taking university class in Kyoto in 1983. He started in Anime R, a subcontracting studio, under the tutelage of Moriyasu Taniguchi (character designer on Aoki Ryusei SPT Layzner, Armor Hunter Mellowlink). He gradually moved from animation of in-between cels to animation of key cels and eventually animation direction on Sei Jūshi Bismarck (Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs), City Hunter 3, Yoroiden Samurai Trooper (Ronin Warriors), Macross Plus, and Golden Boy.
His fluid direction of character and mechanical animation led him to work on many other Sunrise works, including Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Mobile Suit V Gundam, and Mobile Fighter G Gundam. That brought him to the attention of Sunrise producer Masahiko Minami, who brought Ōsaka aboard two of their most famous series: The Vision of Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop.
The collaboration between Ōsaka, Minami, and Gundam 0083/Bebop character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto was so fruitful that the three left their respective companies to be the co-founders of the studio BONES. The three would work together of several fan favorite works of BONES, including Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Wolf's Rain, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
Take this as you may, but he left the world with some memorable works.:(
Posters on the 2ch board have noted a mixi social community site's diary entry that reports the passing of Hiroshi Ōsaka, the co-founder of the BONES animation studio and animation director of several works including The Vision of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa. Animation director Kazuaki Moori (Pokémon, The Daichis - Earth Defence Family) confirmed on his official website's diary that his mentor Ōsaka passed away on the morning of September 24. Ōsaka was reportedly diagnosed with cancer in spring of 2007, and had been convalescing in his family home in Osaka. He had just attended Anime Expo 2005 as a Guest of Honor.
Ōsaka was an anime fan as far back as high school, when he emulated the style of the first Mobile Suit Gundam series and the works of Mitsuru Adachi (Touch, H2). Ōsaka began working in Japanese animation as a part-time job while he still taking university class in Kyoto in 1983. He started in Anime R, a subcontracting studio, under the tutelage of Moriyasu Taniguchi (character designer on Aoki Ryusei SPT Layzner, Armor Hunter Mellowlink). He gradually moved from animation of in-between cels to animation of key cels and eventually animation direction on Sei Jūshi Bismarck (Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs), City Hunter 3, Yoroiden Samurai Trooper (Ronin Warriors), Macross Plus, and Golden Boy.
His fluid direction of character and mechanical animation led him to work on many other Sunrise works, including Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Mobile Suit V Gundam, and Mobile Fighter G Gundam. That brought him to the attention of Sunrise producer Masahiko Minami, who brought Ōsaka aboard two of their most famous series: The Vision of Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop.
The collaboration between Ōsaka, Minami, and Gundam 0083/Bebop character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto was so fruitful that the three left their respective companies to be the co-founders of the studio BONES. The three would work together of several fan favorite works of BONES, including Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Wolf's Rain, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
Take this as you may, but he left the world with some memorable works.:(