Yoshiji Kigami
Japanese animator, director, and storyboarder (1957–2019)
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Yoshiji Kigami (Japanese: 木上 益治, Hepburn: Kigami Yoshiji; 28 December 1957 – 18 July 2019) was a Japanese animator, director and storyboarder. He started working at Shin-Ei Animation, later became part of Animaruya and then he became affiliated with Kyoto Animation.
Yoshiji Kigami | |
|---|---|
木上 益治 | |
 | |
| Born | 28 December 1957 |
| Died | 18 July 2019 (aged 61) |
| Other names | Ichirou Miyoshi, Fumio Tada |
| Occupations | Animator, television director and storyboarder |
| Years active | 1979–2019 |
| Known for | Kyoto Animation employee |
Career
When he was young, Kigami was a big fan of Disney movies and anime shows based on the manga series of Osamu Tezuka, and this led him to becoming an animator. He started working at Shin-Ei Animation before joining Kyoto Animation. Kigami became well known in the industry for his work on Grave of the Fireflies and Akira as a key animator.[1] In 2003, Kigami directed his first work, Munto, and later became an instructor at Kyoto Animation's teaching program.[2] In Kyoto Animation productions, he used the pen name Ichirou Miyoshi (三好一郎) when storyboarding, and Fumio Tada (多田文男) when doing key animation.[3]
Death
On 18 July 2019, during the Kyoto Animation arson attack, Kigami was killed alongside 35 of his colleagues,[4] with 33 others wounded; Kigami was initially declared missing after the attack[5][6] due to his mother declaring that he could not be contacted immediately following the fire.[6] His death was confirmed on 2 August 2019.[7]
Filmography
- Grave of the Fireflies: Key Animation[8]
- Cat's Eye: Key Animation (4 episodes)
- Akira: Key Animation[8]
- Doraemon (7 movies): Key Animation
- Robotan: Episode director (ep 5)
- Lucky Star: Animation Director (ep 18)
- Clannad: Animation Director (ep 3); Key Animation (ep 12, ep 23, ep 24)[9]
- Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions: Episode Director (ep 6); Storyboard ep (ep 6)
- Crayon Shin Chan Movies (1; 3;7;9) : Key Animation
- Hyouka: Key Animation; Storyboard (ep 5); Episode Director (ep 5)
- K-On!: Key Animation (ep 10, ep 12)
- K-On! Movie: Key Animation
- Munto: Director
- Tamako Market: Episode Director (ep 2, ep 9), Storyboard (ep 9), Key Animation (ep 1)
- Violet Evergarden: Episode Director (ep 6), Storyboard (ep 6)[9]
- Nichijou: Episode Director (ep 6, ep 14, ep 20), Storyboard (ep 6, ep 14, ep 20)
- Air: Storyboard (ep 11), Episode Director (ep 11)
- Free!: Key Animation[9]
- Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Storyboard (ep 3, ep 7), Episode Director (ep 3, ep 7)
- Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid: Storyboard (ep 4, ep 8, ep 12), Episode Director (ep 4, ep 12)
- Sound! Euphonium: Episode Director (ep 5, ep 12)
- Baja no Studio: Director
- A Silent Voice: Key Animation[8][10]