Yasuhiro Takemoto (Japanese: 武本 康弘, Hepburn: Takemoto Yasuhiro, April 5, 1972 – July 18, 2019) was a Japanese animator and television and film director. He worked at Kyoto Animation for almost his entire animation career after joining the company in 1996 until his death in 2019.
Career
After graduating, he entered at the Yoyogi Animation Institute, a specialized animation academy located in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo.[citation needed] Upon graduation, he joined the animation studio Kyoto Animation, where he became a director.
In 2012, he was in charge of directing Hyouka, based on a series of mystery novels by Honobu Yonezawa. In the series collaborated as screenwriter was Shoji Gatoh, author of Full Metal Panic!. Two years later, in 2014, Takemoto was commissioned to direct another series of Gatoh novels, Amagi Brilliant Park.[4]
Takemoto had great knowledge of classical music. His usage of Shostakovich's 7th symphony in episode 12 ("The Day of Sagittarius") of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and the choice of Erik Satie's pieces for the film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya were his ideas.[citation needed]
Death
Four days after the Kyoto Animation arson attack on July 18, 2019, Takemoto was declared missing by his father, who stated "he was untraceable".[5][6] His death was later confirmed by his relatives and authorities.[1][7][8]
^Although Takemoto died in 2019, he is credited as a Series Director for the 2021 series Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S (a role he has been posthumously given), and several of his production materials (such as storyboards) have been used for the series (which is under the direction of Tatsuya Ishihara).
References
^ abc"武本さんの悲報、親族に 「らき☆すた」監督 京都アニメ放火" [Bad news of Mr Takemoto's from his family: The director of Lucky Star died from the Kyoto Animation fire]. The Nikkei (in Japanese). 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
^安否不明 武本康弘さんの父親は [Yasuhiro Takemoto's father told NHK reporter that his son is missing]. NHK (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2019-07-21. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
