Shoko Ikeda, a native of Kyoto Prefecture,[2] was born on 18 June 1975.[3] Inspired by the anime OVA Gunbuster to pursue a career as an animator,[2] she was educated at the Yoyogi Animation Academy [ja] Osaka campus' Department of Animation,[4] and she joined Kyoto Animation in 1996.[2] During her early years in Kyoto Animation, she worked as an animation director for Inuyasha, for which the studio was a coloring subcontractor, during which she encouraged employees at the studio to "make works of higher quality than any other company".[5] Additionally, her original drawings were featured prominently in the special feature pages of anime magazines.[5]
In 2006, Ikeda was the character designer and chief animation director for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.[6] Director Yutaka Yamamoto later recalled that "Haruhi [Suzumiya] was perfectly equal to [Ikeda],"[5] who also admitted that she herself thought Haruhi was "just like me".[7] At Anime Expo 2008, she won the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Award for Best Character Design for her work on the anime.[8] She also worked as an animation director for Kanon and K-On!.[9][10]
At Kyoto Animation, she continued to improve skills by sketching fashion magazine models and, secretly, other colleagues' work, as well as using another colleague as a model.[5] She supported reforms to address widespread poverty among young animators.[16]
She was a fan of the Takarazuka Revue's productions of the musical Elisabeth, at one point doing a parody at Kyoto Animation's end-of-year party.[5]
She married university employee Yuzuru Terawaki (寺脇 譲, Terawaki Yuzuru) in 2007; she illustrated a commemorative picture for her own wedding.[16][2] They had two children,[1] the eldest of whom was an elementary school student at the time of his mother's death.[2] In 2021, her husband recalled that she "was innocent and really loved anime".[2] She cooked gratin dishes at home.[16]
At the time of her death, she lived in Uji, a city south of Kyoto.[21]
