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Kitaro Kosaka

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Kitaro Kosaka

Born February 28, 1962 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan23 films

Kitarō Kōsaka (高坂 希太郎, born February 28, 1962 in Kanagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese animator and film director.

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He began his career in 1979 with the studio Oh! Production. He left the studio in 1986 to become a freelance, and soon went on to work on numerous projects as a key and supervising animation director for the noted animation studio Studio Ghibli, and with the famed director Hayao Miyazaki, of whose work he is himself an acknowledged fan.

In 2003, he directed the cycling anime film, Nasu: Summer in Andalusia, set on the Vuelta a España road bicycle race, adapted from Iō Kuroda's manga Nasu, which Hayao Miyazaki, a fan of cycling, himself recommended to Kōsaka. The film soon went on to become the first Japanese anime film ever to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival.

He has worked on numerous other projects for the studio Madhouse, including adaptations of manga artist Naoki Urasawa's works with the studio, including Yawara, Master Keaton and Monster, and adaptations of two of Clamp's works, including Clover and Double X, both of them being short films.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Kitarō Kōsaka, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Spirited Away posterFirst watchSpirited Away20018.5A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to…View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
Howl's Moving Castle poster8.4Howl's Moving Castle2004Princess Mononoke poster8.3Princess Mononoke1997Grave of the Fireflies poster8.5Grave of the Fireflies1988Akira poster7.9Akira1988Castle in the Sky poster8.0Castle in the Sky1986Warriors of the Wind poster7.9Warriors of the Wind1984The Wind Rises poster7.8The Wind Rises2013Whisper of the Heart poster7.9Whisper of the Heart1995

Filmography

23 films
  1. 2023The Boy and the HeronKey Animation
  2. 2021BelleKey Animation
  3. 2015The Boy and the BeastKey Animation
  4. 2014When Marnie Was ThereKey Animation
  5. 2013The Wind RisesCharacter Designer
  6. 2011From Up on Poppy HillAnimation Director
  7. 2010Mr. Dough and the Egg PrincessAnimation Director
  8. 2004Howl's Moving CastleAnimation Director
  9. 2001Spirited AwayAnimation Director
  10. 2001MetropolisKey Animation
  11. 1997Princess MononokeAnimation Director
  12. 1995Whisper of the HeartCharacter Designer
  13. 1994Pom PokoKey Animation
  14. 1993A-GirlCharacter Designer
  15. 1988AkiraKey Animation
  16. 1988Grave of the FirefliesKey Animation
  17. 1987Royal Space Force - The Wings of HonneamiseKey Animation
  18. 1986Castle in the SkyKey Animation
  19. 1985Angel's EggKey Animation
  20. 1985Lupin the Third: The Legend of the Gold of BabylonKey Animation
  21. 1985The Dagger of KamuiKey Animation
  22. 1984Warriors of the WindKey Animation
  23. 1982Gauche the CellistAnimation