Toshihiro Kawamoto (å· å…ƒ 利浩, Kawamoto Toshihiro, born July 15,
1963 in Mie Prefecture) is a Japanese animator. He is co-founder and
director of the anime studio Bones. He was character designer and
animation director of Cowboy Bebop.Upon graduating from high school,
Kawamoto was first employed in the making and designing of precision
machinery. During this early period, he became interested in becoming
an animator due to the ongoing Macross series, Yoshiyuki Tomino's
Mobile Suit Gundam and Gainax's amateur Daikon films. In particular,
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's character designs were a major influence. Within
a year, Kawamoto left his previous profession and enrolled in the
Nagoya branch of Tokyo Designer Gakuin College (currently known as
Nagoya Designer Gakuin), which he later attended for two years.After
graduating, he applied for a job at Group Donguri and was accepted. In
1986, he made his debut in Yasuhiko's 1986 film Arion, where he was
supervised by Yoshinobu Inano and mentored by lead character designer
Sachiko Kamimura, with whom he later collaborated on numerous
productions, including being her assistant in Venus Wars, which was
also directed and written by Yasuhiko. Soon after, he began working in
numerous other Sunrise series, being the lead character designer in
the Gundam OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Last Blitz of Zeon, Mobile Suit Gundam: The
08th MS Team and Cowboy Bebop. While designing the characters for
Bebop, Kawamoto modeled the character of Ed on composer Yoko Kanno,
Spike Spiegel on Arsène Lupin III and City Hunter, and Ein on a
friend's dog, from a suggestion by writer Keiko Nobumoto.In 1998, he
co-founded Bones with fellow Sunrise staff members Masahiko Minami and
Hiroshi ÅŒsaka. He has recently provided the character designs for
Wolf's Rain and TenpÅ Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi, and the key animation to
series such as Eureka Seven, Witch Hunter Robin, Sword of the
Stranger, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club and Michiko
to Hatchin.
1963 in Mie Prefecture) is a Japanese animator. He is co-founder and
director of the anime studio Bones. He was character designer and
animation director of Cowboy Bebop.Upon graduating from high school,
Kawamoto was first employed in the making and designing of precision
machinery. During this early period, he became interested in becoming
an animator due to the ongoing Macross series, Yoshiyuki Tomino's
Mobile Suit Gundam and Gainax's amateur Daikon films. In particular,
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's character designs were a major influence. Within
a year, Kawamoto left his previous profession and enrolled in the
Nagoya branch of Tokyo Designer Gakuin College (currently known as
Nagoya Designer Gakuin), which he later attended for two years.After
graduating, he applied for a job at Group Donguri and was accepted. In
1986, he made his debut in Yasuhiko's 1986 film Arion, where he was
supervised by Yoshinobu Inano and mentored by lead character designer
Sachiko Kamimura, with whom he later collaborated on numerous
productions, including being her assistant in Venus Wars, which was
also directed and written by Yasuhiko. Soon after, he began working in
numerous other Sunrise series, being the lead character designer in
the Gundam OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Last Blitz of Zeon, Mobile Suit Gundam: The
08th MS Team and Cowboy Bebop. While designing the characters for
Bebop, Kawamoto modeled the character of Ed on composer Yoko Kanno,
Spike Spiegel on Arsène Lupin III and City Hunter, and Ein on a
friend's dog, from a suggestion by writer Keiko Nobumoto.In 1998, he
co-founded Bones with fellow Sunrise staff members Masahiko Minami and
Hiroshi ÅŒsaka. He has recently provided the character designs for
Wolf's Rain and TenpÅ Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi, and the key animation to
series such as Eureka Seven, Witch Hunter Robin, Sword of the
Stranger, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club and Michiko
to Hatchin.
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