Hiroshi Ōsaka


Hiroshi Ōsaka was a Japanese animator, character designer and illustrator, born in Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture. He was a graduate of the Kyoto Saga University of Arts. He was the co-founder of Bones Animation Studio.

Profile

Ōsaka, while studying in the Kyoto Saga University of Arts, joined the animation subcontracting studio Anime R in 1983 on a part-time basis under the apprenticeship of the noted animator Moriyasu Taniguchi, working on numerous Sunrise productions during this period in college.
At his time at the studio, Ōsaka worked with numerous noted animators, including Kazuaki Mōri, Masahiro Kase, Tōru Yoshida, Hiroyuki Okiura and Kazuchika Kise, many of whom who went on to found Production I.G, and also supervised Takahiro Kimura. He left Anime R in 1991 to work as a freelance animator, going on to work on several Sunrise shows as well as other productions. Ōsaka, along with fellow animator Toshihiro Kawamoto and producer Masahiko Minami, co-founded the studio Bones in 1998.
In 1999, Ōsaka lectured on an animation workshop at the 4th Animation Kobe event, held in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. An anime fan, he had wanted to be an animator since his high school days, being inspired by Sunrise's iconic 1979 series Mobile Suit Gundam and the works of the manga artist Mitsuru Adachi.
During the spring of 2007, Ōsaka's health had deteriorated and spent his remaining days in his hometown of Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, where he had been staying at his family residence. He had been recuperating in a hospital in the city, where he later died of cancer on September 24, aged 44. His death was reported on several news outlets, including the blogs of his animator colleagues and major national newspapers, with numerous fans paying condolences.

Works

Anime television