If you are an anime fan, chances are that you know Studio Pierrot, in case you don’t or maybe you think you don’t, this is the studio responsible for some of the most famous anime adaptations of the last 20 years; such as Naruto, Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, Black Clover and Tokyo Ghoul.
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The announcement was made today via Studio Pierrot’s official twitter account
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Yuji Nunokawa, the former Chairman and the Supreme Adviser of Pierrot.
— 株式会社ぴえろ (@studiopierrot) December 26, 2022
Mr. Nunokawa passed away on December 25th.
He was 75.
He will be sorely missed for his leadership, commitment and passion.
An incredible career
Nunokawa started his career as a colourist in a company that served as a subcontractor for TCJ or now known as Eiken; a natural career path as he was born in a family of tailors, so since a young age, Nunokawa enjoyed drawing.
In his first company, he participated in Space Boy Soran and then he had the chance to be a key animator for Robotan. Later he started freelancing landing many gigs in productions Mushi Productions and Tsuburaya Enterprises.
Years later he keep growing and was asked to become a founding staff member of the anime studio Soeisha, which is now known as Bandai Namco Filmworks, however, he declined and in 1971 became a staff member at Tatsunoko Production instead and started working as a character designer. It was there that Nunokawa became a director of the Time Bokan! series.
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By 1978 and after the death of the founder of Tatsuko Production, Tatsuo Yoshida; Nunokawa along with animation directors Mitsuo Kaminashi and Hiroko Tokita, formed an animation collective which eventually grew to include animation directors Toriumi Hisayuki and Masami Anno and became Studio Pierrot.
Nunokawa not only served as a president he helped produce the original Urusei Yatsura anime, Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho, Tokyo Mew Mew, GTO, Bleach, Kimagure Orange Road and was the lead on Creamy Mami among countless other anime series.
Definitely an irreemplazable loss for the industry, here at LevelUp we send our condolences to his family, friends and work partners.
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