Director and Animator Yūji Yanase Dies
Yanase's death ends a career that ran from in-between animation on Akira in the late 1980s to directing a string of isekai and fantasy adaptations, with his latest series having premiered barely a month earlier.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime News Network.
Director and animator Yūji Yanase died on August 22. The official website for The Insipid Prince's Furtive Grab for The Throne, the anime he directed that premiered July 6, announced his death on Wednesday. Yanase worked in the industry since at least 1988, starting as an in-between animator on Akira, and later directed a long line of isekai and fantasy series.
Yanase made his directorial debut in 2014 with Himegoto, after more than two decades as an in-between and key animator. His credits in that stretch included Akira, Macross 7, Tenchi Universe, and episode animation direction on Excel Saga, Hellsing, Chobits, and Aria the Animation.
As a director he became a steady hand for isekai and fantasy adaptations, among them In Another World With My Smartphone, By the Grace of the Gods, In the Land of Leadale, and My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1. He kept working as a key animator and episode director alongside those duties.
His final series, The Insipid Prince's Furtive Grab for The Throne, premiered July 6. Its website announced his death on Wednesday.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Anime News Network News Director, Animator Yūji Yanase Dies