Nobuyoshi HABARA

Born in 1963 in Hiroshima prefecture, Nobuyoshi HABARA got interested in animation as he was still a young child, and at the age of 10 already dreamt of becoming an animator. In high school, he made his first independent anime with friends. After graduating, he moved to Tokyo to become an animator. He joined studio Ashi Productions (now Production Reed) where he made his debut in the industry that had always fascinated him.

As a fan of science fiction and robots (and of Mazinger Z since forever), he naturally started his career by working on mecha anime, such as Dancouga – Super Beast Machine God, as an animator, animation director, mecha- or chara-designer. His career gained momentum with Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos in the mid-80s, a series featuring androids and robots.

He kept working in animation, at new positions like storyboarder and director. If he continued with mecha series, such as Gekiganger 3, a 70s tribute to robot anime, he worked on other themes too and was also a chara-designer and animation director on a football anime, Ashita e Free Kick, or on D.N.Angel, the story of a boy doomed to change into a ghost thief every time he gets close to the girl he loves.

After working for a while as a freelance artist, he contributed to funding a new studio in 1995, XEBEC, where he became the head of the animation department. There he worked on Gekiganger 3 and D.N.Angel, and more recently on Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Broken Blade, or Space Battleship Yamato 2199, joining a universe he knows well and had always been a fan of, the Yamato saga. He has also worked on the sequel of the series, STAR BLAZERS 2202, to be released in 2017.

On top of a rich career in animation, Nobuyoshi HABARA has also been part of the web project Petit Eva, or of video games with Killer 7, and live movies such as Gégégé no Kitarô.

From March 2017, Nobuyoshi HABARA will be a guest lecturer at the Human Academy, Japanese school of manga, anime, and video games, in charge of the animation project for 4 months and of a week-long workshop.

After attending Japan Expo 18th Impact to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Japanese animation, Nobuyoshi HABARA was announcing at the end of the festival, during the closing conference, his wish to be back in 2018.

And so be it as he’ll be joining us: his work, and that of studio XEBEC, on the anime STAR BLAZERS 2202 will have pride of honor with a documentary about its making, and an exhibit, How to Make an Anime - Season 2 with XEBEC. Nobuyoshi HABARA will also be meeting you at signings and panels, and by his side, Chizuru KOBAYASHI and Takumo NORITA, who have worked on the anime as well, will be attending the festival too. Stay tuned: follow our news!

Animation

• 1983 - Tokusô Kihei Dorvack (mecha-designer, mecha animation director, and animator)
• 1985 - Dancouga – Super Beast Machine God (Chôjû Kishin Dancouga) - (animation director)
• 1986 - Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos (Machine Robo Chronos no Daigyakushû) - (chara-designer and animation director)
• 1988 - Reina Kenrô Densetsu (chara-designer, storyboarder, animation director, and director)
• 1989 - Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato (Tenkû Senki Shurato) - (animation director for episode 16, eyecatch, and animator)
• 1990 - Magical Angel Sweet Mint (Mahô no Angel Sweet Mint) - (original character conception)
• 1991 - Jankenman (chara-designer)
• 1992 - Ashita e Free Kick (chara-designer and animation director)
• 1996 - Martian Successor Nadesico (Kidô Senkan Nadesico) - (storyboarder, director, and animator)
• 1996 - Gekiganger 3 (chara-designer, mecha-designer, storyboarder, director, animator, and animation director, as Mamoru Konoe)
• 1999 - Zoids (assistant director, director, storyboarder, and animator)
• 2003 - D.N.Angel (director and storyboarder)
• 2003 - Fullmetal Alchemist (key animator)
• 2004 - Fafner in the Azure (Sôkyû no Fafner) - (director, storyboarder, and animator)
• 2005 - Negima! Magister Negi Magi (Mahô Sensei Negima) - (chief decorator, director, storyboarder, animation director, and animator)
• 2006 - Busô Renkin (animator and storyboarder of the opening, director, and animator)
• 2008 - Michiko & Hatchin (Michiko To Hacchin) - (director)
• 2010 - Broken Blade (Break Blade) - (director)
• 2013 - Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Uchû Senkan Yamato 2199) - (storyboarder and director)
• 2015 - Sôkyû no Fafner Exodus (director)
• 2017 - STAR BLAZERS 2202 - (director)

Web

• 2008 - Petit Eva (visual works)

Live movies

• 2007 - Gégégé no Kitarô (storyboarder)
• 2011 - Saya Samurai (storyboarder)

Video games

• 2005 - Killer 7 (director and animator of animation scenes)