Akihiko YAMASHITA (山下 明彦) born February 6, 1966, in Chūgoku (Okayama Prefecture), is one of the most important animators of the Ghibli studio. He was the chara-design of the anime Zegapain, the chara-design and animation of the OVI Giant Robo before directing Chuzumo, a short film written by Hayao Miyasaki. He then animated the final scene of the film “Le voyage de Chihiro” and became the animation director of many films by Ghibli studio including “Howl’s Moving Castle”, “Ponyo”, “Arriety”, “From Up on Poppy Hill” and ” Memories of Marnie “(Omoide no Mānī).

Main Works (Chara-designer):

Urotsukidōji (1987-1994)
Relic Armor Legaciam (1987)
Giant Robo (1992-1994) (with Toshiyuki Kubooka)
Wonder Project J2: Corlo no Mori no Josette (1996)
Princess Nine (1998)
Strange Dawn (2000)
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Tide Line Blue (2005)
Zegapain (2006)
Tales from Earthsea (2006)
The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)
Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017)

Director:
Modest Heroes (2018)