Tensai Okamura

Tensai Okamura (岡村 天斎, Okamura Tensai), born Yutaka Okamura (岡村 豊, Okamura Yutaka) on December 13, 1961, in Fukushima Prefecture, is a Japanese anime director and animator. Okamura grew up in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. He is a graduate of Waseda University's department of science and engineering. In 1991, he changed his first name to Tensai.

Tensai Okamura (岡村天斎)
Tensai Okamura at Chibi Japan Expo (2-11-2007)
Tensai Okamura, 2007 Chibi Japan Expo
Born
Okamura Yutaka
岡村豊

(1961-12-13) December 13, 1961
Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
Alma materWaseda University's department of science and engineering
Occupation(s)Anime director and animator
Years active1984–present
Employer(s)Madhouse (formerly)
Currently freelance
Known forWolf's Rain
Darker than Black

Biography

As a child he read mangas about ninjas, spies and superheroes, and was particularly influenced by a Shirato Sampei manga about ninjas which helped young readers learn the art of ninja; "the spirit and the atmosphere of the spy series that rocked my childhood", such as The Fugitive, were other influences on Okamura's series.[1] During his university days at Waseda University, Okamura was a part of Waseda's manga research society and together with other budding animators, produced his first independent anime there. Upon graduating from university, Okamura joined the animation production studio Madhouse as an animator with the recommendation of a friend. Lensman: Secret of The Lens was the first he worked on as an animator. In 1989, he made his debut as an episode director with Yawara! and soon made his full directorial debut in 1995 with Memories. He later left Madhouse and went freelance, working on several projects along the way.

Influences

The idea for Darker Than Black came to Okamura while he was creating the anime Wolf's Rain, and was based on his handling of protagonists. The main characters in Wolf's Rain are heroic, unlike the violent protagonists in Darker than Black; Okamura wanted the latter's characters to be flawed, in contrast to those in Wolf's Rain.[1] The bi episodic structure is based on the experience Okamura worked as storyboarder in the anime Cowboy Bebop. They have space to dig more on the new character of each new arc. The series composition of first half is Okamura himself, leaving a lot freedom to the writers. The second half, since this original show needs to be put into an end, it is Shotaro Suga handling the role as his first time to be series composition.[2]

In Gemini of the Meteor, Okamura considered diverging from the previous season.[3] Okamura, who found the first series' narrative confusing and Hei rough, wanted to change the series' tone; Suo was created to contrast with Hei. Okamura hoped that the changes would appeal to new viewers, who would then watch the first season.[4] Darker than Black: Gaiden first envisioned when Bones decided to create the series' sequel. In contrast to the new style and content from the sequel aimed towards new viewers, the 4 OVAs were made for the returning fans who want see what happened after the first series.[5]

Works

Anime television series

Anime movies

OVA

Video games

Manga

References
  1. "Interview de Tensai Okamura (Darker than Black)". Caroline Leroy. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  2. DARKER THAN BLACK-流星の双子- OFFICIAL FANBOOK 三鷹文書分析報告. Square Enix. 2010. ISBN 9784757529854.
  3. DARKER THAN BLACK-流星の双子- OFFICIAL FANBOOK 三鷹文書分析報告 (in Japanese). Square Enix. 2010. ISBN 9784757529854.
  4. "Interview: Tensai Okamura". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  5. Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor Blu-ray booklet. Aniplex. 2014.
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