Shinji Higuchi
Encyclopedia
is a storyboard artist (especially in anime
) and is one of the top special effects wizards in Japan
, best known for his work on the Heisei
Gamera
Trilogy. He works on both anime
and tokusatsu
projects.
), along with Hideaki Anno
, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
and Takami Akai
. A highly talented artist, he worked on many of their early anime
and tokusatsu
productions, doing storyboarding as well as special effects. Soon, he got to help out special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano
as an uncredited assistant for The Return of Godzilla
(1984). But his first major FX credit came with Daicon's 1985 low-budget daikaiju
epic-comedy, The Eight-Headed Giant Serpent Strikes Back. He continued to be a storyboarder for anime such as Gunbuster
(1988) and Otaku no Video
(1991), and was the special effects director for Toho
/Tsuburaya Productions
' 1991 SF
-thriller, Mikadoroid
.
As a key Daicon/Gainax member, he also played an important part in the creation of one of the most popular anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995). He was a writer, assistant director, and art director/storyboarder for that series. He was also the namesake for the show's protagonist, Shinji Ikari
. He later voice-acted a musician modeled after himself in 2 episodes of Karekano.
That same year was another turning point for Higuchi - he had directed the special effects for the highly-acclaimed 90s Gamera
trilogy of films, all directed by Shusuke Kaneko
. He had truly proved himself to be a top master in the field of Japanese special effects. He continued to direct FX for movies such as Sakuya - Slayer of Demons (2000), Princess Blade and Pistol Opera
, both 2001. That same year, he helped out with the sequence in the Godzilla film, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
, where Godzilla is confronted by JSDF
jet fighters, and thus attacks them with his radioactive ray breath.
In addition to special effects direction, Higuchi provided the CG animation for the first Hamtaro
movie, and storyboarded the fight scenes for the CG
tokusatsu superhero epic, Casshern
(2004), based on Tatsuo Yoshida
's 1973 anime series.
In 2005, he has directed the tokusatsu SF
/World War II
epic, Lorelei, which has become a box-office success in Japan. His next project was a remake of the classic 70s Toho disaster film Japan Sinks
, released in 2006. The latter film was a massive success at the box office, but was poorly received by critics and won second place at the Bunshun Kiichigo Awards
(the Japanese equivalent of the Razzie Awards) in 2006. Recently Shinji Higuchi directed Three Villains of The Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess
, released on May 10, 2008. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa
's The Hidden Fortress
.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
) and is one of the top special effects wizards in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, best known for his work on the Heisei
Heisei
is the current era name in Japan. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the first day after the death of the reigning Emperor, Hirohito. His son, Akihito, succeeded to the throne...
Gamera
Gamera
is a giant, flying turtle from a popular series of kaiju films produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company in Japan. Created in 1965 to rival the success of Toho Studios' Godzilla during the daikaiju boom of the mid-to-late 1960s, Gamera has gained fame and notoriety as a Japanese icon in his own...
Trilogy. He works on both anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and tokusatsu
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
projects.
Biography
As a teenager fan, he started out as one of the four founders of Daicon Films (now GainaxGainax
is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Gunbuster, The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which have gone on to critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as for their association with...
), along with Hideaki Anno
Hideaki Anno
is a Japanese animation and film director. Anno is best known for his work on the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. His style has come to be defined by the touches of postmodernism that he injects into his work, as well as the thorough portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotions,...
, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
is a Japanese character designer, manga artist, and one of the founding members of the Gainax anime studio. Before the studio was founded under the official name , he served as animator on the second animated project, the Daicon IV opening animation...
and Takami Akai
Takami Akai
is an illustrator, game creator, character designer and animator born on November 21, 1961 in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. He was a board member of Gainax, and runs his own company titled NineLives. His wife is Kimiko Higuchi...
. A highly talented artist, he worked on many of their early anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and tokusatsu
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
productions, doing storyboarding as well as special effects. Soon, he got to help out special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano
Teruyoshi Nakano
, is a Japanese special effects director, most notable for his contributions to the Godzilla film series and other tokusatsu movies. Nakano was a special guest at G-Fest XI, where he was the recipient of the Mangled Skyscraper Award....
as an uncredited assistant for The Return of Godzilla
The Return of Godzilla
The Return of Godzilla The Return of Godzilla The Return of Godzilla (released as in Japan and as Godzilla 1985 in North America, is a 1984 Science Fiction Kaiju film. The sixteenth film in Toho's Godzilla series, it was produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and directed by Koji Hashimoto with special...
(1984). But his first major FX credit came with Daicon's 1985 low-budget daikaiju
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
epic-comedy, The Eight-Headed Giant Serpent Strikes Back. He continued to be a storyboarder for anime such as Gunbuster
Gunbuster
Gunbuster, known in Japan as is a six episode anime OVA series created by Gainax in 1988. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, best known as the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The title is a combination of the titles of classic tennis anime Aim for the Ace!, whose plot inspired...
(1988) and Otaku no Video
Otaku no Video
is a 1991 comedy anime spoofing the life and culture of otaku, individuals with obsessive interests in media, particularly anime and manga, as well as the history of Gainax, its creators. It is noted for its mix of conventional documentary film styles , with a more traditional anime storytelling...
(1991), and was the special effects director for Toho
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
/Tsuburaya Productions
Tsuburaya Productions
is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is best known for producing the original Ultraman TV series, as well as the Ultra...
' 1991 SF
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-thriller, Mikadoroid
Mikadroid: Robokill Beneath Discoclub Layla
Mikadroid: Robokill Beneath Discoclub Layla, known in Japan as , is a violent science fiction film by Tomo-O Haraguchi. It was produced by Toho Studios via its direct-to-video distribution line....
.
As a key Daicon/Gainax member, he also played an important part in the creation of one of the most popular anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995). He was a writer, assistant director, and art director/storyboarder for that series. He was also the namesake for the show's protagonist, Shinji Ikari
Shinji Ikari
is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise created by Hideaki Anno. The protagonist of the series , he is the Third Child and pilots the Evangelion Unit 01...
. He later voice-acted a musician modeled after himself in 2 episodes of Karekano.
That same year was another turning point for Higuchi - he had directed the special effects for the highly-acclaimed 90s Gamera
Gamera
is a giant, flying turtle from a popular series of kaiju films produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company in Japan. Created in 1965 to rival the success of Toho Studios' Godzilla during the daikaiju boom of the mid-to-late 1960s, Gamera has gained fame and notoriety as a Japanese icon in his own...
trilogy of films, all directed by Shusuke Kaneko
Shusuke Kaneko
is a Japanese filmmaker and screenwriter.-Career:Shūsuke Kaneko began his career in film with Nikkatsu's Roman Porno film series, in which he served as assistant director to Kōyū Ohara. The series also gave Kaneko his directorial debut with writer Kōichirō Uno's, Kōichirō Uno's Wet and Swinging ,...
. He had truly proved himself to be a top master in the field of Japanese special effects. He continued to direct FX for movies such as Sakuya - Slayer of Demons (2000), Princess Blade and Pistol Opera
Pistol Opera
is a 2001 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Makiko Esumi. As one of Seijun's last fims, it is related to Suzuki's 1967 Branded to Kill, either as a remake or sequel...
, both 2001. That same year, he helped out with the sequence in the Godzilla film, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
is a 2001 science fiction kaiju film co-written and directed by Shūsuke Kaneko with a very catchy name. It was the twenty-fifth film to be released in the Godzilla film series. This is the eleventh film to feature Mothra, sixth to feature King Ghidorah, and third to feature Baragon. It is part of...
, where Godzilla is confronted by JSDF
Japan Self-Defense Forces
The , or JSDF, occasionally referred to as JSF or SDF, are the unified military forces of Japan that were established after the end of the post–World War II Allied occupation of Japan. For most of the post-war period the JSDF was confined to the islands of Japan and not permitted to be deployed...
jet fighters, and thus attacks them with his radioactive ray breath.
In addition to special effects direction, Higuchi provided the CG animation for the first Hamtaro
Hamtaro
is a Japanese anime series. The main character is a hamster named Hamtaro who has a variety of adventures with other hamsters, called "Ham-Hams" . The show is based on a manga series by Ritsuko Kawai, Hamtaro Gets Lost and Other Stories, and Jealous Hamtaro and Other Stories...
movie, and storyboarded the fight scenes for the CG
CG
CG, Cg or cg may stand for:*Airlines PNG IATA code*Categorial grammar*Constraint grammar*Carnival Games, a video game for Wii and Nintendo DS*Center of gravity*Centigram , a unit of mass in the metric system...
tokusatsu superhero epic, Casshern
Casshern
is a 2004 Japanese tokusatsu film adaptation of the anime series of the same name. It was written and directed by Kazuaki Kiriya. It stars Yusuke Iseya as Tetsuya Azuma/Casshern, Kumiko Aso as Luna Kozuki, Toshiaki Karasawa as Burai, Mayumi Sada as Saguree, and Jun Kaname as Barashin.-Plot:A...
(2004), based on Tatsuo Yoshida
Tatsuo Yoshida
was a Japanese cartoonist, writer and anime pioneer who founded the anime studio Tatsunoko Productions.Born in 1932, Yoshida grew up in the hardship of war-torn Japan. A self-taught artist, his first job was as working for local newspapers in Kyoto...
's 1973 anime series.
In 2005, he has directed the tokusatsu SF
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
epic, Lorelei, which has become a box-office success in Japan. His next project was a remake of the classic 70s Toho disaster film Japan Sinks
Japan Sinks
is a 2006 Tokusatsu film directed by Shinji Higuchi, and a remake of the 1973 screenplay based on the Komatsu novel. It stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kou Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, and Mao Daichi, and was released on July 15, 2006....
, released in 2006. The latter film was a massive success at the box office, but was poorly received by critics and won second place at the Bunshun Kiichigo Awards
Bunshun Kiichigo Awards
The Bunshun Kiichigo Awards , or Bunshun Raspberry Awards are Japan's answer to the American Golden Raspberry Awards, awarded to the worst movies in Japan. It was started in 2004 by the Japanese publication company Bungeishunjū, Ltd...
(the Japanese equivalent of the Razzie Awards) in 2006. Recently Shinji Higuchi directed Three Villains of The Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess
Kakushi Toride no San-Akunin: The Last Princess
is a Japanese film directed by Shinji Higuchi released May 10, 2008. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress.-About:Principal photography began on November 1, 2007, and location filming has taken place in areas such as Mount Aso, Kumamoto Castle, Ibaraki Prefecture, and Shizuoka...
, released on May 10, 2008. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
's The Hidden Fortress
The Hidden Fortress
is a 1958 jidai-geki film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirō Mifune as General and Misa Uehara as Princess Yuki. A literal translation of the Japanese title is The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress.-Plot:...
.
Director
- Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific OceanLorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Oceanis a Japanese film directed by Shinji Higuchi. A fictional story of the Japanese military saving Tokyo from the third atomic bomb during the waning days of the Second World War, it was the highest-grossing film in Japan during the week of its release.-Plot:...
Lorelei (2005) - The Sinking of Japan Nihon chinbotsu (2006)
- Kakushi Toride no San-Akunin: The Last PrincessKakushi Toride no San-Akunin: The Last Princessis a Japanese film directed by Shinji Higuchi released May 10, 2008. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress.-About:Principal photography began on November 1, 2007, and location filming has taken place in areas such as Mount Aso, Kumamoto Castle, Ibaraki Prefecture, and Shizuoka...
(2008)
Special Effects Director
- Mikadroid (1991)
- Gamera: Guardian of the UniverseGamera: Guardian of the Universe, is a 1995 Kaiju film directed by Shusuke Kaneko. It is a reboot of the Gamera film franchise. It is the ninth entry in the Gamera film series and first in Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera trilogy. It was followed by Attack of The Legion and Revenge of Iris....
(1995) - Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)
- Gamera 3: Awakening of IrysGamera 3: Awakening of Irysis a 1999 Kaiju film. It is the third and last film in the Gamera Heisei series, and the last to be distributed by Toho. It was released in the United States on DVD in 2003 under the title Gamera: Revenge of Iris.-Plot:...
(1999) - Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out AttackGodzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attackis a 2001 science fiction kaiju film co-written and directed by Shūsuke Kaneko with a very catchy name. It was the twenty-fifth film to be released in the Godzilla film series. This is the eleventh film to feature Mothra, sixth to feature King Ghidorah, and third to feature Baragon. It is part of...
(2001)
Storyboards
- The End of EvangelionThe End of Evangelionis a 1997 Japanese animated science fiction film written and directed by Hideaki Anno along with Kazuya Tsurumaki; it ended the anime releases in the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise until the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy remakes were announced in 2006....
(1997) - Casshern (2004)
- Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) AloneEvangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Aloneis a 2007 Japanese animated film written and chief directed by Hideaki Anno. It is the first of four films released in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy based on the original anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. It was produced and co-distributed by Anno's Studio Khara in partnership with Gainax...
(2007)