Kenji Kamiyama
{{short description|Japanese anime director}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kenji Kamiyama
| image = Kenji Kamiyama 2023.jpg
| caption = Kamiyama in 2023
| native_name = 神山 健治
| native_name_lang = ja
| birthname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|3|20}}
| birth_place = Saitama Prefecture, Japan{{cite web | title=神山監督、2020年の日本を予測する!!|url=https://otocoto.jp/interview/hirunehime/6/| access-date=2017-07-21}}
| death_date =
| death_place =
| othername =
| occupation = director, writer
| years_active = 1987-present
| spouse =
| website = {{URL|http://www.ph9.jp/}}
}}
{{Nihongo|Kenji Kamiyama|神山 健治|Kamiyama Kenji|born on March 20, 1966}} is a Japanese director and writer, best known for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
Career
After working as a background artist for productions such as Akira and Kiki's Delivery Service, Kamiyama joined Production I.G, contributing the screenplay of Blood: The Last Vampire and working as an animation director for Jin-Roh. In 2002, Kamiyama made his directorial debut with MiniPato, followed by Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Stand Alone Complex was produced with an 800 million yen investment, and Kamiyama decided to make the series as a "relative" to the manga and film, serving as a separate parallel world from both.{{cite web|url=http://www.productionig.com/contents/works_sp/39_/s08_/index.html|title=Into the Network: The Ghost in the Shell Universe|work=Production I.G.|access-date=December 19, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517181546/http://www.productionig.com/contents/works_sp/39_/s08_/index.html|archive-date=17 May 2011|url-status=dead}} The series was followed by Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG. In 2007, after almost six years of working on the Stand Alone Complex world, he directed the TV series Guardian of the Sacred Spirit. In 2008, it was announced that Kamiyama would direct and write Eden of the East. The series ran in 2009 from April 9 to June 18.{{cite web|place=JP|url=http://mainichi.jp/enta/mantan/anime/news/20081127mog00m200027000c.html|script-title=ja:ノイタミナ: 攻殻・神山とハチクロ・羽海野がタッグ アニメ｢東のエデン｣が09年4月から|publisher=Mainichi Shimbun|date=2008-11-27|access-date=2024-12-19|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225100823/http://mainichi.jp/enta/mantan/anime/news/20081127mog00m200027000c.html|archive-date=2008-12-25|url-status=dead}}
Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki directed Blade Runner: Black Lotus, an anime for Adult Swim and Crunchyroll, which was released in 2021 and 2022.{{cite magazine |last=Otterson |first=Joe |date=November 29, 2018 |title=Blade Runner Anime Series |url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/blade-runner-anime-series-adult-swim-crunchyroll-1203047083/ |magazine=Variety |access-date=November 29, 2018 }}{{cite news |last=Gurwin |first=Gabe |date=November 29, 2018 |title=BLADE RUNNER ANIME SERIES COMING TO CARTOON NETWORK, CRUNCHYROLL |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/11/29/blade-runner-anime-series-coming-to-cartoon-network-crunchyroll?%3A+ign%2Fall+%28IGN+All%29 |work=IGN |access-date=November 29, 2018 }}{{cite news |last=Yoo |first=Noah |date=November 29, 2018 |title=Adult Swim Announces New "Blade Runner" Anime Series |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/adult-swim-announces-new-blade-runner-anime-series/ |work=Pitchfork |access-date= November 29, 2018}} On August 2, 2021, it was announced that Kamiyama would act as both director and writer of the feature-length anime work, Eien no 831 ({{translation|Eternal 831}}). The movie was broadcast in January 2022 on Wowow.{{Cite web|last=Loo|first=Egan|title=Kenji Kamiyama's Original Anime Feature Eien no 831 to Premiere Next January|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-08-03/kenji-kamiyama-original-anime-feature-eien-no-831-to-premiere-next-january/.175852|date=August 3, 2021|access-date=August 3, 2021|website=Anime News Network|language=en}} Kamiyama directed The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which released on December 13, 2024. Kamiyama described the film as an unprecendented opportunity despite the challenges that come from developing such project and being different from the thematic approaches he took on his other works.{{Cite web|last=Loveridge|first=Lynzee |title=Director Kenji Kamiyama Calls The War of the Rohirrim an 'Unprecedented Opportunity' for Anime
|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2024-12-13/director-kenji-kamiyama-calls-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-an-unprecedented-opportunity-for-anime/.218707|date=December 13, 2024|access-date=December 19, 2024|website=Anime News Network|language=en}} For the main character, Héra, Kamiyama suggested the writers take inspiration from the historical female leader Æthelflæd as she played a similar role, and Tolkien was inspired by such historical figures.{{Cite web |last=Motamayor |first=Rafael |date=June 13, 2023 |title=The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of Rohirrim Gives Us Middle-Earth Anime, And We Can't Wait [Annecy 2023] |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/1312229/lord-of-the-rings-war-of-rohirrim-brings-middle-earth-anime/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613120846/https://www.slashfilm.com/1312229/lord-of-the-rings-war-of-rohirrim-brings-middle-earth-anime/ |archive-date=June 13, 2023 |access-date=December 19, 2024|website=/Film}}{{Cite web |date=June 28, 2022 |title=Exclusive: Philippa Boyens talks The War of The Rohirrim with TheOneRing.net |url=https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2022/06/28/113412-exclusive-philippa-boyens-talks-the-war-of-the-rohrrim-with-theonering-net/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628160310/https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2022/06/28/113412-exclusive-philippa-boyens-talks-the-war-of-the-rohrrim-with-theonering-net/ |archive-date=June 28, 2022 |access-date=December 19, 2024 |website=TheOneRing.net}}
Filmography
=Television series and OVA=
| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}} |
| 1987
| rowspan="2" |backgrounds |
| 1988–1989
| Patlabor |
| 1990–1991
| rowspan="4" |art director |
| 1991
| Burn Up! |
| 1993–1995
| The Hakkenden: A New Saga |
| 1994 |
| rowspan="2" |1999–2000
| scripts for episodes 3, 10 and 21 | |
| Medabots
| storyboards for episodes 19, 34, 41, 48 and episode director for 34, 41, 48 |
| 2002
| director |
| 2002–2003
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex | rowspan="2" |director, series composition, script, storyboard, chief writer |
| 2004–2005
| Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG | |
| 2007
| Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit | director, script |
| 2009
| director, series composition, screenplay, storyboard, chief writer | |
| 2014
| Mou Hitotsu no Mirai O. | director |
| 2019–2023
| Ultraman | director | |
| 2020–2022
| Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 | director |{{cite web|last=Pineda|first=Rafael Antonio|title=New Ghost in the Shell Anime Will Have 2 Seasons|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-08-02/new-ghost-in-the-shell-anime-will-have-2-seasons/.134977|website=Anime News Network|date=August 2, 2018|access-date=November 29, 2018}} |
| 2021
| director, script short The Ninth Jedi | |
| 2021–2022
| director | |
=Film=
| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}} |
| 1991
| Roujin Z | assistant art director |
| 1998
| unit director | |
| 2000
| screenplay, planning assistance | |
| 2006
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society | director, script, storyboard |
| 2007
| Eat and Run: 6 Beautiful Grifters |segment director Dandelion: Mabu of the Dining Hall |
| 2009
| Eden of the East: The King of Eden | rowspan="2" |director, screenplay | |
| 2010
| Eden of the East: Paradise Lost | |
| 2012
| director, script | |
| 2016
| Cyborg 009: Call of Justice | chief director | |
| 2017
| rowspan="2" |director, screenplay | |
| 2022 |
| 2024
| The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim |director |{{cite web|last=Pineda|first=Rafael Antonio|title=Kenji Kamiyama's The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Film Opens in April 2024|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2022-02-14/kenji-kamiyama-the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-film-opens-in-april-2024/.182627|website=Anime News Network|date=February 14, 2022|access-date=February 14, 2022}} |
References
External links
- [http://www.productionig.com/contents/works_sp/02_/s08_/index.html Interview with Kenji Kamiyama]
- {{ANN|type=people|id=91}}
- {{IMDb name|0436784}}
{{Kenji Kamiyama}}
{{Ghost in the Shell}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamiyama, Kenji}}
Category:Japanese storyboard artists