| Kenji Kamiyama | |
| Native Name: | 神山 健治 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Birth Date: | 20 March 1966 |
| Birth Place: | Saitama Prefecture, Japan[1] |
| Occupation: | director, writer |
| Years Active: | 1987-present |
is a Japanese director and writer, best known for .
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 and working as an animation director for Jin-Roh. In 2002, Kamiyama made his directorial debut with MiniPato, followed by . 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.[2] 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.[3]
Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki directed , an anime for Adult Swim and Crunchyroll, which was released in 2021 and 2022.[4] [5] [6] 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 . The movie was broadcast in January 2022 on Wowow.[7] Kamiyama directed , 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.[8] 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.[9] [10]
| Year | Title | Role | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | DuckTales | backgrounds | ||
| 1988–1989 | Patlabor | |||
| 1990–1991 | The Hakkenden | art director | ||
| 1991 | Burn Up! | |||
| 1993–1995 | The Hakkenden: A New Saga | |||
| 1994 | Genocyber | |||
| 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 | Mini Pato | director | ||
| 2002–2003 | director, series composition, script, storyboard, chief writer | |||
| 2004–2005 | ||||
| 2007 | director, script | |||
| 2009 | Eden of the East | director, series composition, screenplay, storyboard, chief writer | ||
| 2014 | Mou Hitotsu no Mirai O. | director | ||
| 2019–2023 | Ultraman | director | ||
| 2020–2022 | director | [11] | ||
| 2021 | director, script short The Ninth Jedi | |||
| 2021–2022 | director |
| Year | Title | Role | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Roujin Z | assistant art director | ||
| 1998 | Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade | unit director | ||
| 2000 | screenplay, planning assistance | |||
| 2006 | director, script, storyboard | |||
| 2007 | segment director Dandelion: Mabu of the Dining Hall | |||
| 2009 | Eden of the East: The King of Eden | director, screenplay | ||
| 2010 | Eden of the East: Paradise Lost | |||
| 2012 | director, script | |||
| 2016 | Cyborg 009: Call of Justice | chief director | ||
| 2017 | Napping Princess | director, screenplay | ||
| 2022 | Eien no 831 | |||
| 2024 | director | [12] |