| Birth Date: | 18 June 1975 |
| Death Place: | Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan |
| Death Cause: | Murder (Kyoto Animation arson attack) |
| Alma Mater: | Yoyogi Animation Academy |
| Years Active: | 1996–2019 |
| Employer: | Kyoto Animation |
, known professionally as, was a Japanese animator and character designer who worked at Kyoto Animation. She worked as character designer and chief animation director for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006) and the Sound! Euphonium franchise, and after her death in the Kyoto Animation arson attack, she was posthumously credited for her work on the 2023 OVA and the anime's 2024 third season.
Shoko Ikeda, a native of Kyoto Prefecture, was born on 18 June 1975.[1] Inspired by the anime OVA Gunbuster to pursue a career as an animator, she was educated at the Osaka campus' Department of Animation,[2] and she joined Kyoto Animation in 1996.[3] During her early years in Kyoto Animation, she worked as an animation director for Inuyasha, for which the studio was a coloring subcontractor, during which she encouraged employees at the studio to "make works of higher quality than any other company". Additionally, her original drawings were featured prominently in the special feature pages of anime magazines.[4]
In 2006, Ikeda was the character designer and chief animation director for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Director Yutaka Yamamoto later recalled that "Haruhi [Suzumiya] was perfectly equal to [Ikeda],"[4] who also admitted that she herself thought Haruhi was "just like me".[5] At Anime Expo 2008, she won the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Award for Best Character Design for her work on the anime.[6] She also worked as an animation director for Kanon and K-On!.
In December 2014, Ikeda was announced as the character designer for the Sound! Euphonium anime. She returned as character designer for the anime's second season, as well as the films , and .
At Kyoto Animation, she would continue to improve skills by sketching fashion magazine models and, secretly, other colleagues' work, as well as using another colleague as a model.[4] She supported reforms to address widespread poverty among young animators.[7]
Ikeda was killed in the Kyoto Animation arson attack on 18 July 2019;[8] her body was found on the second floor.[9] She was 44 years old.[3] She was posthumously credited as character designer for the 2023 theatrical OVA and, alongside, for the 2024 third season of Sound! Euphonium.
She was a fan of the Takarazuka Revue's productions of the musical Elisabeth, at one point doing a parody at Kyoto Animation's end-of-year party.[4]
She married university employee in 2007; she illustrated a commemorative picture for her own wedding.[7] [3] They had two children, the eldest of whom was an elementary school student at the time of his mother's death.[3] In 2021, her husband recalled that she "was innocent and really loved anime".[3] She cooked gratin dishes at home.[7]
At the time of her death, she lived in Uji, a city south of Kyoto.[10]
| Year | Title | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Kanon | Animation director | [11] | |
| 2006–2009 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya | Character designer, chief animation director (original broadcast only) | [12] | |
| 2007 | Lucky Star | Animator | [13] | |
| 2010 | K-On! | Animation director | [14] | |
| 2015–2024 | Sound! Euphonium | Character designer; (posthumous and alongside in season 3) | [15] [16] [17] | |
| 2016 | Character designer, chief animation director | [18] | ||
| 2017 | Character designer, chief animation director | [19] | ||
| 2019 | Character designer | [20] | ||
| 2019 | Animation director | [21] | ||
| 2023 | Character designer | [22] |