| Shouji Saeki 佐伯 昭志 | |
| Birth Date: | December 17, 1971 |
| Birth Place: | Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Occupation: | Director, storyboard artist, writer, animator |
| Employer: | Gainax (1995–2015) |
| Years Active: | 1995–present |
is a Japanese director, storyboard artist, writer, and animator known for directing and writing several series for studios Gainax and Shaft.
Saeki began working as an in-between animator with Gainax, which was a role that carried on into the series' succeeding films Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion. In 1998, the 25th episode of Cyber Team in Akihabara marked his first storyboard credit, and the following year marked his episode director debut and scriptwriting debut with Kare Kano, where at-the-time fellow Gainax director Hiroyuki Imaishi described that the both of them had "learned our chops."[1] In 2002, Saeki served as assistant director under Hiroyuki Yamaga for the second season of Mahoromatic, Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful, which marked his first work with Shaft. Following Mahoromatic, Saeki made his series directorial debut with the final Gainax/Shaft collaboration series (This Ugly yet Beautiful World (2004) and He Is My Master (2005)).
Some of the cast of Mahoromatic discussed the idea of doing another project together, and eventually This Ugly yet Beautiful World was created with some of the same cast and much of the same staff in mind. Saeki became the director of the work and he invited some staff who worked on the previous series like, Toshimasa Suzuki, and . Hiroyuki Yamaga, who was the co-series composition writer with Saeki, told him that there would be two heroines by way of a dual personality (referring to the character Hikari); and Saeki was given responsibility of deciding the setting, whether or not she and the hero would get together, and the story itself. Elements of the story were taken from a project that character designer had concepted years prior while they had worked on Neon Genesis Evangelion, which Takamura had entitled Extended Definition; though, Takamura abstained from speaking on matters of the setting with Saeki and instead left the details of the work to him. Saeki had felt that his work on Mahoromatic was left unfinished due to the fact that for the second season, Yamaga had done the rough parts of the work and then handed it over to Saeki with the exception of the final part. Saeki felt like his work then remained unfinished as he was unable to complete it himself which he used as some motivation for This Ugly yet Beautiful World.
The following years saw Saeki working mainly as a storyboard artist, scriptwriter, and episode director for Shaft and Gainax series, and notably became an essential member of Hiroyuki Imaishi's team on Gurren Lagann. Between 2011 and 2016, Saeki acted as series director for three more projects with Gainax (Wish Upon the Pleiades (2011/2015), Medaka Box (2012), and Omoi no Kakera (2015)). Beginning in 2017, due to Gainax's minimal production output, Saeki began providing storyboards as a freelance artist. After providing storyboards for a few of Shaft's series in that time, he started freelancing as a series director with the studio, where he first directed Assault Lily Bouquet in 2020, and Luminous Witches in 2022.
According to animator Kazuya Shiotsuki, Saeki's prominence at Shaft has influenced the younger staff at the studio alongside Yasuomi Umetsu.[2]
Highlights roles with series directorial duties.
Highlights roles with assistant director or supervising duties.
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | Roles | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Cyber Team in Akihabara | Yoshitaka Fujimoto | Ashi Productions | Storyboard artist | [3] | |
| Lupin III: Tokyo Crisis | Toshiya Shinohara | TMS Entertainment | Key animator | [4] | ||
| Battle Athletes Victory | Katsuhito Akiyama | AIC | Key animator | [5] | ||
| 1998–1999 | Kare Kano | Hideaki Anno Hiroki Sato | Gainax | Key animator Storyboard artist Episode director Scriptwriter | [6] [7] [8] [9] | |
| 1999 | Medabots | Tensai Okamura | Bee Train Production | Storyboard artist | [10] | |
| Dai-Guard | Seiji Mizushima | Xebec | Storyboard artist | [11] | ||
| Cardcaptor Sakura | Morio Asaka | Madhouse | Episode director | [12] | ||
| 2001 | Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden | Hiroyuki Yamaga | Gainax Shaft | Episode director Storyboard artist Key animator Scriptwriter | [13] [14] [15] [16] | |
| Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful | Hiroyuki Yamaga | Gainax Shaft | Assistant director Scriptwriter Episode director Key animator Storyboard artist | [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] | ||
| 2004 | This Ugly yet Beautiful World | Shouji Saeki | Gainax Shaft | Director Series composition Screenplay Storyboard artist Episode director | [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] | |
| Akiyuki Shinbo | Shaft | Key animator | [31] | |||
| 2005 | Pani Poni Dash! | Akiyuki Shinbo Shin Oonuma | Shaft | Storyboard artist Key animator | [32] [33] | |
| Sugar Sugar Rune | Yukihiro Matsushita | Pierrot | Storyboard artist Episode director | [34] | ||
| He Is My Master | Shouji Saeki | Gainax Shaft | Director Series composition Screenplay Storyboard artist Episode director Key animator | [35] [36] | ||
| 2007 | Prism Ark | Masami Ōbari | Frontline | Key animator | [37] | |
| Gurren Lagann | Hiroyuki Imaishi | Gainax | Episode director Storyboard artist Scriptwriter Key animator 2nd key animator Unit director | [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] | ||
| Hidamari Sketch | Shaft | Storyboard artist | [45] | |||
| 2008 | (Zoku) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto | Shaft | Key animator Storyboard artist Episode director | [46] [47] [48] | |
| Psychic Squad | Keiichiro Kawaguchi | SynergySP | 2nd key animator | [49] | ||
| Strike Witches | Kazuhiro Takamura | Gonzo | Episode director Storyboard artist Scriptwriter | [50] [51] [52] | ||
| Michiko & Hatchin | Sayo Yamamoto | Manglobe | Key animator | [53] | ||
| Corpse Princess: Aka | Masahiko Murata | Gainax feel. | Unit director Episode director Storyboard artist Key animator | [54] [55] [56] [57] | ||
| 2009 | Mahoromatic: I'm Home, Special | Shouji Saeki | Gainax | Director Storyboard artist Key Animator | [58] [59] | |
| Corpse Princess: Kuro | Masahiko Murata | Gainax feel. | Key animator | [60] | ||
| 2010 | Hanamaru Kindergarten | Seiji Mizushima | Gainax | Storyboard artist Episode director Scriptwriter | [61] | |
| 2011 | The Mystic Archives of Dantalian | Yutaka Uemura | Gainax | Storyboard artist | [62] | |
| 2012 | Medaka Box | Shouji Saeki | Gainax | Director Series composition Screenplay Storyboard artist Episode director | [63] [64] [65] | |
| Medaka Box Abnormal | Shouji Saeki | Gainax | Director Series composition Screenplay Storyboard artist Episode director | [66] [67] | ||
| 2015 | Wish Upon the Pleiades | Shouji Saeki | Gainax | Director Screenplay Storyboard artist Episode director | [68] [69] | |
| 2017–2018 | March Comes In like a Lion 2nd Season | Akiyuki Shinbo Kenjirou Okada | Shaft | Storyboard artist | [70] | |
| 2018 | Fate/Extra: Last Encore | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto | Shaft | Storyboard artist | [71] | |
| Forest of Piano | Gaku Nakatani Ryūtarō Suzuki | Gaina | Storyboard artist | [72] | ||
| Revue Starlight | Tomohiro Furukawa | Kinema Citrus | Storyboard artist | [73] | ||
| 2020 | Assault Lily Bouquet | Shouji Saeki Hajime Ootani | Shaft | Director Series composition Screenplay Storyboard artist Episode director Key animator | [74] [75] [76] [77] [78] [79] | |
| 2022 | Luminous Witches | Shouji Saeki | Shaft | Director Series composition Screenplay Storyboard artist Episode director | [80] [81] |
Highlights roles with series directorial duties.
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | Roles | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Agent Aika | Katsuhiko Nishijima | Studio Fantasia | In-between animator | [82] | |
| 2000–2001 | FLCL | Kazuya Tsurumaki | Gainax Production I.G | In-between animator Storyboard artist Episode director Key animator | [83] [84] [85] [86] | |
| 2011 | Wish Upon the Pleiades | Shouji Saeki | Gainax | Director Screenplay Storyboard artist Episode director | [87] | |
| 2015 | Omoi no Kakera | Shouji Saeki | Gainax | Director Screenplay Storyboard artist Episode director | [88] | |
| 2020 | Luminous Witches | Shouji Saeki | Shaft | Director Screenplay | [89] | |
| Assault Lily Fruits | Shouji Saeki | Shaft | Director Storyboard artist | [90] |
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | Roles | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Hideaki Anno Masayuki Kazuya Tsurumaki | Gainax Tatsunoko Production I.G | In-between animator | [91] | |
| The End of Evangelion | Hideaki Anno Kazuya Tsurukami | Gainax Production I.G | In-between animator | [92] | |
| 2006 | Gunbuster vs. Diebuster | Kazuya Tsurumaki | Gainax | 2nd key animator | [93] |