Katsuya Kondō

Katsuya Kondō (近藤勝也, Kondō Katsuya^?, also transliterated as Kondo, Kondou, or Kondoh) is one of the top animators at Studio Ghibli. Born on June 2, 1963 in Aichi Prefecture, he has been working on Ghibli movies since doing key animation on Laputa: Castle in the Sky in 1986. He was Animation Director for Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday, and Ocean Waves. He also did the character designs for Kiki and Ocean Waves (along with providing illustrations for the original novel). He worked as a Key Animator on Princess Mononoke and My Neighbors the Yamadas.

He once again served as Animation Director for the Studio Ghibli Museum short House Hunting, as well as the Nisshin Seifun TV CM. He also served as Supervising Animator on Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, and wrote the lyrics for that film's theme song.

His work has included stints as a character designer, scenic designer, or animation director on non-Ghibli projects such as the Sony PlayStation games Jade Cocoon and Jade Cocoon II, the Studio Pierrot feature film Like the Clouds, Like the Wind, and the NTV feature film The Aurora.

To make things more complicated, Yoshifumi Kondō (近藤喜文, Kondō Yoshifumi^?) was also an Animation Director on Kiki and Only Yesterday! They are not related.

Recognition and reception

A flyer advertising the Niihama exhibit.

Kondō had an exhibition titled "Ghibli's Animator: A Katsuya Kondō Exhibit" as part of the 75th anniversary celebration in Niihama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The exhibit featured works from Laputa: Castle in the Sky through From Up on Poppy Hill. The exhibit was held from 20 July to 26 August 2012 in the first floor exhibition room in the Niihama City Art Museum. The cost for entry was ¥500 for high school students and older (though advance tickets were available for ¥400 each), those with disabilities gained entrance for ¥200, and junior high students and younger gained entrance at no cost. The exhibit was sponsored by Niihama City and the Niihama City Board of Education, with additional sponsorship support from the Niihama Civic Society, the Niihama Foundation for the Promotion of Cultural Sports and the Ehime Shimbun. The exhibit was also supported by Ehime Prefecture, the Ehime Board of Education, Nankai Broadcasting, TV Ehime, Ai TV, Ehime Asahi TV, Heart Network, and FM Ehime.

Filmography and other works

Films and other works are listed chronologically.

Feature films

• Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986, key animation)
• My Neighbor Totoro (1988, key animation)
• Kiki's Delivery Service (1989, animation director, character designer)
• Only Yesterday (1991, animation director)
• Porco Rosso (1992, key animation)
• Pom Poko (1994, key animation)
• Princess Mononoke (1997, key animation)
• My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999, key animation)
• The Aurora (2000, character designer)
• Howl's Moving Castle (2004, animation director, key animation)
• Ponyo (2008, animation director, key animation)
• The Borrower Arrietty (2010, key animation)
• From Up on Poppy Hill (2011, animation director, character designer)
• Kaze Tachinu (2013, character designer)

Manga and book illustration

See Katsuya Kondō (books).

Television films and series

• Like the Clouds, Like the Wind (1990, NTV, animation director, character designer)
• Ocean Waves (1993, NTV, animation director, character designer)

Video games

• Jade Cocoon (1998, Genki, PlayStation, animation director, character designer, key animation, scenic design)
• Jade Cocoon 2 (2001, Genki, PlayStation 2, animation director, character designer, key animation, scenic design)

Other works

• Kaze no Tōri Michi (2004, music video for Sayuri Horishita, character designer, key animation)

See also

• Katsuya Kondō (soundtracks)

External links

• Wikipedia: Chinese, English, Japanese, Swedish