Mitsutoshi Kubota | |
---|---|
久保田 光俊 | |
Born | 1960 |
Nationality | Japanese |
Occupation(s) | Producer, color designer |
Years active | 1980–present |
Employer | Shaft |
Mitsutoshi Kubota (Japanese: 久保田 光俊, Hepburn: Kubota Mitsutoshi) is Japanese painter, color designer, producer, and the current president of Shaft.[2]
Kubota began his career in the anime industry as a cel painter for the 1981 film Furiten-kun[3] as a sub-contractor with painting studio Shaft, which had been founded in 1975 by Hiroshi Wakao.[4] The next year, he debuted as a color designer Hitotsuboshi-ke no Ultra Baasan (1982–1983).[5] From then until 1995, Kubota mainly served as a cel painter, color specifier, clean-up inspector, and clean-up artist[3][6][7] In 1995, Kubota moved up to production management, which began with Shaft's first original series: Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger.[8] He was promoted to managing director of the studio that year.[9] The year after, Kubota and Shaft were approached by Triangle Staff and Ryūtarō Nakamura to produce the second episode of their Legend of Crystania: The Chaos Ring OVA series, which the studio and Kubota accepted the offer to.[10] In 2004, Shaft's founder, Hiroshi Wakao, retired as president of the company and Kubota was chosen to succeed him, with the former staying as a chairman with the studio.
After watching several Akiyuki Shinbo's works as a director, namely The SoulTaker and Le Portrait de Petit Cossette, Kubota invited the former to become a director and mentor with the studio for the purpose of creating a uniquely identifiable brand. Shinbo brought many talents to the studio, such as directors Shin Ōnuma, Tatsuya Oishi, Naoyuki Tatsuwa, and Tomoyuki Itamura, and the studio has since achieved fame for having "arthouse" productions and "striking" visuals throughout the studio's works.[11][12][13] In the mid-2000s, following several instances of Triangle Staff and Nakmaura outsourcing episodes of their series to Shaft, Kubota asked Nakamura to direct REC at the studio, which Nakamura agreed to.[10] During production of the series, Kubota was approached to produce a film version of Kino's Journey, which Nakamura had previously directed at Triangle Staff, to which Kubota and Shaft obliged their services.[10]
Kubota remains relatively active in the creative process to Shaft's series. For The Quintessential Quintuplets∽, Kazuya Shiotsuki mentioned that Kubota directly supervised the creation of the key visuals for the work and gave much of his opinion on the colors.[14] Doroinu also mentioned that Kubota came up with the idea of expressing a theme of "connectivity" in the Magia Record anime adaptation.[15] It was also Kubota's idea to change Nagisa Momoe's hair color from blonde to white in Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion according to Shinbo.[16]
Year | Title | Producer[a] | Animation Producer[b] | Planning[c] | Other role(s) | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987 | Yume kara, Samenai | No | No | No | Color specifier | [6] |
1995 | Weather Report Girl | No | No | No | Painter, (Ep. 1) | [75] |
1996–1997 | Legend of the Galactic Heroes | No | No | No | Assistant production manager (#64, 66, 73, 78, 85) Production manager (#87, 90, 93, 96, 99, 102, 105, 108) Production desk (#87, 90, 93, 96, 99, 102, 105, 108) |
[76][77] |
1997 | Sakura Diaries | No | No | No | Production manager | [78] |
1998 | Legend of the Galactic Heroes: A Hundred Billion Stars, A Hundred Billion Lights | No | No | No | Production manager (#5–8) Production producer (#17) |
[79][80] |
2001 | Initial D Extra Stage | Yes | No | No | No | [81] |
2002–2003 | Arcade Gamer Fubuki | No | Yes | No | No | [82] |
2006 | Negima!? Spring Special!!? | No | Yes | No | No | [83] |
Negima!? Summer Special!!? | No | Yes | No | No | [84] | |
2008–2009 | Mahō Sensei Negima!: Shiroki Tsubasa Ala Alba | No | Yes | No | No | [85] |
(Goku) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei | No | Yes | No | No | [86] | |
2009–2010 | Mahō Sensei Negima!: Mō Hitotsu no Sekai | No | Yes | No | No | [87] |
(Zan) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Bangaichi | No | Yes | No | No | [88] | |
2011 | Katte ni Kaizō | No | Yes | No | No | [89] |
2013 | Hidamari Sketch: Sae & Hiro's Graduation Arc | No | No | Yes | No | [90] |
2014–2015 | Nisekoi | Yes | No | No | No | [91] |
2015– | Magical Suite Prism Nana | No | No | Yes | No | [92] |
2016–2017 | The Beheading Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense Bearer | No | No | Yes | No | [93] |
Year | Title | Producer[a] | Animation Producer[b] | Planning[c] | Other role(s) | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Koyomimonogatari | Yes | No | No | No | [94] |
2019 | Ikebukuro PR Anime | Yes | No | No | No | [95] |
2020 | Luminous Witches | Yes | No | No | No | [96] |
2021 | Assault Lily Fruits | No | No | Yes | Produce | [97] |
Year | Title | Producer[a] | Animation Producer[b] | Planning[c] | Other role(s) | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | Furiten-kun | No | No | No | Cel painter | [3] |
1983 | Urusei Yatsura: Only You | No | No | No | Painter | [7] |
1994 | Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie | No | No | No | Painter | [98] |
2007 | Kino's Journey: Country of Illness —For You— | No | Yes | No | No | [99] |
2011 | Mahō Sensei Negima! Anime Final | No | Yes | No | No | [100] |
2012 | Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Beginnings | No | No | Yes | No | [101] |
Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Eternal | No | No | Yes | No | [102] | |
2013 | Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion | Yes | No | No | No | [103] |
2016 | Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu | Yes | No | No | No | [104] |
Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu | Yes | No | No | No | [105] | |
2017 | Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu | Yes | No | No | No | [106] |
Fireworks | No | No | No | Production committee | [107] |