Mitsuo Fukuda

Japanese animation director (born 1960)

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Mitsuo Fukuda
福田己津央
Born	福田満夫 (1960-10-28) October 28, 1960 (age 63) Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Other names	福田巳津央ふくだみつお
Occupation(s)	Animation director, scriptwriter, storyboard artist
Notable work	Future GPX Cyber Formula Gear Fighter Dendoh Mobile Suit Gundam SEED^[1] Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

Mitsuo Fukuda (福田己津央, born 福田満夫, Fukuda Mitsuo, born October 28, 1960) is a Japanese animation director and scriptwriter from Tochigi Prefecture. He was married to anime screenwriter Chiaki Morosawa until her death in 2016.

Career

Fukuda is a graduate of Waseda Senior High School. While in school, he was a member of the manga research society.^[2] After graduating from high school, he joined Sunrise in 1979 at the age of 19.^[3] He calls himself a disciple^[4] of Takeyuki Kanda, who directed Ginga Hyōryū Vifam, Choriki Robo Galatt, and Metal Armor Dragonar among others.

For the OVA series Future GPX Cyber Formula SAGA, Fukuda selected his wife, Chiaki Morosawa, who had been a family friend to talk with about work, to write the scripts, and since then, he has entrusted series composition to Morosawa for almost all of the works he has directed (Morosawa's scriptwriting work is also almost exclusively limited to series directed by her husband Fukuda).

Fukuda's major works include Future GPX Cyber Formula, Gear Fighter Dendoh and the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED series. Although he has been on a freelance basis since Dragonar, when he turned to directing, his participation in other companies' productions has been very limited, with the majority of his work being Sunrise productions. He has a close relationship with Takayuki Yoshii, former president and chairman of Sunrise, and Naotake Furusato, former producer at Sunrise, and most of his career has been spent participating in their works and series. In addition, as mentioned above, most of Morosawa's participation has been limited to works directed by Fukuda, but Furusato was the producer of Outlaw Star, the only series in which Morosawa participated that was not directed by Fukuda.

Works

TV anime

Invincible Robo Trider G7 (1980) - Setting production
Saikyō Robo Daiōja (1981) - Setting manager
Choriki Robo Galatt (1984) - Setting production
Dirty Pair (1985) - Setting production
Metal Armor Dragonar (1987) - Episode director, storyboards
Mashin Hero Wataru (1988) - Episode director, storyboards
Madö King Granzört (1989) - Episode director, storyboards
Brave Exkaiser (1990) - Chief unit director, episode director, storyboards
Future GPX Cyber Formula (1991) - Director, episode director, storyboards
The Brave Fighter of Legend Da-Garn (1992) - Storyboards, episode director
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (1993) - Storyboards (episode 29)
Wild Knights Gulkeeva (1995) - Storyboards (episode 13)
Gear Fighter Dendoh (2000) - Chief director, storyboards, episode director^[5]
Crush Gear Turbo (2001) - Chief 3D unit director, storyboards
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002) - Director, episode director, storyboards
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Special Edition (2004) - Director, unit director, storyboards
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED HD Remaster (2012) - Director, episode director, storyboards, key animation (uncredited)
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004) - Director, episode director, storyboards
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: Special Edition (2006–2007) - Director, unit director, storyboards
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster (2013) - Director, episode director, storyboards
Cross Ange (2014) - Creative producer, storyboards, mechanical unit director
Cestvs: The Roman Fighter (2021) - Storyboards (episode 10)
Grendizer U (2024) - Chief director^[6]

Movies

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom (2024) - Director

OVA

Future GPX Cyber Formula 11 (1992) - Chief director, original story, script, storyboards, episode director
Future GPX Cyber Formula ZERO (1994) - Chief director, original story, script, storyboards, episode director
Private Eye Dol (1995) - Director
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (1996) - Promo storyboards
Super Atragon (1996) - Director, storyboards (episode 2)
Future GPX Cyber Formula EARLYDAYS RENEWAL (1996) - Director, script, episode director
Future GPX Cyber Formula SAGA (1996) - Chief director, original story, storyboards, episode director
Future GPX Cyber Formula SIN (1998) - Chief director, original story, storyboards, episode director

Web anime

Megohime Animation (2019, 2020, 2021) - Director
Blade of the Immortal (2019) - Storyboards (episode 10)
Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise (2020) - Storyboards (episodes 18, 22, 25), episode director (episode 25)
Gundam Build Real (2021) - Action storyboards

Games

Busou Shinki: Battle Masters Mk.2 (2011) - Opening storyboards, supervision

Novels

Future GPX Cyber Formula SAGA (1998)

References

^ Paul Fargo (2004-03-03). "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2014-08-31.
^ 『早稲田中学高等学校漫画研究会興風祭上映作品』 (August 8, 2015)
^ Interview in 『公式ガイドブック機動戦士ガンダムSEED-運命の再会-』 (Kadokawa Shoten, 2003)
^ Fukuda was a staff member for Kanda's Metal Armor Dragonar, working as an episode director.
^ "GEAR戦士電童 :作品情報". Animehack. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (August 5, 2023). "Grendizer U TV Anime Revealed for Debut in 2024". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 5, 2023.