Tadayoshi Yamamuro

This article is about the real world.

Tadayoshi Yamamuro in March 2013

Tadayoshi Yamamuro (山室直儀; born in 1960), sometime incorrectly translated as Naoyoshi Yamamuro, is a Japanese animator and character designer. He is the Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball Heroes character designer. He is known for his straight style, as opposed to Minoru Maeda's more rounded style, and he is recognized as the chief animator and illustrator of the modern Dragon Ball franchise.

Biography

Tadayoshi Yamamuro at work, in the 1990s

At a young age, Tadayoshi Yamamuro began learning martial arts in a Shaolin Temple. Years later, in 1984, he was hired in Mitsuo Shindō's production company and began working as an in-between animator for the TV adaptation of Akira Toriyama's Dr. Slump manga, Dr. Slump and Arale-chan (from 1986 to 1981). Tadayoshi Yamamuro gain fame working on animated movies such as Angel's Egg (1985) and Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986). He then worked as an in-between animator and key animator for Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. He became a main character designer for Dragon Ball Z after Minoru Maeda left Toei Animation in November 1992, at the end of the Perfect Cell Saga, a role that he shared with Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru until the end of Dragon Ball GT in November 1997. Yamamuro was animation director for the Dragon Ball Z episodes 122, 127, 133, 137, 143, 147, 152, 157, 162, 168, 173, 185, 200, 206, 232, 242, 249, 255, and 285. For the Dragon Ball GT episodes 13, 19, 25, 31, 40, 42, 48, 52, and 59. And for the new animation produced for Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi.

Yamamuro in the 1990s

Tadayoshi Yamamuro worked on the movies Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure and Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, and he was the character designer for the Dragon Ball Z movies Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan, Bojack Unbound, Broly - Second Coming, Bio-Broly, Fusion Reborn, Wrath of the Dragon, The Path to Power, Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans, Episode of Bardock, Battle of Gods, and Resurrection ‘F’. He also drew cover arts for the movie Dragon Boxes and for video games.

Dragon Ball Kai poster, by Yamamuro

Outside of the anime adaptations of Toriyama's manga series, Tadayoshi Yamamuro worked on Beet the Vandel Buster, Casshern Sins, Digimon, One Piece Film Strong World, Superflat Monogram, and Toriko (since 2011). He is the character designer and chief animation director of the 2008 GeGeGe no Kitaro anime adaptation.

Trivia

• Tadayoshi Yamamuro once said that his favorite character among those that he designed is Janemba.
• He becomes the Animation Supervisor for Episode 13 and Episode 131 of Dragon Ball Super. These are the only episodes that he supervised. However, he was the storyboard director of the latest episodes of Universe Survival Saga.

Gallery

Super Saiyans, as designed by Yamamuro Bio-Broly poster Fusion Reborn poster Fusion Reborn poster Gogeta poster Wrath of the Dragon poster The Movies boxart DB1DVDCover.jpg DVD cover designed by Yamamuro Goku and Bulma, by Yamamuro Puar and Yamcha Krillin and Goku Goku and the Red Ribbon Army The Turtle School Yajirobe and Goku Adult Goku Yamamuro's process to draw Teen Gohan Dragon Ball Kai poster Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! poster Yamamuro's cover for the April 2013 DVD & Blu-ray Vision 12279015 850764601704297 7033776299592740610 n.jpg Yamamuro's design for Super Saiyan 4 Gohan in Dragon Ball Heroes Yamamuro on Hokotate (TV program) in 2013 Yamamuro in 2013

External links

• Tadayoshi Yamamuro's biography (Japanese)
• Tadayoshi Yamamuro's work, at animenewsnetwork.com