Mahiro Maeda

Wiki (jp)

A prominent anime creator and one of the founders of studio Gonzo.

While still in university, Maeda was part of a manga club together with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, during which both of them got invited to participate on Macross and Daicon IV. This brought Maeda enough recognition to get invited on the production of Nausicaä, and the subseqeunt late '80s Studio Ghibli films. He also worked on Gainax's projects during this time.

In 1992, after having completely cut ties with Ghibli due to differences in working methods, Maeda founded Gonzo together with Shinji Higuchi, Hiroshi Yamaguchi and Shouji Murahama, who were Gainax employees he had previously worked with on The Wings of Honneamise and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. At Gonzo he debuted as a director in 1998 with Blue Submarine No.6.

In 2004, Maeda directed Gankutsuou, an adaptation of an 1844 novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. Initially Maeda wanted to adapt an Alfred Bester novel, The Stars My Destination, but was rejected by the novel's copyright holders after proposing the numerous changes he wanted to make to the original narrative. He then searched for another work he could adapt into a science fiction setting and ended up going with The Count of Monte Cristo. The series was praised by Western critics and received multiple international accolades.

Called one of the most imaginative visualists in anime by Helen McCarthy, a British anime reference book author.

Took part as a key animator on Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" in 2003.

Known to have been a close friend of Yoshinori Kanada's before his passing.