Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: やまだ なおこ , Ryu Ando , 安堂隆 , Yamada Naoko , 山田 尚子

Gender: Female

Place of birth: Kyoto, Japan

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 30

TV Involvements: 41


Most Famous Work

Biography

Naoko Yamada (山田 尚子) is a Japanese animator, television and film director. Working at Kyoto Animation, she directed the K-On! and Tamako Market anime series, and the anime films A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird. Yamada intended to work in film after university, but she decided to join Kyoto Animation after seeing an advertisement. Her first assignment at KyoAni was drawing inbetween frames for Inuyasha. She was eventually promoted to a key animator for Air. After working as an episode director of Clannad, she was asked to make her chief directorial debut with K-On!, an adaptation of a slice-of-life manga. The series was very successful, spurring a second season and a film. In 2013, she directed Tamako Market, and followed it with the film Tamako Love Story in 2014. For Tamako Love Story, she was awarded the New Face Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival. She storyboarded the entire film herself, and also wrote the lyrics for the opening theme song, Everybody Loves Somebody. Yamada's next project was the feature film A Silent Voice, an adaptation of the manga of the same name, that reflected on elements of bullying and physical impairment in Japan. The film opened at #2 in the Japanese Box Office and grossed a total of ¥2.3 billion, the 19th highest-grossing film in Japan in 2016. The film also received multiple award nominations, including Best Animation Film in the Mainichi Film Awards and the Excellent Animation of the Year in the Japan Academy Prize. For Yamada, the most important part of being a director is to observe people. She describes herself as a "method" director, emphasizing the minds of the characters. On July 18, 2019, a man started a fire at the main studio of Kyoto Animation, killing 36 of Yamada's colleagues and wounding 33 others. Yamada was reported not to have been hurt in the fire. In 2020, Yamada left KyoAni to join Science SARU, where she directed 2021's The Heike Story. Source: Wikipedia

Most Famous Work

Full Metal Panic!
Average
7

Full Metal Panic!

(2002) Key Animation
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
Average
9

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

(2019) Opening/Ending Animation
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid
Average
8

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

(2017) Storyboard Artist
Clannad
Average
8

Clannad

(2007) Assistant Director
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Average
8
K-ON!
Average
8

K-ON!

(2009) Key Animation
Violet Evergarden
Average
9

Violet Evergarden

(2018) Storyboard Artist
Beyond the Boundary
Average
8

Beyond the Boundary

(2013) Storyboard Artist

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
Year Character Movie/Tv

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
2022 Director
Director
Director
Series Director
2019 Second Unit Director
Second Unit Director
2018 Director
Director
Second Unit Director
2017 Series Director
Second Unit Director
Director
2016 Director
Second Unit Director
Series Director
2015 Series Director
Director
2014 Director
Director
Second Unit Director
2013 Director
Director
Series Director
Director
2011 Director
Second Unit Director
Director
2010 Second Unit Director
2009 Series Director
Director
2007 Director
Assistant Director
2006 Director
Director
Year Role Movie/Tv

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
2022 Screenplay
Year Role Movie/Tv

Art

Visual Effects


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