Yo Moriyama built his career producing concept artwork and prop designs for projects including Bubble and Lupin the Third: Goemon's Blood Spray, while gradually earning recognition for character design. He served as the character designer for the Netflix anime Sakamoto Days, an adaptation of Yuto Suzuki's manga animated by TMS Entertainment and directed by Masaki Watanabe. The narrative follows a former assassin who retires, starts a family, and confronts his past as his old organisation seeks to end his retirement. Moriyama had not read the manga before joining the project, used original designs as references, and collaborated with the director to balance comedic and serious tones while preserving beloved character elements.
Over his career, Yo Moriyama has mainly been known for producing concept artwork and prop designs for shows such as Bubble and Lupin the Third: Goemon's Blood Spray, but he has also been developing a reputation for crafting character designs. That was the skill set he required for the Netflix anime series Sakamoto Days. Based on the manga created by Yuto Suzuki, the adaptation is animated by TMS Entertainment and directed by Masaki Watanabe.
"Designing the main character in the way I did for Sakamoto Days is probably my first time doing anything like that!" Moriyama tell us. "I have done more of the character concepts for projects outside of ones I've directed myself, but designing characters that actually come to life in an animation like this was a first time for me." We caught up with the artist, who was officially credited as the show's character designer, to learn more.
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