Auteur anime directors

[Vashdaman]

Which anime directors would you describe as auteurs? That word of course gets thrown around a lot and I'd imagine it's often used unfairly when in reality most productions, if not all, are collaborative products and directors usually get most of the praise. So ok maybe let's just put that word to the side somewhat, but what anime directors at least have a real identifiable and distinct style? Usually when I look up a director of an anime I adore I find that more often than not it's the only one in their filmography as nothing they've made since is stylistically or thematically even remotely similar. So I get the impression most of the anime industry is built on jobbing directors who simply take what work they can get and just try to competently produce it, and if they're lucky very rarely may get the chance to make an actual passion project they have more control over. But what directors buck this trend? I guess the first one that pops in to my mind is Shinichiro Watanabe. I'm not particularly a fan of all his work (his best by a long, long margin is Bebop in my opinion) but I get the impression he only does stuff he really cares about. Obviously another easy answer is Satoshi Kon. But who else, particularly of series rather than films, and what are their hallmarks?

 

[ActionFaust]

For series I'd say director/producer duo Shingo Natsume and Yuichiro Fukushi are a pretty good shout. They're the Madhouse powerhouse behind series like One Punch Man, ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept, Boogiepop and Others and Sonny Boy with the latter also seeing Natsume taking on writing duties. While the first three adaptations show Natsume's fantastic directing and Fukushi's eye for talent, Sonny Boy is simply the kind of anime you rarely see these days even among anime original productions. Outside of Madhouse and Fukushi's assistance Natsume has also done fantastic work directing Space Dandy and Tatami Time Machine Blues at Bones and Science SARU respectively.

Finding guidance under Fukushi and Natsume I think there's also a case to be made for newcomer Keiichiro Saito. Already his work on Bocchi the Rock and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End have shown him to be a name to look out for.

 

[RadFemHedonist]

Ryutaro Nakamura, though they are, like Satoshi Kon, sadly now deceased. They directed Serial Experiments Lain, Kino's Journey, and Ghost Hound, and their style is pretty distinctive, both visually and their sound direction. Kunihiko Ikuhara (RG Utena, Penguindrum, Yuri Kuma Arashi and Sarazanmai) also fits the bill. Junichi Sato is somewhere between the two poles you describe but does direct a lot of magical girl and slice-of-life shows which have some unifying themes and stylistic choices. Morio Asaka who directed Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, My Love Story!!, Chihayafuru and Nana (plus the first Gunslinger Girl anime), is also a director who I would think cares about only picking things they actually want to work on to adapt, and is also noteworthy for being a male director who has adapted many high-profile shoujo works to a high standard.

Masaaki Yuasa is def an auteur (having directed numerous films and series that clearly show his own unique style), and also I'd say Naoko Yamada now that she is doing more things away from Kyoto Animation where she has more creative freedom. He's more a writer than a director and not everything he does is good but Jun Maeda does have a recognisable style and way of doing things so might be worth mentioning. Kenichi Kasai and Tatsuyuki Nagai, Chiaki Kon? I know most of the names I'm listing are older and I don't mean to ignore the industry's younger, newer talents, just these are some directors I'd say do at least have their own stamp? Also sorry this has terrible proofreading and repeated descriptive words... I tried

 

[ActionFaust]

Kunihiko Ikuhara (RG Utena, Penguindrum, Yuri Kuma Arashi and Sarazanmai) also fits the bill.

Speaking of Ikuhara I think his student Tomohiro Furukawa is also worth a mention. He first worked with Ikuhara on Penguindrum, was assistant director on Yurikuma Arashi and made a name for himself with Revue Starlight. Though he only has one project under his belt his upcoming as yet untitled project looks to continue the style established in Revue Starlight.

I'm also a big fan of TATSUKI and doujin circle Studio Irodori. They're well known for series like the first season of Kemono Friends and the anime original Kemurikusa but there's interesting stuff to be found from his short form doujin works like Hentatsu and Keifuku-san. Their project's CGI work is often seen as rough because... well it is but I think that's part of the charm as indie creators. Hoping their upcoming movie isn't too far off.

 

[Professor Irony]

Feels like I always end up banging the drum for the old guard when I should really be trying to pay more attention to new and upcoming directors, but I do still love the look of Osamu Dezaki’s work. Between him and the people he worked with (most notably Akio Sugino as animation director and character designer), he developed a lot of techniques associated with concealing limited animation (most notably his freeze-frame ‘postcard memories‘, where the shot would dissolve to a more painterly version of itself to close out a scene), but when given the opportunity, he did a lot with deep shadows, practical lighting effects, rotating shots and slow-motion too. Not everything he touched turned to gold, and I think he struggled to adapt to digital production towards the very end of his career, but I do genuinely miss his flair for making you think there was more happening on the screen than often was the case.

He had a long and varied career across five decades, but I always think Cobra shows him at the peak of his powers in the early 80s.

 

[D1tchd1gger]

Hiroyuki Imaishi! Director of Dead Leaves, Gurren Lagann, Kill La Kill, Space Patrol Luluco, Panty and Stockings with Garterbelt (only one I haven't seen and I've got it on BR!), Promare and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
He most definitely has a style that if you saw a clip of an anime you'd instantly recognise it as one of his.