Kunihiko Yuyama

Kunihiko Yuyama (湯山 邦彦, Yuyama Kunihiko, born October 15, 1952) is a renowned Japanese director recognized for his significant contributions to the anime milieu, most notably, his work on the Pokémon anime franchise. He holds an impressive portfolio with management over other highly appreciated productions such as Magical Princess Minky Momo, Leda: The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko, The Three Musketeers Anime, Ushio and Tora, Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning, Plawres Sanshiro, Slayers Return, Slayers Great, and Wedding Peach.

Yuyama kindled his passion for animation while still in high school. He made his humble beginnings in the industry an animator's assistant working on episodes of Space Battleship Yamato and Brave Raideen. Yuyama was a sketch artist and storyboard artist on the foreign co-production Barbapapa (1973) before joining Aoi Productions in 1978. He had his directorial debut when working for Aoi on Galaxy Express 999 and developed a fruitful working partnership with the screenwriter Takeshi Shudo on GoShogun. In 1982, he got promoted to the role of 'chief director', an overseeing position on Magical Princess Minky Momo. His work in the 80s played a critical role in the anime exodus into video and showed his exceptional command over elements favored by a female audience. This was most evident in his Three Musketeers spin-off, Aramis' Adventure. His fame amplified with his later works, primarily his contributions to Pokémon.