Masaaki Yuasa is an anime television and film director, screenwriter, storyboard artist and animator known for his wild free form style. He was born on March 16, 1965, in Fukuoka, Japan. In June 2014, he announced that he, along with his close affiliate Eunyoung Choi, had founded an animation studio by the name of Science SARU. Yuasa retired as the president of Science SARU on March 25, 2020.
It is August 12th. After the remote control to his boarding house's only air conditioning unit is inadvertently destroyed by spilled cola, "I" devises a plan to return to yesterday in a time machine to recover the remote before it breaks. However, his prankster friend Ozu cannot resist playing with past events, even if it means bringing the universe to the brink of destruction. Now "I" finds himself racing through time to avoid disaster.
Release Date: 2022-09-30
Department: Writing
Job: Original Concept
Vote Count: 3
It is August 12th. After the remote control to his boarding house's only air conditioning unit is inadvertently destroyed by spilled cola, "I" devises a plan to return to yesterday in a time machine to recover the remote before it breaks. However, his prankster friend Ozu cannot resist playing with past events, even if it means bringing the universe to the brink of destruction. Now "I" finds himself racing through time to avoid disaster.
Release Date: 2022-09-14
Department: Writing
Job: Original Concept
Episode Count: 6
Vote Count: 20
The story begins when Berry, an average girl from an average home, meets Hack, a girl who looks like a boy. Charmed by Hack, Berry meets up with the team Hack leads, the Ghost Detectives Club. Members of this club are “socially dead,” working invisibly within the digitally controlled society of Tom Sawyer. As she works with the group, Berry learns about Zero, a mysterious figure who lurks within Tom Sawyer’s underground. She and Hack decide to chase down this figure, and in time, the truth behind the city is revealed...
Release Date: 2022-07-03
Department: Writing
Job: Original Story
Episode Count: 12
Vote Count: 4
A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.
Release Date: 2022-05-28
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Vote Count: 124
The Mutou family leads a peaceful life: Kouichirou works at a construction site and his wife Mari is returning from an overseas trip. Their daughter Ayumu has just finished her track practice while their son Gou is playing video games at home. However, life as they know it is flipped upside down when a calamitous earthquake strikes the entire Japanese archipelago—obliterating the face of the country in an instant. With society crumbling around them and their nation gradually sinking into the ocean, the Mutou family must band together to survive the catastrophe. Treading the near-apocalyptic setting, they struggle not only to stay alive, but also to learn the difficulty of coping with loss.
Release Date: 2020-11-13
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Vote Count: 1
Release Date: 2020-07-09
Department: Directing
Job: Director
After catastrophic earthquakes devastate Japan, one family's resolve is tested on a journey of survival through the sinking archipelago.
Release Date: 2020-07-09
Department: Directing
Job: Series Director
Episode Count: 10
Vote Count: 310
The Nohara family dog Shiro becomes a superhero and protects the legendary bone "Bobobobobone" from the evil inventor dog Dekapoo and his ambitions of world domination.
Release Date: 2020-04-23
Department: Directing
Job: Series Director
Episode Count: 48
Vote Count: 2
First-year high schooler Midori Asakusa loves anime so much, she insists that "concept is everything" in animation. While she spends her time doodling endless ideas and settings in her sketchbook, she hasn't taken the first step to creating anime, insisting that she can't do it alone. After Asakusa's money-loving best friend Sayaka Kanamori notices her genius and drive – and when it becomes clear that their classmate and charismatic fashion model Tsubame Mizusaki wants to be an animator – the energetic trio start an animation club. Together, the three aim to realize the "ultimate world" that exists in their minds, as they come to see the power that fiction and imagination have on their lives and the world around them.
Release Date: 2020-01-05
Department: Directing
Job: Series Director
Episode Count: 12
Vote Count: 91
Hinako is a surf-loving college student who has just moved to a small seaside town. When a sudden fire breaks out at her apartment building, she is rescued by Minato, a handsome firefighter, and the two soon fall in love.
Release Date: 2019-06-21
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Vote Count: 334
Akira Fudo learns from his best friend Ryo Asuka that demons will revive and reclaim the world from humans. With humans hopeless against this threat, Ryo suggests combining with a demon. With this, Akira becomes Devilman, a being with the power of demon but with a human heart.
Release Date: 2018-01-05
Department: Directing
Job: Series Director
Episode Count: 10
Vote Count: 627
In a small fishing village, a gloomy middle school student named Kai meets a mermaid named Lu.
Release Date: 2017-05-19
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Vote Count: 136
As a group of university students go out for a night on the town, a sophomore known only as "The Girl with Black Hair" experiences a series of surreal encounters with the local nightlife – all the while unaware of the romantic longings of "Senpai", a senior student who has been creating increasingly fantastic and contrived reasons to run into her in an effort to win her heart.
Release Date: 2017-04-07
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Vote Count: 217
A short documentary film about the making of Masaaki Yuasa's "Kick-Heart."
Release Date: 2014-08-01
Character: Self
Vote Count: 1
A diabolical plot to empower pushover dads causes Shin-chan's father to return home as a robot. The Nohara family bond is about to be put to the test!
Release Date: 2014-04-19
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Animation
Vote Count: 45
Makoto 'Smile' Tsukimoto and his friend Yutaka 'Peco' Hoshino have been playing table tennis together since they were kids, but as they enter high school, they find that the game, and how they see it, has changed. Peco, brimming with confidence and energy, wants to be the best in the world, but the reserved Smile has little fighting spirit and doesn't want to sacrifice others' happiness just to win, despite his innate talent. As the two grow, and experience the ups and downs of the sport – and life – they try to figure out exactly who they really are and what drives them to play.
Release Date: 2014-04-11
Department: Directing
Job: Series Director
Episode Count: 11
Vote Count: 105
Space Dandy is a dandy in space! This dreamy adventurer with a to-die-for pompadour travels across the galaxy in search of aliens no one has ever laid eyes on. Each new species he discovers earns him a hefty reward, but this dandy has to be quick on his feet because it’s first come – first served! Accompanied by his sidekicks, a rundown robot named QT and Meow the cat-looking space alien, Dandy bravely explores unknown worlds inhabited by a variety aliens. Join the best dressed alien hunter in all of space and time as he embarks on an adventure that ends at the edge of the universe!
Release Date: 2014-01-04
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Animation Director
Episode Count: 1
Vote Count: 107
A love story between two people that each have a secret to hide. One a pro-wrestler, the other a Nun. Losing never felt so good.
Release Date: 2013-05-01
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Vote Count: 52
During Kazuya Maeda's first year of high school he felt like a nobody, just another forgotten face shuffling through the crowded hallways. Even his best friend from childhood, Nimi, seemed somehow more difficult to approach, since she had matured a little quicker in the unsettling way that girls have a habit of doing. However, this year, things will be different for Kazuya, and part of that change may just be because of the big new chick magnet hanging in front of him: The used digital SLR he just received from his dad! But will just having a camera be enough to make talking to girls a snap? Well, if he stays focused and proves to be good enough at making them look good, it might just be! And since it's digital, there are no negatives or having to wait for things to develop! Will Kazyuya's new stock-in-trade click with the most beautiful girls in school, or will his career as a lensman be just a flash in the pan?
Release Date: 2013-04-05
Department: Art
Job: Storyboard Artist
Episode Count: 1
Vote Count: 13
Six months ago, Lord Hugh Disward (Huey), lost his eccentric grandfather, Wes. To inherit Wes's estate, Huey must take guardianship over the 'Mystic Archives of Dantalian' that contains forbidden knowledge and a mysterious girl called Dalian. Dalian and Huey begin an unlikely partnership as they solve mysteries caused by Phantom Books.
Release Date: 2011-07-16
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Episode Count: 1
Vote Count: 25
The spinoff is set in a parallel world known as Shin Jigen (Shin Dimension). The titular Shin-men team is composed of five heroes with supernatural powers symbolized by fire (Gou), water (Sui), wind (Hyuu), greenery (Nyoki), and iron (Kan). Together, they fight against their enemy, the evil pigs of Ton-Men.
Release Date: 2010-11-26
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Episode Count: 14
Vote Count: 1
When a college dropout stops for a late night bite at a mysterious ramen stand, he crosses paths with a self-proclaimed deity of matrimony. This bizarre meeting sends the young man hurtling through a horrifying flashback to his not-so-glorious college days when the influence of a cruel new friend turned him from a hopeless romantic into a mischievous “black cupid.”
Release Date: 2010-04-23
Department: Directing
Job: Series Director
Episode Count: 11
Vote Count: 113
Unlikely heroes Finn and Jake are buddies who traverse the mystical Land of Ooo. The best of friends, our heroes always find themselves in the middle of escapades. Finn and Jake depend on each other through thick and thin.
Release Date: 2010-04-05
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Episode Count: 1
Vote Count: 2824
Five children save the life of a dog-like alien while at a self-run summer camp. He attempts to reward them by taking them to an alien colony on the Moon. Events take a turn for the worse when his report on that attack that injured him causes passage from the Moon to the Earth to be banned, and children are stranded in space. The children need to find a way back home before camp ends and their parents discover that they are missing. They also have to avoid the poachers that injured their alien friend, and now seem to be stalking them all.
Release Date: 2010-02-18
Department: Art
Job: Storyboard Artist
Vote Count: 45
Follow Yogu and his friends Amalia, Evangelyne, Tristepin, Ruel and Az as they try to rescue the world of Wakfu from destruction.
Release Date: 2008-10-30
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Character Designer
Episode Count: 1
Vote Count: 87
Five stories, five maestros, five styles and one common denominator: maximum creativity. Studio 4°C, the coolest label on the planet, invites us for the second time to an exclusive reunion of a talents with a group film, full of freedom and ingenuity, that goes from Mahiro Maeda’s classic anime, to Kazuto Nakazawa’s intricate urban sketches, Shinya Ohira’s bedlam of color and Tatsuyuki Tanaka’s animated cyberpunk. And as if that wasn’t enough, Koji Morimoto, the studio big boss, is charge of putting the icing on the cake with fantafabulous piece of abstract poetry that would make a VJ die of ecstasy. The party of the year.
Release Date: 2008-10-11
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Episode Count: 1
Vote Count: 1
In a world where memories can be stored like computer data, a young man named Kaiba searches for his lost memories and discovers a connection with a mysterious girl.
Release Date: 2008-04-11
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Episode Count: 3
Vote Count: 43
With grateful heart to Mom... A little boy kicks his start for a dream adventure!
Release Date: 2008-02-15
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 1
The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.
Release Date: 2007-07-07
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Vote Count: 52
An infant lives in a bright colorful nursery that caters to his every whim, only for it to suddenly break down. He then goes on a surreal journey of growth.
Release Date: 2007-07-07
Department: Directing
Job: Director
The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.
Release Date: 2007-07-07
Department: Creator
Job: Creator
Vote Count: 4
Creatures known as Shokujinki have been secretly living alongside humans for hundreds of years. Though they may look like humans, Shokujinki are able to transform into uncontrollable beasts with gigantic claws and consume humans to survive. The equally secretive Kifuuken dojo specializes in killing Shokujinki by cutting off their arms, and is the only force preventing unchecked Shokujinki domination. Toshihiko Momota, the son of the leader of the Kifuuken, is instantly charmed by a mysterious woman named Yuka Kamitsuki. Their relationship is complicated, however, because unbeknownst to them both, Yuka is a Shokujinki and Toshihiko is sworn to kill her. Meanwhile, the Kifuuken is having a crisis of confidence as Toshihiko's brother Kazuma pushes against tradition and tries to modernize the Kifuuken. As emotions are strained and the secrets of both the past and present are revealed, who will live, and who will be eaten?
Release Date: 2006-08-05
Department: Writing
Job: Writer
Episode Count: 6
Vote Count: 19
A science fiction story about a young boy who discovers and befriends a small robot at a shopping arcade. The robot is hungry and he grows in size as he devours a number of machines of increasing size.
Release Date: 2006-07-01
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 9
Nishi is a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.
Release Date: 2004-08-07
Department: Directing
Job: Director
Vote Count: 279
Kujiratori tells the story of school children pretending they are building a boat. As imagination replaces reality, they find themselves on the ocean, hunting for a whale. A big, gentle whale appears, accompanies them back to land and plays with them. Then the fantasy ends and the children are back in their class room.
Release Date: 2001-10-01
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 5
The surreal black comedy follows Nyatta, an anthropomorphic kitten, on his travel to the land of the dead and back in an effort to save his sister's soul.
Release Date: 2001-02-21
Department: Writing
Job: Screenplay
Vote Count: 154
The Noharas go on an Action Mask-themed cruise, where all the grown-ups get kidnapped by a gang of monkeys. It's up to the kids to rescue them!
Release Date: 2000-04-22
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Character Designer
Vote Count: 36
A short anime directed by Yuasa Masaaki with Production IG, distributed on VHS as a bonus to a video game magazine subscription. The main character is a Slime from the Dragon Quest video games.
Release Date: 1999-07-30
Department: Directing
Job: Director
The Yamadas are a typical middle class Japanese family in urban Tokyo and this film shows us a variety of episodes of their lives. With tales that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking, we see this family cope with life's little conflicts, problems, and joys in their own way.
Release Date: 1999-07-17
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 536
There's only one way to stop a filthy evil scientist from destroying the world, and it's with a powerful hot spring located under Shin-chan's house!
Release Date: 1999-04-17
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 17
Have you ever heard of the Vampiyans? One noble family of such vegetarian vampires have been banished from Monster Land for their inability to scare humans. To lift the exile set on the family, Papa, the head of the household, must scare 1000 humans. To this end, he attempts to use his magnificent skills in making new inventions, but always and inevitably fails. To complicate things further, Papa's daughter Suh falls in love with a young human boy and no longer wants to return to Monster Land. Will Papa ever get his family back home?
Release Date: 1999-01-01
Department: Art
Job: Storyboard Artist
It all begins when a secret agent hiding in the ship where dinner Futaba school students. The Pig Hoof follow and take the boat with her, Shin Chan and his friends on board. From there, Shin Chan, Masao, Nene, Kazama and Boo Chan van with Agent everywhere as their hostages.
Release Date: 1998-04-18
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 24
The film is set in the distant future in a city called Cahmpon. A scientist creates a synthetic life-form called Noiseman, which erases music from the airwaves by turning it into crystals. A group of Biker street kids rebels against this tyranny.
Release Date: 1997-11-22
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Animation Director
Vote Count: 14
Aika Sumeragi works as a salvager for hire, but gets caught up in a plot for world domination.
Release Date: 1997-04-25
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Episode Count: 1
Vote Count: 184
The Noharas get caught between two rival clans when Himawari swallows a pretty bead that turns out to be a mysterious ball with hidden powers.
Release Date: 1997-04-19
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 47
The Futaba Kindergarten kids are so excited for their trip to the Henderland amusement park, but Shin-chan soon learns there are evil forces at play!
Release Date: 1996-04-13
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 51
A time traveler claims that bad guys are trying to change the past! Shin-chan is on the case, going back in time to defeat the evil Lord Unkokusai.
Release Date: 1995-04-05
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 23
Everyone's favorite TV superhero Action Mask shows up in Kasukabe, and he's trying to get something from Shin-chan -- but what could it be?
Release Date: 1993-07-24
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 52
Momoko's teacher asks the third grade to draw a picture based on their favorite song, to enter in a contest. She picks a song she's recently become fond of during music class, and is anxious to make a good drawing based on it. On her way to meet relatives in Shizuoka, Momoko meets Shoko Kimura, a university student who occasionally draws portraits and plans to participate in an art contest. Momoko and Shoko become close friends, and end up inspiring each other both in their own ways.
Release Date: 1992-12-19
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 4
High-school student Yota Moteuchi is so unpopular that his classmates have given him the nickname "Dateless." So it's no surprise when the love of his life, Moemi, is not interested in Yota but instead is in love with Yota's best friend, Takashi. Yota turns to a video rental shop for comfort, but little did he suspect that the shop was magical and that the cute girl on his rented tape would pop out of the television and try to fix his ruined love life!
Release Date: 1992-03-27
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Episode Count: 1
Vote Count: 23
Chibi Maruko chan is the nickname of a sweetly obnoxious 9-year-old girl. She tricks her grandfather, ponders for hours over how to spend her allowance, and hates sitting next to ugly boys. She talks, feels and lives just as real kids do. As the second term commences, Maruko and her classmates return to their small groups. Maruko’s group includes two naughty boys and Maruko is forced to be one of their subordinates. She seems to face a lot of pressure at school.
Release Date: 1990-12-15
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 6
A mysterious pink fog takes Nobita, Doraemon, Shizuka, Suneo, and Gian to a planet populated by animals. Legend says that the ancestors of this population used to live on the moon, but were transported out of there to escape from the voracious creatures that lived there too.
Release Date: 1990-03-10
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Vote Count: 35
The adventures of con-artist Iyami and his sidekick Chibita as they constantly get foiled by a group of trouble-making sextuplets. The series also focuses on the similarly comical and bizarre members of the town, and the far-out situations they get into.
Release Date: 1988-02-13
Department: Visual Effects
Job: Key Animation
Episode Count: 2
Vote Count: 3