Ikuko Itoh

Ikuko Itoh
伊藤 郁子
Born (1961-08-25) August 25, 1961 (age 63)
Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Occupation(s)Animator, Character Designer, Animation Director, Illustrator
Years active1980–present
Notable work

Ikuko Itoh (Japanese: 伊藤 郁子, Hepburn: Itō Ikuko, born August 25, 1961) is a Japanese animator, character designer, illustrator and animation director best known for her work on Sailor Moon and as the creator of Princess Tutu.

Career

Ikuko Itoh graduated at Tokyo Designer Gakuin College,[a] and started working as key animator and animation director for various series and movies in 1980s.

From 1992 to 1994, she was recognized from her work as an animation director for various episodes of Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon R). After R had ended, Itoh took over Kazuko Tadano's role as a character designer from Sailor Moon S in 1994 till the end of Sailor Moon SuperS in 1995.

After Sailor Moon, she character designed for Fushigi Mahou Fun Fun Pharmacy and Magic User's Club in late 1990s.

In 2002, she created and character designed Princess Tutu, a ballet fairy tale anime that is inspired from The Ugly Duckling and Swan Lake.[1]

From 2006 and onwards, Itoh provided character designs for Living for the Day After Tomorrow, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, and Somali and the Forest Spirit.[2][3]

Works

Anime

Year Title Credit Note
1983 Spoon Obasan Key Animation
1987 Bikkuriman Animation Director
1990 Magical Taruruto-kun Animation Director (eps. 2, 8, 54, 74)
1992 Sailor Moon Animation Director (eps. 5, 18, 24, 31, 37, 45), Key Animation (eps. 5, 18, 24, 45)
1993 Sailor Moon R Animation Director (OP2; eps. 9, 12), Key Animation (eps. 9, 15, 22, 40)
1994 Sailor Moon S Character Design, Chief Animator, Animation Director (eps. 94, 104, 111, 124–125), Key Animation (eps. 111)
1995 Sailor Moon SuperS Character Design, Animation Director (eps. 139, 152, 159, 166)
1996 Magic User's Club Character Design, Chief Animation Director OVA
1998 Fushigi Mahou Fun Fun Pharmacy Character Design, Animation Director (eps. 1, 4, 9, 15, 21, 27, 33, 39, 43, 48), Key Animation
1999 Magic User's Club Character Design, Chief Animation Director TV anime
2002 Princess Tutu Original Creator, Character Design, Chief Animation Director, Animation Director (OP; eps. 21) [1]
2004 Jagainu-kun Character Design, Chief Animation Director
2006 Living for the Day After Tomorrow Character Design, Chief Animation Director (eps. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11), Animation Director (OP, ED; eps. 1, 3), Key Animation (eps. 1)
2012-2013 AKB0048 Sub-character design, Chief Animation Director, Key Animation (eps. 1)
2015 The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan Character Design, Chief Animation Director, Key Animation (eps. 13) [2]
2020 Somali and the Forest Spirit Character Design, Chief Animation Director (eps. 1–8, 12), Animation Director (OP) [3]

Anime film

Year Title Credit Note
1991 Magical Taruruto-kun Assistant Animation Director, Key Animation
1993 Sailor Moon R: The Movie Key Animation
2002 One Piece: Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals Key Animation
2013 Toriko the Movie: Secret Recipe of Gourmet Food Key Animation
2016 Pop in Q Animation Director
Tamayura ~Sotsugyō Shashin~ -Part 4- Animation Director Film series
2018 Macross Delta the Movie: Passionate Walküre Animation Director

Notes

  1. ^ The school is now named "Tokyo Net Wave"

References

  1. ^ a b Morrisy, Kim (September 9, 2022). "Princess Tutu Announces Livestream For 20th Anniversary Event". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Pineda, Rafael Antonio (2014-12-30). "The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan Anime Unveils More Staff". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2014-12-30.
  3. ^ a b Loo, Egan (2019-06-15). "Somali and the Forest Spirit TV Anime Reveals More Cast, January Delay". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2019-06-15.