# Toshimasa Suzuki

Toshimasa Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木 利正, Hepburn: Suzuki Toshimasa) is a Japanese director, animator, and storyboard artist. He joined Shaft in 1995 as an episode director and storyboard artist, and although he continues to work for Shaft, Suzuki commonly directs series with other studios, most notably with Xebec, where he made his series directorial debut with Heroic Age in 2007.

## Career and life

Suzuki joined Shaft around 1988 as a key animator. He made his debut as an episode director and storyboard artist for the studio's first original television series, Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger, in 1995. His employment with Shaft continued until the early 2000s, when he decided to go freelance (he continued to work with Shaft as a freelancer). In 2007, he debuted as a series director with Xebec with Heroic Age under the supervision of Takashi Noto. For the next few years, Suzuki focused solely on freelancing work with other studios. He continued to do work with Xebec, directing Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne and Fafner in the Azure: Heaven and Earth, and started directing series outside of either Xebec or Shaft, such as The Pilot's Love Song and The Price of Smiles. However, he remains a prominent figure at Shaft and works on most of the studio's productions.
Suzuki was born in 1966, and he is married to color designer Mitsuko Sekimoto, who has worked with Suzuki on all of his directorial projects outside of Shaft.

### Style

He said that he is a fan of hard sci-fi, as well as a fan of foreign sci-fi productions, which he has used for inspiration on works like Fafner in the Azure and Heroic Age. Although a fan of watching realistic and 'muddy' depictions of emotions, he himself does not like to make realistic depictions in his works, and is instead more interested in making his works beautiful and exaggerated. Writer Tow Ubukata commented on Suzuki's ideal of beauty by saying he was good at directing emotional scenes.
After he worked as Akiyuki Shinbo's assistant on Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase, Suzuki wanted to use some of Shinbo's visual composition techniques himself while working on Fafner: Right of Left succeeding the end of Tsukuyomi's production. Broadly, he stated that his way of creating images changed after working on Tsukuyomi. Director Ryūtarō Nakamura's sense of light and shadows, whom Suzuki worked under as the assistant director for Sakura Wars (2000), also had an effect on Suzuki's style.

## Works
### Television series

In "Director(s)" column highlights Suzuki's directorial works.
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | SB | ED | Other roles and notes | Ref(s) |
| 1989 | Blue Blink | Osamu Tezuka Seitarou Hara | Tezuka Productions | No | No | Animator | |
| 1989 | Idol Densetsu Eriko | Tetsurō Amino | Ashi Productions | No | No | In-between animator | |
| 1990 | Kyatto Ninden Teyandee | Kunitoshi Okajima | Tatsunoko Production | No | No | In-between animator | |
| 1991 | Oh! My Konbu | Tetsuo Imazawa | Shaft | No | No | Key animator | |
| 1993 | Thumbelina: A Magical Story | Hiromitsu Morita | | No | No | Key animator | |
| 1995 | Weather Report Girl | Kunihiko Yuyama | Pastel | No | No | Key animator | |
| 1995 | Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger | Kunitoshi Okajima (chief) | Shaft | Yes | Yes | Key animator | |
| 1997 | Hareluya II Boy | Kiyoshi Egami | Triangle Staff | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1997 | Sakura Diaries | Kunitoshi Okajima | Shaft | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1997 | Burn-Up Excess | Shinichiro Kimura | Magic Bus | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1997 | Battle Athletes Victory | Katsuhito Akiyama | AIC | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1998 | Silent Mobius | Hideki Tonokatsu | Shaft (Radix) | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1998 | Generator Gawl | Seiji Mizushima | Tatsunoko Production | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1999 | Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure | Katsuhito Akiyama | AIC | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1999 | Power Stone | Takahiro Omori | Pierrot | Yes | No | Key animator | |
| 1999 | A Pair of Queens | Takashi Watanabe | Triangle Staff | Yes | No | Key animator | |
| 1999 | Dai-Guard | Seiji Mizushima | Xebec | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2000 | Sakura Wars | Ryūtarō Nakamura | Madhouse | Yes | Yes | Assistant director (13 episodes) | |
| 2000 | Dotto! Koni-chan | Shinichi Watanabe | Shaft | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2001 | Mahoromatic | Hiroyuki Yamaga | Gainax Shaft | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2001 | Shaman King | Seiji Mizushima | Xebec | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2002 | A Little Snow Fairy Sugar | Hiroaki Sakurai (chief) Shinichiro Kimura | J.C. Staff | Yes | No | | |
| 2002 | Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier | Jun Kawagoe | Japan Vistec | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2003 | Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful | Hiroyuki Yamaga | Gainax Shaft | Yes | No | | |
| 2003 | Stellvia | Tatsuo Satō | Xebec | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2004 | This Ugly yet Beautiful World | Shouji Saeki | Gainax Shaft | Yes | Yes | Key animator | |
| 2004 | Tetsujin 28-go | Yasuhiro Imagawa | Palm Studio | Yes | No | | |
| 2004 | Fafner in the Azure: Dead Aggressor | Nobuyoshi Habara | Xebec | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2004 | Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase | Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) | Shaft | Yes | Yes | Assistant director Ending director | |
| 2005 | He Is My Master | Shouji Saeki | Gainax Shaft | No | Yes | Ending director | |
| 2005 | Rozen Maiden: Träumend | Kō Matsuo | Nomad | No | Yes | | |
| 2006 | The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye | Jun Kamiya | Xebec | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2007 | Heroic Age | Takashi Noto (chief) Toshimasa Suzuki | Xebec | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2007 | Ef: A Tale of Memories | Shin Oonuma | Shaft | No | No | Assistant episode director | |
| 2008 | Wangan Midnight | Tsuneo Tominaga | A.C.G.T | Yes | No | | |
| 2008 | Kanokon: The Girl Who Cried Fox | Atsushi Ōtsuki | Xebec | Yes | No | | |
| 2008 | Kyō no Go no Ni | Tsuyoshi Nagasawa | Xebec | Yes | No | | |
| 2009 | Polyphonica: Crimson S | Toshimasa Suzuki | Diomedéa | Yes | Yes | Ending director and storybobard | |
| 2009 | Tears to Tiara | Tomoki Kobayashi | White Fox | No | Yes | | |
| 2009 | Bakemonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tatsuya Oishi (series) | Shaft | Yes | Yes | Assistant episode director Opening director Key animator | [67][68][69] [70][71] |
| 2010 | Dance in the Vampire Bund | Akiyuki Shinbo Masahiro Sonoda (series) | Shaft | No | No | Ending director | |
| 2010 | Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu | Akiyuki Shinbo Kenichi Ishikura (series) | Shaft | No | No | Ending director | |
| 2010 | Arakawa Under the Bridge | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto (series) | Shaft | Yes | No | | |
| 2011 | Softenni | Ryouki Kamitsubo | Xebec | No | No | Opening director and storyboard | |
| 2012 | Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne | Tatsuo Satō (chief) Toshimasa Suzuki | Xebec | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2013 | Unlimited Psychic Squad | Shishō Igarashi | Manglobe | Yes | No | Ending storyboard | |
| 2013 | Sasami-san@Ganbaranai | Akiyuki Shinbo | Shaft | Yes | No | | |
| 2014 | The Pilot's Love Song | Toshimasa Suzuki | TMS Entertainment 3xCube | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2014 | Hanamonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Tomoyuki Itamura | Shaft | No | No | Ending director and storyboard | |
| 2015 | Fafner in the Azure: Exodus | Takashi Noto (chief) Nobuyoshi Habara | Xebec | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2015 | Nisekoi: | Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Yukihiro Miyamoto (chief episode) | Shaft | No | No | Opening director | |
| 2016 | Sweetness and Lightning | Tarō Iwasaki | TMS Entertainment 3xCube | No | No | Opening director | |
| 2016 | March Comes In like a Lion | Akiyuki Shinbo Kenjirou Okada (series) | Shaft | Yes | No | | |
| 2018 | Fate/Extra: Last Encore | Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Yukihiro Miyamoto (series) | Shaft | Yes | No | | |
| 2019 | The Price of Smiles | Toshimasa Suzuki | Tatsunoko Production | Yes | Yes | | |
| 2020 | Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story | Doroinu (chief) Various | Shaft | Yes | No | Key animator | |
| 2022 | RWBY: Ice Queendom | Toshimasa Suzuki Kenjirou Okada (chief) | Shaft | Yes | Yes | Opening director | |

### OVAs

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | SB | ED | Other roles and notes |
| 1994 | Legend of the Galactic Heroes | Noboru Ishiguro (chiefF) Masatoshi Tahara (series) Keizou Shimizu (aniamtion) | K-Factory (Shaft) | Yes | Yes | Key animator |
| 2000 | Kita e: Pure Session | Mitsuko Kase | Studio D-Volt | No | Yes | |
| 2003 | Arcade Gamer Fubuki | Yūji Mutō | Shaft | No | Yes | Key animator |
| 2008 | Shina Dark | Toshimasa Suzuki Shinpei Tomooka Naoyuki Konno Shin Oonuma | Shaft | No | No | |
| 2010 | Hen Semi | Ryouki Kamitsubo | Xebec | No | No | Opening director and storyboard |
| 2012 | Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne | Tatsuo Satō (chief) Toshimasa Suzuki | Xebec | No | No | |

### Films

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | SB | ED | Other roles and notes |
| 2010 | Fafner in the Azure: Heaven and Earth | Takashi Noto (chief) Toshimasa Suzuki | Xebec | Yes | Yes | |
| 2016 | Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu | Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Tatsuya Oishi | Shaft | No | Yes | |
| 2017 | Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu | Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Tatsuya Oishi | Shaft | No | Yes | |
| 2017 | Fireworks | Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Nobuyuki Takeuchi | Shaft | No | Yes | |
| 2019 | Fafner in the Azure: The Beyond | Takashi Noto | Xebec Zwei | Yes | No | |
| 2023 | Fafner: Behind the Line | Takashi Noto | I.G Zwei | No | No | Key animator |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Studio | Roles | Ref(s) |
| 2016 | Fate/EXTELLA | Shaft | Opening cinematic storyboard artist | |