# Yasuhiro Nakura

Yasuhiro Nakura (Japanese: 名倉 靖博, Hepburn: Nakura Yasuhiro) is a Japanese animator, illustrator, character designer, and director.

## Early life

Nakura was born in Hamakita, Shizuoka, Japan, on January 10, 1959. His parents ran a textile shop.

## Career

He enrolled in an animation course offered by Toei Animation that he saw advertised in Manga Shounen [ja] and moved to Tokyo. After completing the course, he joined Studio Carpenter where he debuted as an in-between animator on Starzinger (1978), and later as a key animator on Dotakon (1981). He worked at Studio Carpenter for about three years and then went freelance, mainly for Toei Animation's works.
His character concepts were used for the 1984 television series Little Memole, which he also worked on as an animation director (his debut in the role). The following year, he was the animation director for Mamoru Oshii's film, Angel's Egg, with designs by Yoshitaka Amano, in which he supervised and corrected drawings to follow Amano's original image boards. In 1987, he served as character designer and animation director to another feature film, The Tale of Genji (1987) with director Gisaburō Sugii. In 1990, he participated in Moomin as the animation character designer, having been a fan of the series prior. He also served as the character designer and chief animation director for Rintaro's Metropolis (2001).
At some point in his career, Nakura began to take on more work as an illustrator, rather than an animator or animation director. While he continued to work on animated series and films, his output in either decreased significantly during the 1990s and 2000s. He was the character designer and chief animation director for the Tenshu Monogatari arc of Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales and was the animation director for Gothicmade in 2012, but contributed in minor key animation roles between them.
In the early 2010s, Nakura developed a relationship with animation studio Shaft as a key animator and animation director on the Monogatari series. His output in the industry increased during this time as he contributed to other Shaft series like Mekakucity Actors (2014) and contributed as a guest director, designer, and animator for an episode of the Bones series Space Dandy (2014). In 2016, Nakura worked as the main layout artist, layout setting designer, and art setting designer for Shaft's adaptation of March Comes In like a Lion. He also regularly contributed to some of the series' ending animation themes, which he storyboarded, directed, and animated on his own.

### Style

Director and founder of studio Satelight Tsuneo Maeda, who was the animation technical director for The Tale of Genji, described Nakura as an emotional person, which he called rare among key animators, and that he was slow, which was connected to his tenacity and made his work attractive. Maeda also considered Nakura to not be pattern-based, and thus it was always difficult or mysterious as to how his drawings and work would come out. Although he said that it may be difficult for some of his drawings to be used, Maeda lamented that Nakura was able to create cuts of animation that others could never draw as well.

## Works
### Teleivison series

Highlights main staff roles.
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | CD | CAD | AD | KA | Other roles and notes |
| 1978 | Starzinger | Yuugo Serikawa | Toei Animation | No | No | No | No | In-between animator |
| 1981 | Dotakon | Takeshi Shirato | Toei Animation | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 1984 | Little Memole | Osamu Kasai | Toei Animation | (Original) | No | Yes | No | |
| 1990 | Moomin | Hiroshi Saitou | Visual 80 | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 1991 | Moomin 2 | Takeyuki Kanda | Visual 80 | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 1996 | Shounen Santa no Daibouken | Yuuji Mutou | Studio Deen | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2006 | Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales | Kouzou Nagayama | Toei Animation | (Original concept design) | Yes | No | No | Tenshuu Monogatari episodes |
| 2012 | Nekomonogatari: Black | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura | Shaft | No | No | Yes | Yes | 2nd key animator |
| 2014 | Space Dandy 2 | Shinichirō Watanabe Masaaki Yuasa | Bones | No | No | No | Yes | Art setting Guest character designer Episode director Storyboard artist |
| 2014 | Mekakucity Actors | Akiyuki Shinbo Yuki Yase | Shaft | No | No | No | Yes | Picture book animation Storyboard artist |
| 2014 | Hanamonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura | Shaft | No | No | No | Yes | Key animator |
| 2016 | Flip Flappers | Kiyotaka Oshiyama | 3Hz | No | No | No | Yes | Key animator (OP) |
| 2016 | March Comes In like a Lion | Akiyuki Shinbo Kenjirou Okada | Shaft | No | No | No | No | Art setting Layout setting Main layout ED direction, storyboards, and animation |
| 2018 | Zoku Owarimonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo | Shaft | No | No | No | No | "Play" |
| 2020 | Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story | Doroinu | Shaft | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2021 | Pretty Boy Detective Club | Akiyuki Shinbo Hajime Ootani | Shaft | No | No | No | Yes | Art setting Layout supervisor |
| 2022 | RWBY: Ice Queendom | Toshimasa Suzuki Kenjirou Okada | Shaft | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2024 | Astro Note | Shinji Takamatsu Haruka Kasugamori | Telecom Animation Film | No | No | No | No | Layout supervisor |

### OVAs/ONAs

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | CD | CAD | AD | KA | Other roles and notes |
| 1985 | Angel's Egg | Mamoru Oshii | Studio Deen | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 1988 | Bride of Deimos | Rintaro | Madhouse | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 1988 | Donguri to Yamaneko | Toshio Hirata | Madhouse Project Team Argos | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
| 2013 | Space Battleship Yamato 2199 | Akihiro Enomomto Yutaka Izubuchi | AIC XEBEC | No | No | Yes | No | |
| 2022 | The Tatami Time Machine Blues | Shingo Natsume | Science SARU | No | No | Yes | No | |
| 2024 | Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season | Akiyuki Shinbo Midori Yoshizawa | Shaft | No | No | No | No | Art setting |

### Films

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | CD | CAD | AD | KA | Other roles and notes |
| 1980 | Toward the Terra | Hideo Onchi | Toei Animation | No | No | No | No | In-between animator |
| 1980 | Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Galaxy | Masayuki Akehi | Toei Animation | No | No | No | No | In-between animator |
| 1982 | Future War 198X | Toshio Masuda Tomoharu Katsumata | Toei Animation | No | No | No | No | In-between animator |
| 1983 | Dr. Slump: The Great Race Around the World | Minoru Okazaki | Toei Animation | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 1984 | Wata no Kunihoshi | Shinichi Tsuji | Mushi Production | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 1985 | Night on the Galactic Railroad | Gisaburō Sugii | Group TAC | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 1986 | Castle in the Sky | Hayao Miyazaki | Studio Ghibli | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 1987 | The Tale of Genji | Gisaburō Sugii | Group TAC | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| 1994 | Rampo | Rintaro Mayuzumi Kazuyoshi Okuyama | — | No | No | No | No | Animation (live-action film) |
| 2001 | Metropolis | Rintaro | Madhouse | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 2004 | Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence | Mamoru Oshii | Production I.G | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2006 | The Girl Who Leapt Through Time | Mamoru Hosoda | Madhouse | No | No | No | No | Assistant animation director |
| 2007 | Miyori no Mori | Nizo Yamamoto | Nippon Animation | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2009 | Summer Wars | Mamoru Hosoda | Madhouse | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2012 | Gothicmade | Mamoru Nagano | Automatic Flowers Studio | No | No | Yes | No | |
| 2013 | Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto | Shaft | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2016 | Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen | Akiyuki Shinbo Tatsuya Oishi | Shaft | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2017 | Fireworks | Akiyuki Shinbo Nobuyuki Takeuchi | Shaft | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2017 | Blade Runner: Black Out 2022 | Shinichiro Watanabe | Cygames Pictures | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2022 | Inu-Oh | Masaaki Yuasa | Science SARU | No | No | Yes | Yes | |