# Hisaharu Iijima

Hisaharu Iijima (Japanese: 飯島 寿治, Hepburn: Iijima Hisaharu) is a Japanese art director, background artist, and CEO of art studio Ryuubidou (竜美堂).

## Early life

During high school, Iijima did watercolor and oil painting and decided to go to a vocational school where he found that he liked to paint landscapes and backgrounds. He became a fan of Rembrandt and wanted to paint with expressive light and shadows similar to him.

## Career

Iijima started to work in the anime industry as a background artist at art company Studio Easter [ja] around 1986. In 2003, he was promoted to the role of art director and given responsibilities for Gad Guard and Le Portrait de Petit Cossette (2004) alongside studio representative Junichi Higashi [ja] under the collective pseudonym "Easter Princess Group" (イースター姫組), as well as Uta Kata on his own. That year, Iijima left Studio Easter and formed his own company, Ryuubidou, in June. For the next few years, Iijima and his studio worked on a number of series until the director of Le Portrait de Petit Cossette, Akiyuki Shinbo, by then basing himself out of studio Shaft, heard that Iijima had formed his own studio and decided to ask him to be the art director for the studio's upcoming Hidamari Sketch series that was in pre-production. Shinbo considered Iijima to be a key artist responsible for the core foundations of Hidamari Sketch alongside (at the time) art designer Tatsuya Oishi and chief director Ryouki Kamitsubo throughout its run, even as the latter two were no longer involved in its later seasons. From that point on, Iijima worked mainly with Shinbo and Shaft's productions while occasionally taking on jobs elsewhere. He took over the role of art director for Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei in its first OVA series and third season, and in 2009 was the art director for Oishi and Shinbo's Bakemonogatari, a work considered to have pushed Shaft "into fame."
Regarding the style of Bakemonogatari, visual director Nobuyuki Takeuchi had interest in the photography works of Sadahiro Koizumi and had shown Shinbo and Oishi; as they liked the idea, Shinbo told Iijima to keep the photographs in mind while working on Monogatari, and Takeuchi asked Iijima to stick closely to the photos where possible. Iijima also found it interesting to paint both foreground objects and parts of the backgrounds with solid white colors and white gradients which became a staple of the series' art direction even through seasons he was not in charge of. He approached the background painting with a relatively 'ordinary' color scheme at first which changed when Oishi made certain corrections. Alongside his other Shaft works and occasional works to other production houses, Iijima continued as the art director for Hidamari Sketch until its final release in 2013 and Monogatari until 2014. By that time, with Hanamonogatari, Iijima was joined by art director Ken Naitou from Studio Tulip who would take over as art director for the succeeding television works of the series while Iijima focused his and Ryuubidou's efforts on the Kizumonogatari film trilogy. He thought that Naitou might have been intimated when he took over his responsibilities, but felt relieved seeing Naitou's work on Owarimonogatari (2015) and that he could continue to make interesting pictures that even he couldn't. Kizumonogatari had a very different approach to the rest of the Monogatari series, however, as director Oishi was adamant about using live-action photography for all of the shots of the sky and using 3DCG for most of the buildings and environmental shots besides the close-ups. Since the overall artistic direction heavily leaned on the 3D backgrounds, Iijima even joked about whether or not he'd lose his job on the film.
Following Kizumonogatari, Iijima was the art director for Stan Lee and Hiroshi Nagahama's The Reflection (2017) at Studio Deen, as well as Takeuchi and Shinbo's Fireworks (2017) at Shaft. He continued to contribute background art through Ryuubidou for the next several years, but did not take on another job as art director until 2021 with a promotional short for the Bakemonogatari manga adaptation. By then, much of the Ryuubidou staff had left and Shaft founded its own art department with Iijima taking on the role of technical advisor at the studio. In 2023, director Hiroshi Nishikiori, whom Iijima had worked with several times in the 2000s, made a direct request to Iijima for a screen background to be used in Idolish 7 the Movie. Although busy with other work, Iijima accepted the request and ultimately drew two and a half screen backgrounds. The next year, he returned as the art director for the Monogatari franchise with Off & Monster Season.

## Works
### Teleivison series

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | Art director | Background artist | Other roles and notes |
| 1994 | Mobile Fighter G Gundam | Yasuhiro Imagawa | Sunrise | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 1995 | El Hazard: The Wanderers | Katsuhito Akiyama | AIC | Shigemi Ikeda | Yes | |
| 1996 | City Hunter: The Secret Service | Kenji Kodama | Sunrise | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 1996 | The Vision of Escaflowne | Kazuki Akane | Sunrise | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 1998 | Cowboy Bebop | Shinichiro Watanabe | Sunrise | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 1998 | Neo Ranga | Toshiyuki Tsuru (25–48) | Pierrot | Yuuji Ikeda | Yes | |
| 1998 | Gasaraki | Ryōsuke Takahashi | Sunrise | Shigemi Ikeda | Yes | |
| 1999 | Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko | Akiyuki Shinbo | J.C. Staff | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 1999 | Excel Saga | Shinichi Watanabe | J.C. Staff | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 2000 | Descendants of Darkness | Hiroko Tokita | J.C. Staff | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 2001 | The SoulTaker | Akiyuki Shinbo | Tatsunoko Production Tatsunoko VCR | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 2002 | Ai Yori Aoshi | Masami Shimoda [ja] | J.C. Staff | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 2002 | The Twelve Kingdoms | Tsuneo Kobayashi | Pierrot | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 2002 | Saikano | Mitsuko Kase | Gonzo | Junichi Higashi Toshihiro Kohama | Yes | |
| 2003 | Stratos 4 | Takeshi Mori | Studio Fantasia | "Princess Group" | Yes | |
| 2003 | Gad Guard | Hiroshi Nishikiori | Gonzo Amber Film Works | Junichi Higashi Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2004 | Uta Kata | Keiji Gotoh | Hal Film Maker | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2005 | Oku-sama wa Mahō Shōjo: Bewitched Agnes | Hiroshi Nishikiori | J.C. Staff | Chikako Shibata | Yes | |
| 2005 | Canvas 2: Akane-iro no Palette | Itsuro Kawasaki | Zexcs | Ayumi Kondou | Yes | |
| 2006 | The Good Witch of the West | Katsuichi Nakayama | Hal Film Maker | Hisaharu Iijima | Yes | |
| 2006 | Kemonozume | Masaaki Yuasa | Madhouse | Ryou Kouno [ja] | Yes | |
| 2006 | Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na | Masahiko Ohta | Daume | Hisaharu Iijima | Yes | |
| 2007 | Hidamari Sketch | Akiyuki Shinbo Ryouki Kamitsubo | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2007 | Shattered Angels | Tetsuya Yanagisawa | TNK | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2008 | Hidamari Sketch x 365 | Akiyuki Shinbo | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2008 | Someday's Dreamers II: Sora | Osamu Kobayashi | Hal Film Maker | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2009 | Zan Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2009 | Maria Holic | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2009 | Bakemonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tatsuya Oishi | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2010 | Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu | Akiyuki Shinbo Kenichi Ishikura | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2010 | And Yet the Town Moves | Akiyuki Shinbo | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2011 | Maria Holic Alive | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomokazu Tokoro | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2011 | Hidamari Sketch x Special | Akiyuki Shinbo | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2012 | Nisemonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2012 | Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb | Akiyuki Shinbo Yuki Yase | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2012 | Nekomonogatari: Black | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2013 | Monogatari Series Second Season | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura Naoyuki Tatsuwa Yuki Yase | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2014 | Mekakucity Actors | Akiyuki Shinbo Yuki Yase | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | Art board |
| 2014 | Hanamonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima Ken Naitou | No | |
| 2014 | Wolf Girl and Black Prince | Ken'ichi Kasai | TYO Animations | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2014 | Tsukimonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura | Shaft | Ken Naitou | No | Background art assistance |
| 2015 | Owarimonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura | Shaft | Ken Naitou | No | Background art assistance |
| 2017 | The Reflection | Hiroshi Nagahama Kouichirou Sohtome | Studio Deen | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2017 | March Comes In like a Lion 2nd Season | Akiyuki Shinbo Kenjirou Okada | Shaft | Seiki Tamura [ja] | Yes | |
| 2019 | Zoku Owarimonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo | Shaft | Ken Naitou | No | Background art assistance |
| 2020 | Magia Record | Doroinu Yukihiro Miyamoto Kenjirou Okada Midori Yoshizawa | Shaft | Ken Naitou | Yes | |
| 2021 | Magia Record: The Eve of Awakening | Doroinu Yukihiro Miyamoto | Shaft | Ken Naitou | Yes | |
| 2022 | RWBY: Ice Queendom | Toshimasa Suzuki Kenjirou Okada | Shaft | Ken Naitou | Yes | Art board |
| 2023 | The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses | Satoshi Kuwabara [ja] | Tezuka Productions | Masami Saitou | No | Background art manager |
| 2023 | Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead | Kazuki Kawagoe | Bug Films | Taketo Gonpei | Yes | |
| 2025 | Ninja to Koroshiya no Futarigurashi | Yukihiro Miyamoto | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | TBA | |

### OVAs/ONAs

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | Art director | Background artist | Other roles and notes |
| 1989 | Ano Ko ni 1000% | Harumi Izawa | Visual 80 [ja] | Sadako Minamisawa | Yes | |
| 1989 | Megazone 23: Part III | Shinji Aramaki | Artmic AIC | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 1990 | YJ Ban Lemon Angel | Tetsurō Amino | MI | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 1991 | Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | Mitsuko Kase [ja] Takashi Imanishi [ja] | Sunrise | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 1992 | Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still | Yasuhiro Imagawa | Mu Animation Studio | Masanori Kikuchi (2) | Yes | |
| 1994 | Future GPX Cyber Formula Zero | Mitsuo Fukuda | Sunrise | Shigemi Ikeda [ja] | Yes | |
| 1995 | Sotsugyou: Graduation | Katsuhiko Nakajima | Studio Fantasia | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 1999 | Tenamonya Voyagers | Akiyuki Shinbo | Pierrot | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 2001 | Puni Puni Poemy | Shinichi Watanabe | J.C. Staff | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 2001 | Alien Nine | Jirou Fujimoto Yasuhiro Irie | J.C. Staff | Junichi Higashi | Yes | |
| 2004 | Le Portrait de Petit Cossette | Akiyuki Shinbo | Daume | Junichi Higashi Hisaharu Iijima | Yes | "Easter Princess Group" |
| 2008 | Yotsunoha | Hiroshi Nishikiori | Hal Film Maker | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2008 | Goku Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2009 | Zan Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Bangaichi | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2011 | Katteni Kaizō | Akiyuki Shinbo Naoyuki Tatsuwa | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2012 | Mahou Tsukai Nara Miso wo Kue! | Makoto Bessho [ja] | AIC | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2013 | Hidamari Sketch: Sae & Hino's Graduation Arc | Akiyuki Shinbo Yuki Yase | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2016 | Koyomimonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura | Shaft | Ken Naitou | No | Background art assistance |
| 2021 | Bakemonogatari Special Shaft PV | Akiyuki Shinbo | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No | |
| 2024 | Monogatari Series Off & Monster Season | Akiyuki Shinbo Midori Yoshizawa | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | Yes | |

### Films

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | Art director | Background artist |
| 1986 | Gall Force: Eternal Story | Katsuhito Akiyama | AIC | Junichi Higashi [ja] | Yes |
| 1986 | They Were Eleven | Satoshi Dezaki Tsuneo Tominaga [ja] | Magic Bus | Junichi Higashi | Yes |
| 1989 | City Hunter: .357 Magnum | Kenji Kodama | Sunrise | Junichi Higashi | Yes |
| 1989 | Akuma-kun | Junichi Sato | Toei Animation | Junichi Higashi | Yes |
| 1990 | City Hunter: Bay City Wars | Kenji Kodama | Sunrise | Junichi Higashi | Yes |
| 2000 | Escaflowne | Kazuki Akane | Bones | Junichi Higashi | Yes |
| 2007 | Sword of the Stranger | Masahiro Andou (director) [ja] | Bones | Atsushi Morikawa | Yes |
| 2016 | Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu | Akiyuki Shinbo Tatsuya Oishi | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No |
| 2016 | Kizumonogatari II: Nekketsu | Akiyuki Shinbo Tatsuya Oishi | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No |
| 2017 | Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu | Akiyuki Shinbo Tatsuya Oishi | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No |
| 2017 | Fireworks | Akiyuki Shinbo Nobuyuki Takeuchi | Shaft | Hisaharu Iijima | No |