天空のエスカフローネ
is a Japanese director of Japanese animation. Until the early 2000s, he was a staff member of the anime studio Sunrise, where he collaborated with Shoji Kawamori to direct his most famous work, "The Vision of Escaflowne". Since that time, he worked extensively with Satelight (and occasionally again with Kawamori, who is the studio's executive director) before going freelance once more to direct the "Birdy the Mighty" TV series, among other projects.