Masaaki Yuasa
Maruyama is one of the most talented producers in the Japanese animation industry, especially when it comes to finding and selecting talent. Among the talents he picked up were Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Hosoda, and Sunao Katabuchi, and he also gave Masaaki Yuasa and Mitsuo Iso a chance to direct at a very early stage. Munehisa Sakai and Park Sung-hu, who became MAPPA's main directors, and Sayo Yamamoto, his direct protégé at Madhouse, are also people whose talents were discovered by Maruyama.