Masaaki Yuasa
Masaaki Yuasa was born on March 16, 1965 in Fukuoka, Japan. As a child, Yuasa liked animation, and as early as his kindergarten years found he could entertain classmates with his drawings. Despite pressure to abandon animation and move onto more serious interests as he grew to adolescence, Yuasa was encouraged by the early boom of Japanese animation aimed at adults spurred by the success of "Space Battleship Yamato", and this led him to continue drawing. He graduated from Kyushu Sangyo University with a degree in fine arts and a focus on oil painting. During his college years, Yuasa worried he would not be able to make a living as an animator, but continued to study television animation as it aired and familiarize himself with animators whose personal styles resonated with him.