Kenji Kodama

**Kenji Kodama**
**Profile**
**Gender:**
Male
**Date of birth:**
December 13, 1949 *(76)*
**Place of birth:**
Hokkaido, Japan
**Position:**
Director
Organizer
Storyboard
Episode directorTechnical director
**Years active:**
1970-present
**Alias:**
宮本誠司
上川町人[](#cite_note-alias-1)
His actual name is written "児玉兼嗣".
**Kenji Kodama** (こだま 兼嗣 ,*Kodama Kenji*[?](/wiki/Help:Japanese "Help:Japanese")), born December 13, 1949, is a Japanese anime director, and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing the anime *Detective Conan* and working with the anime *Lupin III*. He directed the [anime](/wiki/Anime "Anime") from episodes 1 to 118. He was later replaced by [Yasuichiro Yamamoto](/wiki/Yasuichiro_Yamamoto "Yasuichiro Yamamoto") and became chief director from episodes 119 to 252. He was also the director for the first 7 [movies](/wiki/Movies "Movies").
## Contents
* [1 Biography](#Biography)
* [2 Works in Detective Conan](#Works_in_Detective_Conan)
+ [2.1 Anime](#Anime)
+ [2.2 Openings and Endings](#Openings_and_Endings)
+ [2.3 Movies](#Movies)
* [3 Other notable works](#Other_notable_works)
+ [3.1 Anime](#Anime_2)
+ [3.2 Non-anime](#Non-anime)
* [4 See also](#See_also)
* [5 References](#References)
## Biography[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Kenji_Kodama&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Biography")]
In 1970, Kodama worked under Tokyo Movie (東京ムービー), afterwards, he joined the production of several anime works such as  *[Star of the Giants](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_the_Giants "wikipedia:Star of the Giants")* (巨人の星) and *Ghost Q-Taro* (オバケのQ太郎). Which mainly, he worked as director, technical director, key animator, character designer, and animation director etc. Moreover, when he was working on the production of the series *[Lupin the Third](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupin_the_Third "wikipedia:Lupin the Third")* (ルパン三世), he had accepted the training from senior animators, [Takeo Kitahara](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ja:%E5%8C%97%E5%8E%9F%E5%81%A5%E9%9B%84 "wikipedia:ja:北原健雄") (北原 健雄) and [Yuzo Aoki](/wiki/Yuzo_Aoki "Yuzo Aoki").
From 1997 to 1980, Kodama was responsible for almost 70% of the animation directing work of the series *Lupin the Third*. Until he was responsible of the episode directing of the 26th episode of the anime *[The Gutsy Frog](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gutsy_Frog "wikipedia:The Gutsy Frog")* (ど根性ガエル) in 1981, he had just officially debuted as a proper technical director. Furthermore, the second season of the anime *[Cat's Eye](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cat%27s_Eye_episodes "wikipedia:List of Cat's Eye episodes")* (キャッツ・アイ) from 1983 was the first animation work that Kodama served as the director.
Kenji Kodama at Japan Expo 2010
In 1987, while Kodama was in charge of the director role in the anime *[City Hunter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Hunter "wikipedia:City Hunter")* (シティーハンター), he consigned the character design role to his wife, whom he had met when he was working on *Lupin the Third* series. On the other hand, he did storyboard, episode director, and screenplay as well. In 1996, Kodama began to serve as the director of the *Detective Conan* anime and movies. After [**Episode 118**: The Naniwa Serial Murder Case](/wiki/The_Naniwa_Serial_Murder_Case "The Naniwa Serial Murder Case"), he was promoted to the chief director of the series, and on the contrary his disciple, Yasuichiro Yamamoto thus became the director. In 2001, after [**Episode 252**: The Kidnapper in the Picture](/wiki/The_Kidnapper_in_the_Picture "The Kidnapper in the Picture"), Kodama was no longer the director of the *Detective Conan* anime and quit the anime production. In 2003, after movie 7, Kodama also quit the *Detective Conan* movie production.
Surprisingly, in 2021, after entirely 18 years, Kenji Kodama, who used the pseudonym **Chonin Kamikawa** (上川 町人 ,*Kamikawa Chōnin*[?](/wiki/Help:Japanese "Help:Japanese"))[[Note 1]](#cite_note-2), returned to the *Detective Conan* anime production team and temporarily did the storyboard work of [**Episode 999**: Troublesome Kindness](/wiki/Troublesome_Kindness "Troublesome Kindness").
## Works in [Detective Conan](/wiki/Detective_Conan "Detective Conan")[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Kenji_Kodama&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Works in Detective Conan")]
### Anime[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Kenji_Kodama&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: Anime")]
Participation in: **30** cases (36 episodes)
| Jpn# | Int# | Episode title | Original broadcast | Role | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 1 | [Roller Coaster Murder Case](/wiki/Roller_Coaster_Murder_Case "Roller Coaster Murder Case") | January 8, 1996 | Storyboard, Episode director |  |
| 2 | 2 | [Company President's Daughter Kidnapping Case](/wiki/Company_President%27s_Daughter_Kidnapping_Case "Company President's Daughter Kidnapping Case") | January 15, 1996 | Storyboard |  |
| 11 | 11-12 | [Moonlight Sonata Murder Case](/wiki/Moonlight_Sonata_Murder_Case "Moonlight Sonata Murder Case") | April 8, 1996 | Organizer, Storyboard | 1 hour |
| 22 | 23 | [Luxury Liner Serial Murder Case (Part 1)](/wiki/Luxury_Liner_Serial_Murder_Case "Luxury Liner Serial Murder Case") | July 1, 1996 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 27 | 28 | [Kogoro's Class Reunion Murder Case (Part 1)](/wiki/Kogoro%27s_Class_Reunion_Murder_Case "Kogoro's Class Reunion Murder Case") | August 5, 1996 | Storyboard |  |
| 28 | 29 | [Kogoro's Class Reunion Murder Case (Part 2)](/wiki/Kogoro%27s_Class_Reunion_Murder_Case "Kogoro's Class Reunion Murder Case") | August 12, 1996 | Storyboard |  |
| 32 | 33 | [Coffee Shop Murder Case](/wiki/Coffee_Shop_Murder_Case "Coffee Shop Murder Case") | September 9, 1996 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 43 | 44 | [Conan Edogawa Kidnapping Case](/wiki/Conan_Edogawa_Kidnapping_Case "Conan Edogawa Kidnapping Case") | January 13, 1997 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 67 | 69 | [Stage Actress Murder Case](/wiki/Stage_Actress_Murder_Case "Stage Actress Murder Case") | July 14, 1997 | Storyboard |  |
| 76 | 78-79 | [Conan vs. Kaitou Kid](/wiki/Conan_vs._Kaitou_Kid "Conan vs. Kaitou Kid") | September 22, 1997 | Organizer, Storyboard | 1 hour |
| 77 | 80 | [Distinguished Family's Consecutive Accidental Death Case (Part 1)](/wiki/Distinguished_Family%27s_Consecutive_Accidental_Death_Case "Distinguished Family's Consecutive Accidental Death Case") | October 20, 1997 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 80 | 83 | [The Wandering Artist Murder Case](/wiki/The_Wandering_Artist_Murder_Case "The Wandering Artist Murder Case") | November 10, 1997 | Storyboard |  |
| 85 | 88 | [Ski Lodge Murder Case (Part 2)](/wiki/Ski_Lodge_Murder_Case "Ski Lodge Murder Case") | December 15, 1997 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 87 | 90 | [The Crane's Return of a Favor Murder Case](/wiki/The_Crane%27s_Return_of_a_Favor_Murder_Case "The Crane's Return of a Favor Murder Case") | January 19, 1998 | Storyboard |  |
| 103 | 109 | [The Historical Actor Murder Case (Part 2)](/wiki/The_Historical_Actor_Murder_Case "The Historical Actor Murder Case") | May 25, 1998 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 109 | 115 | [Detective Club Pursuit Case](/wiki/Detective_Club_Pursuit_Case "Detective Club Pursuit Case") | July 13, 1998 | Storyboard |  |
| 111 | 117 | [Cooking Classroom Murder Case (Part 2)](/wiki/Cooking_Classroom_Murder_Case "Cooking Classroom Murder Case") | August 3, 1998 | Storyboard |  |
| 114 | 120 | [Scuba Diving Murder Case (Part 1)](/wiki/Scuba_Diving_Murder_Case "Scuba Diving Murder Case") | August 24, 1998 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 119 | 126 | [The Kamen Yaiba Murder Case](/wiki/The_Kamen_Yaiba_Murder_Case "The Kamen Yaiba Murder Case") | October 12, 1998 | Storyboard |  |
| 124 | 131 | [A Mysterious Sniper Murder Case (Part 1)](/wiki/A_Mysterious_Sniper_Murder_Case "A Mysterious Sniper Murder Case") | November 16, 1998 | Storyboard |  |
| 146 | 156 | [Metropolitan Police Detective Love Story (Part 1)](/wiki/Metropolitan_Police_Detective_Love_Story "Metropolitan Police Detective Love Story") | May 24, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 147 | 157 | [Metropolitan Police Detective Love Story (Part 2)](/wiki/Metropolitan_Police_Detective_Love_Story "Metropolitan Police Detective Love Story") | May 31, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 153 | 163 | [Sonoko's Dangerous Summer Story (Part 1)](/wiki/Sonoko%27s_Dangerous_Summer_Story "Sonoko's Dangerous Summer Story") | July 19, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 154 | 164 | [Sonoko's Dangerous Summer Story (Part 2)](/wiki/Sonoko%27s_Dangerous_Summer_Story "Sonoko's Dangerous Summer Story") | July 26, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 159 | 169 | [The Legend of the Mysterious Five Storied Pagoda (Part 1)](/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Mysterious_Five_Storied_Pagoda "The Legend of the Mysterious Five Storied Pagoda") | September 6, 1999 | Storyboard |  |
| 160 | 170 | [The Legend of the Mysterious Five Storied Pagoda (Part 2)](/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Mysterious_Five_Storied_Pagoda "The Legend of the Mysterious Five Storied Pagoda") | September 13, 1999 | Storyboard |  |
| 161 | 171 | [The Murder Floating in the Water Stream Restaurant](/wiki/The_Murder_Floating_in_the_Water_Stream_Restaurant "The Murder Floating in the Water Stream Restaurant") | September 20, 1999 | Storyboard |  |
| 162 | 172-173 | [The Locked Room in the Sky: Shinichi Kudo's First Case](/wiki/The_Locked_Room_in_the_Sky:_Shinichi_Kudo%27s_First_Case "The Locked Room in the Sky: Shinichi Kudo's First Case") | September 27, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard | 1 hour |
| 190 | 205 | [The Desperate Revival: The Third Choice](/wiki/The_Desperate_Revival "The Desperate Revival") | May 15, 2000 | Organizer, Storyboard |  |
| 201 | 216 | [The Tenth Passenger (Part 1)](/wiki/The_Tenth_Passenger "The Tenth Passenger") | July 31, 2000 | Storyboard |  |
| 202 | 217 | [The Tenth Passenger (Part 2)](/wiki/The_Tenth_Passenger "The Tenth Passenger") | August 7, 2000 | Storyboard |  |
| 208 | 224-225 | [The Entrance to the Maze: The Anger of the Colossus](/wiki/The_Entrance_to_the_Maze:_The_Anger_of_the_Colossus "The Entrance to the Maze: The Anger of the Colossus") | October 9, 2000 | Storyboard | 1 hour |
| 236 | 255 | [The Nanki Shirahama Mystery Tour (Part 1)](/wiki/The_Nanki_Shirahama_Mystery_Tour "The Nanki Shirahama Mystery Tour") | June 4, 2001 | Storyboard | Mystery tour |
| 237 | 256 | [The Nanki Shirahama Mystery Tour (Part 2)](/wiki/The_Nanki_Shirahama_Mystery_Tour "The Nanki Shirahama Mystery Tour") | June 11, 2001 | Storyboard | Mystery tour |
| 263 | 282-285 | [The Osaka Double Mystery - The Naniwa Swordsman and Toyotomi's Castle](/wiki/The_Osaka_Double_Mystery_-_The_Naniwa_Swordsman_and_Toyotomi%27s_Castle "The Osaka Double Mystery - The Naniwa Swordsman and Toyotomi's Castle") | January 7, 2002 | Organizer, Storyboard | 2 hours |
| 999 | 1056 | [Troublesome Kindness](/wiki/Troublesome_Kindness "Troublesome Kindness") | February 27, 2021 | Storyboard | Under pseudonym   **上川町人** |
### Openings and Endings[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Kenji_Kodama&action=edit&section=4 "Edit section: Openings and Endings")]
Participation in: **3** openings and **3** endings
| # | Song name | Original title | Role | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OP | | | | |
| OP1 | [Mune ga Dokidoki](/wiki/Mune_ga_Dokidoki "Mune ga Dokidoki") | 胸がドキドキ | Storyboard, Technical director | Episode 1187 version as well. |
| OP2 | [Feel Your Heart](/wiki/Feel_Your_Heart "Feel Your Heart") | Feel Your Heart | Storyboard, Technical director |  |
| OP3 | [Nazo](/wiki/Nazo "Nazo") | 謎 | Storyboard |  |
| ED | | | | |
| ED1 | [STEP BY STEP](/wiki/STEP_BY_STEP "STEP BY STEP") | STEP BY STEP | Storyboard, Technical director | Storyboard in the episode 1187 version as well. |
| ED2 | [Meikyū no Lovers](/wiki/Meiky%C5%AB_no_Lovers "Meikyū no Lovers") | 迷宮のラヴァーズ | Storyboard, Technical director |  |
| ED3 | [Hikari to Kage no Roman](/wiki/Hikari_to_Kage_no_Roman "Hikari to Kage no Roman") | 光と影のロマン | Storyboard |  |
### Movies[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Kenji_Kodama&action=edit&section=5 "Edit section: Movies")]
Participation in: **7** movies
| Movie | Title | Original airdate | Role | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [The Time-Bombed Skyscraper](/wiki/The_Time-Bombed_Skyscraper "The Time-Bombed Skyscraper") | April 19, 1997 | Director, Storyboard |  |
| 2 | [The Fourteenth Target](/wiki/The_Fourteenth_Target "The Fourteenth Target") | April 18, 1998 | Director, Storyboard |  |
| 3 | [The Last Wizard of the Century](/wiki/The_Last_Wizard_of_the_Century "The Last Wizard of the Century") | April 17, 1999 | Director, Storyboard |  |
| 4 | [Captured in Her Eyes](/wiki/Captured_in_Her_Eyes "Captured in Her Eyes") | April 22, 2000 | Director, Storyboard |  |
| 5 | [Countdown to Heaven](/wiki/Countdown_to_Heaven "Countdown to Heaven") | April 21, 2001 | Director, Storyboard |  |
| 6 | [The Phantom of Baker Street](/wiki/The_Phantom_of_Baker_Street "The Phantom of Baker Street") | April 20, 2002 | Director, Storyboard |  |
| 7 | [Crossroad in the Ancient Capital](/wiki/Crossroad_in_the_Ancient_Capital "Crossroad in the Ancient Capital") | April 19, 2003 | Director, Storyboard |  |
## Other notable works[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Kenji_Kodama&action=edit&section=6 "Edit section: Other notable works")]
### Anime[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Kenji_Kodama&action=edit&section=7 "Edit section: Anime")]
* *City Hunter*: Director
* *Crayon Shin-chan: Action Kamen vs Haigure Maô*: In-between animation
* *Flanders no Inu, Boku no Patrasche*: Director
* *Lupin III: Part II*: Character design, Storyboard
* *Sonic X*: Key animation
* *Tokyo Mew Mew*: Key animation
### Non-anime[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Kenji_Kodama&action=edit&section=8 "Edit section: Non-anime")]
* *Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats*: Layout artist