Shinji Higuchi

__NOTOC__
Shinji Higuchi (Japanese: 樋口真嗣), born September 22, 1965, Tokyo, is a writer, director, storyboard artist and a prominent special effects figure in Japanese film and television. As a teenager he was one of the four founding members of (originally established as Daicon Films), working on many anime and productions. He played an important part in the creation of the popular anime series , serving as writer, assistant director, and art director/storyboarder. His previous work on the anime led the show's director and fellow Gainax member to name Evangelion's protagonist, after him as an inside joke.
Higuchi initially started his career in the mid 80s working within special effects on several films, and by the mid 90's had established himself as a master within the field with the release of the acclaimed trilogy of films. During this time, he continued to be a storyboarder for anime such as and , his wife also providing the namesake for the former's heroine, Noriko Takaya.
In addition to his special effects direction, Higuchi branched into CG animation for several tokusatsu films in the early 2000s, and has since directed a number of live-action films. Higuchi became involved within the Pokémon franchise during the production of Jirachi: Wish Maker as a storyboard artist in 2004. He was later commissioned to produce the artwork for the new cards that first appeared in the expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and went on to co-illustrate all subsequent Pokémon LEGEND cards released in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Series. He was also involved in the art direction of two cards from the expansion in collaboration with 3D illustrator Kent Kanetsuna.
==Artwork==
===Cards illustrated===
Ho-OhLEGENDHeartGoldSoulSilver111.jpg|Ho-Oh LEGEND (HeartGold & SoulSilver 111)
LugiaLEGENDHeartGoldSoulSilver113.jpg|Lugia LEGEND (HeartGold & SoulSilver 113)
EnteiRaikouLEGENDUnleashed90.jpg|Entei & Raikou LEGEND (Unleashed 90)
RaikouSuicuneLEGENDUnleashed92.jpg|Raikou & Suicune LEGEND (Unleashed 92)
KyogreGroudonLEGENDUndaunted87.jpg|Kyogre & Groudon LEGEND (Undaunted 87)
RayquazaDeoxysLEGENDUndaunted89.jpg|Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND (Undaunted 89)
DarkraiCresseliaLEGENDTriumphant99.jpg|Darkrai & Cresselia LEGEND (Triumphant 99)
PalkiaDialgaLEGENDTriumphant101.jpg|Palkia & Dialga LEGEND (Triumphant 101)
===Cards directed===
ScizorUndaunted7.jpg|Scizor (Undaunted 7)
ScytherUndaunted36.jpg|Scyther (Undaunted 36)
==Works==
===Live-action===
Title 	Date	Position
 	1984	Assistant Special Effects Director
 	1985	Special Effects Director
Peacock King 	1988	Special Effects
Mikadroid: Robokill Beneath Disco Club Layla	1991	Special Effects Director
 	1995	Special Effects Director
 	1996	Special Effects Director
 	1999	Special Effects Director
Sakuya: Slayer of Demons 	2000	Special Effects
 	2001	Special Effects
 	2001	Special Effects Director
 	2001	Special Effects Coordinator
 	2002	Director
Dragonhead 	2003	Special Effects
 	2003	Production Coordinator: Tokyo
 	2004	Storyboard Artist
 	2005	Director
 	2006	Director
 	2008	Director
MM9 	2009	Director
 	2012	Director
The Floating Castle 	2012	Director
===Animation===
Title 	Date 	Position
 	1988 	Assistant Director
Gunbuster 	1988 	Storyboard Artist
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (17 episodes)	1990-1991	Director/Storyboard Artist
Otaku no Video 	1991 	Storyboard Artist
 	1994 	Storyboard Artist
Neon Genesis Evangelion 	1995-1996	Writer/Assistant Director/Art Director/Storyboard Artist
 	1997 	Writer/Storyboard Artist
 	2000 	Storyboard Artist
Vandread: The Second Stage 	2001 	Storyboard Artist
 	2002 	Magic Circle Sequence
Jirachi: Wish Maker 	2004 	Storyboard Artist
 	2004-2005	Storyboard Artist
 	2007 	Storyboard Artist
 	2007 	Storyboard Artist
 	2009 	Title Logo Design
 	2009 	Image Board/Storyboard Artist
 	2012 	Image Board/Storyboard Artist
 	2013 	Storyboard Artist
 	2021 	Storyboard Artist
===Games===
Title	Platform	Date	Position
 	 	2006	Storyboard: Digital Frontier Inc.
Higuchi, Shinji
de:Shinji Higuchi
fr:Shinji Higuchi
ja:樋口真嗣