Keiichi Hara
Biography. What started Hara on his career as an animation creator was visiting an animation film company as part of his job hunting activities after graduating from Tokyo Designer Gakuin College (TDG). He recklessly left the tour, an act normally forbidden for visitors, and then begged an artistic director to give him a job. A few days later he returned with some continuity drawings he created, as requested. As a result, he was introduced to a commercial film studio. After working at the studio for eighteen months, he joined Shin-Ei Animation on the recommendation of the president  Keijiro Kurokawa. At Shin-Ei he began working on a TV series "Kaibutsu-kun" as a production manager, then was moved to "Doraemon". There for the first time he took on the role of animation director. In working on "Doraemon", he was influenced by the chief director Tsutomu Shibayama. Since Hara admired Fujiko Fujio, "Doraemon"'s original author, he worked hard and became known for improving quality. He appeared in an animation magazine as a new director to look out for. After "Obake no Q Taro" and "Doraemon", he was chosen as chief director of "Esper Mami" and worked for  this TV series for two and a half years. When "Esper Mami" ended, he took a break for ten months. Then he returned by working on "". After "21 emon", he worked on "Crayon Shin-chan". For "Shin-chan" he did direction and continuity both for the TV series and the movies, becoming director in October 1996. The 2001 Crayon Shin-chan movie "" earned critical praise, and raised his profile. The following year's "" was commended by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. As of 2012 Hara has begun shooting his first live-action film, "Hajimari no Michi", which was released in  June, 2013.