Hisayuki Toriumi (鳥海 永行, Toriumi Hisayuki, July 9, 1941 – January 23, 2009), sometimes credited as Eikō Toriumi, was a Japanese animation director, storyboardist, screenwriter, and novelist.[1]
After leaving Tatsunoko, he also became a prolific novelist from the 1980s onward.[1]
His representative work is the Kyūkei no Figurido series, which depicts the adventures and revenge of a man of Murakami Suigun who becomes a battle slave in Europe, where he arrives due to the betrayal of his comrades, set in England and France during the Hundred Years' War and in Japan during the Northern and Southern Courts.
Style
Toriumi's direction is very smart, dramatic, and complete.[2]Mamoru Oshii was strongly influenced by him, and Oshii professes him to be "my mentor."[3][4]
According to Oshii, he always dealt with family as a theme in his work, and the relationship between father and son was especially important to him. On the other hand, he had no interested in dramas between men and women.[5]
Toriumi also authored nearly two dozen novels. In addition to anime novelizations, he wrote mainly historically-themed novels based on Otogi-zōshi and Yomihon set in Japan from ancient times to the Middle Ages.[1]
Biography
Toriumi was born in Isehara, Kanagawa Pref., Japan, and graduated from the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law, Chuo University.[1]
After attending a screenwriting institute while in college with an interest in filmmaking, he joined Tatsunoko Productions in 1966.[1]
Toriumi was selected as the series director for the TV series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman in 1972, and went on to direct other Tatsunoko TV series in the 1970s including Tekkaman: The Space Knight and Hurricane Polymar.[1]
He was then asked to direct a sequel to "Gatchaman," but he did not accept because the story was already complete in his mind and he had nothing further to do.[5][6]
In December 1978, Toriumi left Tatsunoko.
Shocked by the death of the first president, Tatsuo Yoshida, and concerned about his own future at Tatsunoko, he decided to become a freelancer and take on work for other studios.
After working at Sunrise, he joined Yuji Nunokawa, who had quit Tatsunoko earlier, and became one of the founding members of Studio Pierrot.[1][7]
There, he worked on series such as The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and The Mysterious Cities of Gold.
In The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Mamoru Oshii, who transferred from Tatsunoko to Pierrot after apply to be his apprentice, also participated as one of the episode directors.[7]
However, in the following The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Oshii, who was scheduled to be an assistant director, was approached by President Nunokawa to direct Urusei Yatsura, and, prepared to be excommunicated, accepted the offer without telling Toriumi and dropped out.[3]
The film was not released theatrically at the time of its completion, but was screened for the first time in January 2015 at Uplink Shibuya in Tokyo.[9]
Shinzan Gensōtan (Yumemakura Baku Twilight Gekijō)
OVA
Coordinator
Studio Pierrot
1991
Michitekuru Toki no Mukō ni
Television film
Director
Studio Pierrot
Based on the novel Rakuen (Paradise), which won the Excellence Award at the 2nd Japan Fantasy Novel Award, the debut novel by Koji Suzuki, known for his Ring series.