Age: 41
female
Naoko Yamada (山田 尚子) is a Japanese animator, television and film director. Working at Kyoto Animation, she directed the K-On! and Tamako Market anime series, and the anime films A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird. Yamada intended to work in film after university, but she decided to join Kyoto Animation after seeing an advertisement. Her first assignment at KyoAni was drawing inbetween frames for Inuyasha. She was eventually promoted to a key animator for Air. After working as an episode director of Clannad, she was asked to make her chief directorial debut with K-On!, an adaptation of a slice-of-life manga. The series was very successful, spurring a second season and a film. In 2013, she directed Tamako Market, and followed it with the film Tamako Love Story in 2014. For Tamako Love Story, she was awarded the New Face Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival. She storyboarded the entire film herself, and also wrote the lyrics for the opening theme song, Everybody Loves Somebody. Yamada's next project was the feature film A Silent Voice, an adaptation of the manga of the same name, that reflected on elements of bullying and physical impairment in Japan. The film opened at #2 in the Japanese Box Office and grossed a total of ¥2.3 billion, the 19th highest-grossing film in Japan in 2016. The film also received multiple award nominations, including Best Animation Film in the Mainichi Film Awards and the Excellent Animation of the Year in the Japan Academy Prize. For Yamada, the most important part of being a director is to observe people. She describes herself as a "method" director, emphasizing the minds of the characters. On July 18, 2019, a man started a fire at the main studio of Kyoto Animation, killing 36 of Yamada's colleagues and wounding 33 others. Yamada was reported not to have been hurt in the fire. In 2020, Yamada left KyoAni to join Science SARU, where she directed 2021's The Heike Story. Source: Wikipedia
Naoko Yamada
Director (Japanese)
for Director (Japanese) in Pokemon Adventures: The Animated Series - Kalos Arc
Suggested by demurelyhydrated
X has always been a talented Pokemon trainer. When he was young, he was known as a child prodigy in the world of Pokemon battling, and even came close to achieving fame and his dream, but just as his star started to rise, a traumatic incident caused him to give up Pokemon battling and become a recluse. Despite the protests of his childhood friends—spunky aspiring Sky Trainer Y Gabena, chipper Shauna who dreams of being a Furfrou groomer, atheletic and easygoing Tierno who wants to be a dancer, and timid Trevor who aspires to be a scholar—X refuses to face the world... That is, until a brawl between two ancient Pokemon from Kalosian history devastates his home town! With his town in ruins and its other residents missing, X and his friends vow to find out the true nature of the matter, and for the first time in years, X steps foot outside of his house... ║ Fancast for an anime adaptation of Pokemon Adventures/Pokemon Special. This specific arc would cover the "X & Y" saga of the manga, and only includes characters who debuted/gained larger roles in this arc - for characters from the past arcs, see their respective fancasts. Professional VAs only, no celebs, English and Japanese voice options available. For an additional challenge if you want it, don't use any voice actors who previously portrayed the cast's game/anime counterparts.
