---
name: "Haruo Sotozaki"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/haruo-sotozaki"
fi1m_id: "haruo-sotozaki"
imdb_id: "nm1417038"
tmdb_id: 1283010
wikidata_id: "Q28687612"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "1 January 1901"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "director"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-10-05T15:18:17.690218+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Haruo Sotozaki

## Identity

Haruo Sotozaki

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/haruo-sotozaki
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** haruo-sotozaki
- **IMDb ID:** nm1417038
- **TMDB ID:** 1283010
- **Wikidata ID:** Q28687612
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruo_Sotozaki, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28687612, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1417038/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1283010

Director. Born 1 January 1901 in Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 1 January 1901, Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan
- **Active:** 2019–present
- **Also known as:** そとざき はるお, 外崎 春雄
- **Frequently works with:** [Hiro Shimono](https://film.one/person/hiro-shimono.md), [Masanori Miyake](https://film.one/person/masanori-miyake.md), [Natsuki Hanae](https://film.one/person/natsuki-hanae.md), [Yūma Takahashi](https://film.one/person/yuma-takahashi.md), [Akari Kitō](https://film.one/person/akari-kito.md), [Akifumi Fujio](https://film.one/person/akifumi-fujio.md), [Yoshitsugu Matsuoka](https://film.one/person/yoshitsugu-matsuoka.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as director, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruo_Sotozaki, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28687612, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1417038/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1283010

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train*](https://film.one/film/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-the-movie-mugen-train.md) (77)
- **Apple TV:** [*Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle*](https://film.one/film/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-infinity-castle.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Haruo Sotozaki

> Haruo Sotozaki makes animated combat worth following move by move and gives his enemies reasons to fight. We rate his action highly, though his habit of interrupting a good fight to explain its participants needs firmer control.

A duel is under way, the moves are worth watching, and Haruo Sotozaki sends us back into somebody’s past. *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle* (2025) repeatedly tests our patience that way. Yet its opponents have enough resentment and suffering to make their histories matter, and the fighting has enough invention to bring us back. We recommend his action to those already invested in the series, with reservations about how often he interrupts it.

Before *Demon Slayer*, his series work ran from *Ninja Nonsense* (2004) to *Tales of Zestiria the X* (2016–2017). The turn came with *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba* (2019–2024), which established his reputation for action at ufotable. *Mugen Train* (2020) took that work into cinemas, followed by *Infinity Castle*. The latter’s episodic rhythm shows the difficulty of sustaining a feature through one confrontation and recollection after another.

His action combines hand-drawn characters with computer-generated environments, an approach that needs close attention to how the two fit together. Sotozaki’s supervision extends from storyboards and key animation checks to character acting and composition across shots. Among his collaborators is director of photography Yūichi Terao; the consistent visual style is the work of a long-standing ufotable team. In *Infinity Castle*, that collective effort produces elaborate arenas without making the individual moves feel incidental. We can appreciate the setting and still follow the people fighting inside it.

The limit is his handling of time. Editor Manabu Kamino has to hold *Infinity Castle*’s encounters together, and the repeated returns to the past keep breaking the momentum. We grew impatient when another flashback delayed combat that was already holding our attention. The low-key comedy offers welcome relief, and some of the demons’ histories deserve the pause, but at 156 minutes the film needs firmer decisions about which memories to keep. Do not make *Infinity Castle* an introduction to *Demon Slayer*; Sotozaki expects us to know these people already.

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle* (2025), Fi1m 74, Director, Storyboard Artist — [page](https://film.one/film/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-infinity-castle.md)
- *Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train* (2020), Fi1m 77, Director, Second Unit Director, Animation Director, Storyboard Artist — [page](https://film.one/film/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-the-movie-mugen-train.md)

## Complete filmography (58)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle* (2025), Director, Storyboard Artist, Animation Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-infinity-castle.md)
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Special Edition Hashira Training Arc Part 2* (2025), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Special Edition Hashira Training Arc Part 1* (2025), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Special Edition Swordsmith Village Arc Part 2* (2025), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Special Edition Swordsmith Village Arc Part 1* (2025), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Infiltration Arc* (2025), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Hashira Training-* (2024), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Entertainment District Decisive Battle Arc* (2023), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village-* (2023), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Tsuzumi Mansion Arc* (2022), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Asakusa Arc* (2022), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Hashira Meeting Arc* (2021), Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mt. Natagumo Arc* (2021), Director
- *Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train* (2020), Director, Animation Director, Storyboard Artist, Second Unit Director — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-the-movie-mugen-train.md)
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba* (2019), series, Series Director, Animation Director, Director, Opening/Ending Animation, Key Animation, Storyboard Artist
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Sibling's Bond* (2019), Director
- *Tales of Zestiria the X* (2016), series, Series Director
- *Tales of Zestiria: The Shepherd's Advent* (2014), Second Unit Director, Key Animation, Storyboard Artist, Director
- *Magical Sisters Yoyo & Nene* (2013), Animation Director
- *Zetman* (2012), series, Key Animation
- *Eden of the East Movie II: Paradise Lost* (2010), Key Animation
- *Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike* (2009), Key Animation
- *Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood* (2009), series, Key Animation
- *Inazuma Eleven* (2008), series, Key Animation
- *Antique Bakery* (2008), series, Animation Director
- *Tales of Symphonia: The Animation* (2007), series, Series Director, Key Animation
- *Reideen* (2007), series, Key Animation
- *Noein: To Your Other Self* (2005), series, Animation Director
- *Naruto the Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel* (2005), Key Animation
- *Lupin the Third: Swallowtail Tattoo* (2004), Animation Director
- *Ninja Nonsense* (2004), series, Key Animation
- *Samurai 7* (2004), series, Key Animation
- *New Fist of the North Star* (2003), series, Character Designer
- *New Fist of the North Star: The Cursed City* (2003), Animation Director
- *E's Otherwise* (2003), series, Key Animation
- *Heat Guy J* (2002), series, Animation Director, Key Animation
- *Naruto* (2002), series, Key Animation, Animation Director
- *Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex* (2002), series, Key Animation
- *eX-Driver the Movie* (2002), Key Animation
- *Rave Master* (2001), series, Key Animation
- *X* (2001), series, Director
- *Cowboy Bebop: The Movie* (2001), Key Animation
- *Fruits Basket* (2001), series, Animation Director, Director
- *R.O.D: Read or Die* (2001), series, Key Animation
- *The SoulTaker* (2001), series, Key Animation
- *Star Ocean EX* (2001), series, Key Animation
- *Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon* (2001), Key Animation
- *Initial D: Third Stage* (2001), Animation Director, Key Animation
- *Earth Maiden Arjuna* (2001), series, Animation Director, Animation, Key Animation
- *Saiyuki* (2000), series, Animation Director
- *Hunter x Hunter* (1999), series, Key Animation
- *You're Under Arrest: The Motion Picture* (1999), Key Animation
- *Legend of Himiko* (1999), series, Animation Director
- *Eat-Man '98* (1998), series, Animation Director, Key Animation
- *AWOL -Absent Without Leave-* (1998), series, Key Animation
- *Rurouni Kenshin* (1996), series, Key Animation
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Infinity Castle 3*, Director
- *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Infinity Castle 2*, Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/haruo-sotozaki