---
name: "Katsuhiro Otomo"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/katsuhiro-otomo"
fi1m_id: "katsuhiro-otomo"
imdb_id: "nm0960028"
tmdb_id: 185
wikidata_id: "Q378710"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "14 April 1954"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T23:46:04.471182+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."
---

# Katsuhiro Otomo

## Identity

Katsuhiro Otomo

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/katsuhiro-otomo
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** katsuhiro-otomo
- **IMDb ID:** nm0960028
- **TMDB ID:** 185
- **Wikidata ID:** Q378710
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuhiro_Otomo, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q378710, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0960028/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/185

Director. Born 14 April 1954 in Miyagi, Japan.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 14 April 1954, Miyagi, Japan
- **Also known as:** Katsuhiro Ôtomo, Katsuhiro Ootomo
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuhiro_Otomo, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q378710, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0960028/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/185

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*Akira*](https://film.one/film/akira.md) (83)

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

## Fi1m on Katsuhiro Otomo

> Katsuhiro Otomo makes animated cities feel solid enough for their destruction to frighten us. We rate his precision and furious action highly, especially in *Akira*, though the people sometimes get less attention than the buildings.

In *Akira* (1988), the detail of the hand-drawn city matters as much as the speed of the action. Otomo’s attention to architecture, light and scale gives its destruction a force that frantic movement alone could not supply. We found the violence frightening because so much care had gone into making the city credible. There is pleasure in that precision too, in being allowed to look closely without finding that the backgrounds are merely filler. We recommend the film for this conviction, even when its story becomes difficult to untangle.

His move from manga into animation kept that concern with the physical world. He directed segments for *Neo Tokyo* (1987) and *Robot Carnival* (1987) before making *Akira* from his own still-unfinished manga. That progression matters: he brought the detailed environments of his drawn work into a feature driven by movement. The city can hold our attention on its own, but Otomo also wants the changing friendship at the centre to matter. Fitting both into the film proves less straightforward than making the action convincing.

Kaneda and Tetsuo give *Akira* a personal connection that helps when the wider story demands too much explanation. We can follow what is happening between them even when we struggle with the growing crowd around them. Otomo and fellow screenwriter Izo Hashimoto do not give those supporting characters equal room, and Kei is someone we would gladly have spent longer getting to know. The connections are sometimes hurried, which leaves some of the human consequences less clear than the physical damage. That is a real weakness in a film whose excitement otherwise holds.

His later directing work moves between features and anthology segments: *Cannon Fodder* in *Memories* (1995), then the steampunk action of *Steamboy* (2004). For *Short Peace* (2013), he directed and wrote *Combustible*, taking his detailed style into an Edo-period historical setting. These are useful reminders that his methods need not be confined to a futuristic city. Start with *Akira*, and allow it some untidy storytelling; the action has earned that much patience.

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Akira* (1988), Fi1m 83, Director, Comic Book, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/akira.md)

## Complete filmography (31)

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

- *Nezumikozo Jirokichi* (2023), Character Designer, Graphic Designer
- *Tokyo Reborn* (2019), series, Director
- *DOMU (Pilot)* (2016), Director, Writer, Comic Book
- *SHORT PEACE* (2013), series, Author, Director, Creator
- *Short Peace* (2013), Director, Screenplay, Original Story
- *A Farewell to Weapons* (2013), Original Story
- *Combustible* (2012), Director, Screenplay, Original Story
- *Legend of the Millennium Dragon* (2011), Conceptual Design
- *Hipira: The Little Vampire* (2009), series, Comic Book
- *Mushi-Shi: The Movie* (2007), Director, Screenplay
- *SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next* (2007), Comic Book, Creator, Character Designer
- *Freedom* (2006), series, Character Designer, Mechanical Designer
- *Steamboy* (2004), Director, Original Story, Screenplay
- *Metropolis* (2001), Screenplay, Storyboard Artist
- *Spriggan* (1998), Screenstory
- *Gundam: Mission to the Rise* (1998), Director, Writer
- *Gondora* (1997), Director
- *Memories* (1995), Director, Original Story, Screenplay, Character Designer, Executive Producer
- *Roujin Z* (1991), Screenplay, Key Animation, Original Story
- *World Apartment Horror* (1991), Director, Screenplay
- *Neo Tokyo* (1989), Director, Screenplay
- *空前のアニメ巨編 AKIRA アキラが動き出す!* (1988), Actor
- *So What* (1988), Original Story
- *Akira* (1988), Director, Comic Book, Screenplay — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/akira.md)
- *Robot Carnival* (1987), Director, Writer
- *Robot Carnival* (1987), series, Director, Writer, Creator
- *Harmagedon* (1983), Key Animation
- *Give Me a Gun, Give Me Freedom* (1982), Director, Writer
- *Shuffle* (1981), Comic Book
- *High School Erotopia: Red Uniforms* (1979), Original Story
- *Orbital Era*, Original Story, Director, Screenplay, Conceptual Design

## Gallery

- ![Katsuhiro Otomo](https://film.one/media/person/119264/gallery-a52b39211f8b.jpg) Katsuhiro Otomo — Selbymay, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/FIBD2016OtomoHermann_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Entrée de l'exposition hommage à Katsuhiro Otomo, Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême 2016.](https://film.one/media/person/119264/gallery-fdd82966988a.jpg) Entrée de l'exposition hommage à Katsuhiro Otomo, Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême 2016. — Selbymay, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/FIBD2016ExpoOtomo.jpg/1280px-FIBD2016ExpoOtomo.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Comics artist Hermann being awarded by the Grand Prix at Angoulême International Comics Festival opening ceremony. (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/119264/gallery-fef33459d776.jpg) Comics artist Hermann being awarded by the Grand Prix at Angoulême International Comics Festival opening ceremony. (2016) — Selbymay, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/FIBD2016Hermann04.jpg/1280px-FIBD2016Hermann04.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Katsuhiro Otomo riding Kaneda's motorcycle at Angoulême International Comics Festival. (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/119264/gallery-e2e69c6dc9eb.jpg) Katsuhiro Otomo riding Kaneda's motorcycle at Angoulême International Comics Festival. (2016) — Selbymay, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/FIBD2016Otomo01.jpg/1280px-FIBD2016Otomo01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Les auteurs de bande dessinée Katsuhiro Otomo et Hermann au festival d'Angoulême 2016.](https://film.one/media/person/119264/gallery-18fe8e593add.jpg) Les auteurs de bande dessinée Katsuhiro Otomo et Hermann au festival d'Angoulême 2016. — Selbymay, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/FIBD2016OtomoHermann.jpg/1280px-FIBD2016OtomoHermann.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Masterclass de Taiyō Matsumoto, animée par Lloyd Chery, cinéma CGR, Festival BD d'Angoulême 2019](https://film.one/media/person/119264/gallery-e818753543d2.jpg) Masterclass de Taiyō Matsumoto, animée par Lloyd Chery, cinéma CGR, Festival BD d'Angoulême 2019 — Selbymay, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/FIBD2019Matsumoto_02.jpg/1280px-FIBD2019Matsumoto_02.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Other awards — 9 won

- Grand prix de la ville d'Angoulême 2015: Grand prix de la ville d'Angoulême (won)
- Officer of Arts and Letters 2014: Officer of Arts and Letters (won)
- Medal with Purple Ribbon 2013: Medal with Purple Ribbon (won)
- Winsor McCay Award 2013: Winsor McCay Award (won)
- Will Eisner Hall of Fame 2012: Will Eisner Hall of Fame (won)
- Kodansha Manga Award 1984: Kodansha Manga Award (won), for *Akira*
- Seiun Award for Best Comic 1984: Seiun Award for Best Comic (won)
- Nihon SF Taisho Award 1983: Nihon SF Taisho Award (won), for *Domu: A Child's Dream*
- Seiun Award for Best Comic 1982: Seiun Award for Best Comic (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/katsuhiro-otomo