---
name: "Mamoru Oshii"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/mamoru-oshii"
fi1m_id: "mamoru-oshii"
imdb_id: "nm0651900"
tmdb_id: 12180
wikidata_id: "Q285084"
roles: ["Storyboard artist","Director"]
born: "8 August 1951"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 0
updated: "2026-09-17T22:08:13.646306+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."
---

# Mamoru Oshii

## Identity

Mamoru Oshii

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/mamoru-oshii
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** mamoru-oshii
- **IMDb ID:** nm0651900
- **TMDB ID:** 12180
- **Wikidata ID:** Q285084
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamoru_Oshii, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q285084, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0651900/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12180

Storyboard artist and director. Born 8 August 1951 in Tokyo, Japan.

## Details

- **Work:** Storyboard artist, Director
- **Born:** 8 August 1951, Tokyo, Japan
- **Also known as:** 押井 守, おしい まもる
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamoru_Oshii, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q285084, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0651900/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12180

## Coming up

- *Armored Trooper VOTOMS: Die Graue Hexe - Part 1* (2026-11-20), Director

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Ghost in the Shell*](https://film.one/film/ghost-in-the-shell.md) (83)

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

## Fi1m on Mamoru Oshii

> Mamoru Oshii makes absorbing science fiction about bodies and minds that technology has made difficult to understand. We recommend his patient, melancholy cinema, with a warning that the explanations are sometimes more confusing than the pictures.

Oshii often stops the dialogue and lets a montage unfold to Kenji Kawai's music. Kawai helps those stretches hold our attention; we are allowed to look without having everything explained. In *Ghost in the Shell* (1995), the animated city gives his questions about being human a convincing setting long before the dialogue finishes explaining them. We recommend it for that city and for its willingness to imagine technological change without treating it simply as a disaster. The plotting demands patience, and some of the explanations only make it harder.

The sparse dialogue and surreal imagery of *Angel's Egg* (1985) had established his meditative style after television work on *Urusei Yatsura*. With the creative collective Headgear, he directed the *Patlabor* films, refining his approach to near-future settings in *Patlabor 2* (1993). These settings gave his interest in technology somewhere concrete to develop. International recognition came with *Ghost in the Shell*; he later explored virtual reality in the live-action *Avalon* (2001).

We were unsettled by the exposed bodies in *Ghost in the Shell*, because their mechanical elements make their human appearance difficult to trust. The repeated exposure has a purpose: we cannot use the body's surface to decide what sort of being this is. That does not remove the discomfort of repeatedly undressing an animated woman, and the film does not wholly justify it. What keeps us with him is his willingness to consider that technological change might bring something other than disaster. He allows us to be curious about a possibility that also disturbs us.

His weakness is the amount of explaining he sometimes requires us to sit through. *Ghost in the Shell* has passages that make an already demanding plot harder to follow, and its people could use more warmth. Its precise, violent action is welcome partly because it gives us a pleasure that needs no explanation. The dense, quotation-heavy dialogue of *Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence* (2004) suggests that this habit did not diminish with experience. Start with *Ghost in the Shell*, and do not make it the household's choice for a cheerful evening.

## Biography

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese film director, screenwriter and television director. He was born on 8 August 1951 in Tokyo and graduated from Tokyo Gakugei University in 1976. He began his career at Tatsunoko Productions, working as a storyboard artist before directing anime series and films.

Oshii directed the first OVA, *Dallos* (1983). He is known for directing *Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer* (1984), *Angel's Egg* (1985), *Patlabor 2: The Movie* (1993), *Ghost in the Shell* (1995), *Avalon* (2001) and *Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence* (2004). He also wrote the screenplay or original story for several of these and other projects, including *Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade* (1999).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, rottentomatoes.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Ghost in the Shell* (1995), Fi1m 83, Storyboard Artist, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/ghost-in-the-shell.md)

## Complete filmography (85)

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

- *Armored Trooper VOTOMS: Die Graue Hexe - Part 1* (2026), Director, Screenplay
- *Innovators of Japan Anime* (2025), Actor
- *The Fire Hunter* (2023), series, as Series Composition · Writer, Storyboard Artist
- *Blood Friends* (2022), Director
- *Vlad Love* (2021), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Storyboard Artist, Original Story, Series Composition, Director, Creator
- *We Made a Beautiful Bouquet* (2021), as Mamoru Oshii
- *CONNECTED...* (2020), Director, Story
- *Beautiful Dreamer* (2020), Original Story
- *Illang: The Wolf Brigade* (2018), Original Story
- *Sand Whale and Me* (2017), series, Director, Creator
- *Mobile Police Patlabor Reboot* (2016), Original Story
- *G2.5* (2016), Director, Writer
- *Nowhere Girl* (2015), Director
- *The Next Generation Patlabor: Tokyo War* (2015), Director, Screenplay, Original Story
- *THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Chapter 7* (2015), Screenplay, General Manager, Director
- *THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Chapter 6* (2014), General Manager, Screenplay
- *Garm Wars: The Last Druid* (2014), Director, Writer
- *THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Chapter 5* (2014), Screenplay, General Manager
- *THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Chapter 4* (2014), Director, General Manager, Screenplay
- *THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Chapter 3* (2014), General Manager, Director, Screenplay
- *THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Chapter 2* (2014), Screenplay, General Manager
- *THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Chapter 1* (2014), Director, Screenplay, General Manager
- *The Next Generation: Patlabor* (2014), series, Director, Screenplay, Original Series Creator, Original Story, Creator
- *Blood-C: The Last Dark* (2012), Original Story
- *009: The Reopening* (2010), Director
- *28½* (2010), Director, Writer
- *Je t'aime* (2010), Director
- *Halo Legends* (2010), Director
- *Halo Legends* (2010), series, Supervising Producer
- *Assault Girls* (2009), Director, Writer
- *Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai* (2009), Screenplay
- *Blood: The Last Vampire* (2009), Characters
- *Keita's First Dream of the New Year (Director's Cut)* (2009), Screenplay
- *Kill* (2008), Director
- *Film director Mamoru Oshii: Turning fantasies into reality* (2008), Actor
- *The Sky Crawlers* (2008), Director
- *Ghost in the Shell 2.0* (2008), Director
- *Ani*Kuri15* (2008), Director, Writer
- *Cellphone Investigator 7* (2008), series, Screenplay, Director
- *The Women of Fast Food* (2007), Director, Writer, Executive Producer
- *Ani*Kuri15* (2007), series, Director
- *Female Fast Food Grifter: Foxy Croquette Ogin ~Mortal Struggle in Palestine~* (2006), Writer, Director
- *Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters* (2006), Director, Screenplay, Original Story
- *Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG - Individual Eleven* (2006), Story
- *Blood+* (2005), series, Original Story
- *Open Your Mind* (2005), Executive Producer
- *Windy Tales* (2004), series, Supervising Producer
- *Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence* (2004), Screenplay, Director
- *Killers* (2003), Director
- *Tokyo Vein* (2003), Supervising Producer
- *Tokyo Scanner* (2003), Supervising Producer
- *Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex* (2002), series, Story
- *Patlabor WXIII the Movie* (2002), Original Story
- *MiniPato* (2002), series, Producer, Writer, Original Series Creator, Creator
- *G.R.M.: The Record Of Garm War* (2001), Director, Writer
- *Avalon* (2001), Director
- *Blood: The Last Vampire* (2000), Supervising Producer, Creator, Original Story
- *Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade* (1999), Original Story, Screenplay
- *Ghost in the Shell* (1995), Director, Storyboard Artist — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/ghost-in-the-shell.md)
- *Patlabor 2: The Movie* (1993), Director, Original Story
- *Talking Head* (1992), Director, Writer
- *Patlabor: One Day of Noa* (1992), Original Story
- *Stray Dog: Kerberos Panzer Cops* (1991), Director, Writer
- *Patlabor: The New Files* (1990), series, Author
- *MAROKO* (1990), Screenplay, Original Story, Director
- *Patlabor: The TV Series* (1989), series, Writer, Author
- *Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!* (1989), series, Director, Writer, Original Series Creator, Screenplay, Series Director, Creator
- *Patlabor: The Movie* (1989), Director, Story, Original Story
- *Patlabor: Early Days* (1988), series, Director
- *In the Aftermath* (1988), Writer
- *Zillion* (1987), series, Storyboard Artist
- *Twilight Q* (1987), Director, Screenplay
- *Twilight Q* (1987), series, Director, Screenplay, Story, Original Story
- *The Red Spectacles* (1987), Director, Original Story, Screenplay
- *Angel's Egg* (1985), Director, Screenplay, Original Story
- *Urusei Yatsura: Ryoko's September Tea Party* (1985), Storyboard Artist
- *Dallos Special* (1985), Screenplay, Director
- *Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer* (1984), Screenplay, Director
- *Dallos* (1983), Director, Screenplay
- *Dallos* (1983), series, Screenplay, Writer, Storyboard Artist, Director, Creator
- *Urusei Yatsura: Only You* (1983), Director, Adaptation, Storyboard Artist
- *The Wonderful Adventures of Nils* (1982), Director
- *The Fullmoon Tradition: Indra* (1981), Director, Storyboard, Writer
- *The Wonderful Adventures of Nils* (1980), series, Director
- *Chimera*, Director

## Gallery

- ![Mamoru Oshii](https://film.one/media/person/86464/gallery-804147e9e39f.jpg) Mamoru Oshii — Niccolò Caranti, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Mamoru_Oshii_-_Lucca_Comics_%26_Games_2015.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![令和７年１２月２２日、高市総理は、総理大臣官邸でコンテンツ業界との意見交換会を行いました。 (2025)](https://film.one/media/person/86464/gallery-dae8a5ef2f4b.jpg) 令和７年１２月２２日、高市総理は、総理大臣官邸でコンテンツ業界との意見交換会を行いました。 (2025) — 内閣官房内閣広報室, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/20251222ikenkoukan2.jpg/1280px-20251222ikenkoukan2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![令和７年１２月２２日、高市総理は、総理大臣官邸でコンテンツ業界との意見交換会を行いました。 (2025)](https://film.one/media/person/86464/gallery-44f8deda58a1.jpg) 令和７年１２月２２日、高市総理は、総理大臣官邸でコンテンツ業界との意見交換会を行いました。 (2025) — 内閣官房内閣広報室, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/20251222ikenkoukan4.jpg/1280px-20251222ikenkoukan4.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![令和７年１２月２２日、高市総理は、総理大臣官邸でコンテンツ業界との意見交換会を行いました。 (2025)](https://film.one/media/person/86464/gallery-addcba7259b0.jpg) 令和７年１２月２２日、高市総理は、総理大臣官邸でコンテンツ業界との意見交換会を行いました。 (2025) — 内閣官房内閣広報室, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/20251222ikenkoukan5.jpg/1280px-20251222ikenkoukan5.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Mamoru Oshii](https://film.one/media/person/86464/gallery-dee887fdac07.jpg) Mamoru Oshii — Image via TMDB
- ![令和７年１２月２２日、高市総理は、総理大臣官邸でコンテンツ業界との意見交換会を行いました。 (2025)](https://film.one/media/person/86464/gallery-86a2c042899f.jpg) 令和７年１２月２２日、高市総理は、総理大臣官邸でコンテンツ業界との意見交換会を行いました。 (2025) — 内閣官房内閣広報室, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/20251222ikenkoukan6.jpg/1280px-20251222ikenkoukan6.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Mamoru Oshii (2008)](https://film.one/media/person/86464/gallery-c0e916858f01.jpg) Mamoru Oshii (2008) — Mamoru_Oshii_promotes_NEC_Sky_Crawlers.jpg: Masaru Kamikura from Japan
derivative work: Puramyun31 (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Mamoru_Oshii%28in_2008%29.jpg/1280px-Mamoru_Oshii%28in_2008%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Other awards — 2 won

- Winsor McCay Award 2016: Winsor McCay Award (won)
- Nihon SF Taisho Award 2004: Nihon SF Taisho Award (won), for *Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence*

*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/mamoru-oshii