Biography
Susumu Mitsunaka is a Japanese anime director, storyboard artist and animator. He began his career in animation in the early 2000s and gained notice for his work on sports sequences, particularly in Big Windup! (2007). He made his directorial debut on the television series Cuticle Detective Inaba (2013).
Mitsunaka is best known for directing the Haikyu!! television series (2014–2016) and several related films, including Haikyu!! The Movie: The End and the Beginning (2015), Haikyu!! The Movie: Battle of Concepts (2017) and HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle (2024), on which he also received a writing credit. Other directing credits include Campione! (2012), Usagi Drop (2011) and Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween (2022). He has also worked as a key animator on feature films such as Weathering with You (2019) and The Boy and the Heron (2023).
Born on 10 June 1980, Mitsunaka trained at Doga Kobo and has frequently collaborated with director Tsutomu Mizushima.
