Hiroshi Nagahama

Hiroshi Nagahama (1970) is one of Japan's most prolific and multidisciplinary anime directors. His work spans diverse productions such as the hilarious and disruptive Detroit Metal City (2009), the deeply original The Flowers of Evil (2013), which blended animation with rotoscoping, and The Reflection (2017), one of the last projects involving Stan Lee. Lee co-authored the anime with Nagahama, merging the worlds of anime and superheroes.

However, if one were to choose a single work to represent the Japanese director, that would be Mushishi (2005). Hiroshi Nagahama directed the first season of the anime, as well as the special Hihamukage (2014), the second season Mushishi Zoku Shou (2014), and the series' final medium-length films Odoro no Michi (2014) and Suzu no Shizuku (2015). In his early career as an animation director, notable works include Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997). Additionally, he created the mechanical designs for both the series and the 1999 movie, a role he also performed for The Cockpit (1993).

Hiroshi Nagahama's next and most anticipated work is Uzumaki, the anime adaptation of the masterpiece by horror mangaka Junji Ito. This production reveals yet another different aspect of Nagahama's talent, this time with a black-and-white anime that immerses us in Junji Ito's terrifying story. Uzumaki will premiere soon on Toonami's adult swim block.