One of the co-founder of Studio Bones, Hiroshi Osaka, passed away in Japan this week at the age of 44 due to cancer. Osaka served as animation director for many famous anime series like G Gundam, Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, & Macross Plus, as well as former NebsTV series FullMetal Alchemist & Ouran High School Host Club. A sad loss, indeed.
Ōsaka was an anime fan as far back as high school, when he emulated the style of the first Mobile Suit Gundam series and the works of Mitsuru Adachi (Touch, H2). Ōsaka began working in Japanese animation as a part-time job while he still taking university classes in Kyoto in 1983. He started in Anime R, a subcontracting studio, under the tutelage of Moriyasu Taniguchi (character designer on Aoki Ryusei SPT Layzner, Armor Hunter Mellowlink). He gradually moved from animation of in-between cels to animation of key cels and eventually animation direction on Sei Jūshi Bismarck (Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs), City Hunter 3, Yoroiden Samurai Trooper (Ronin Warriors), Macross Plus, and Golden Boy.
The collaboration between Ōsaka, Minami, and Gundam 0083/Bebop character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto was so fruitful that the three left their respective companies to be the co-founders of the studio BONES in 1998. The three would work together of several fan favorite works of BONES, including Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Wolf's Rain, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
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