(born December 22, 1967) is a Japanese animator, designer, and storyboard artist. He previously worked for animation studios and Art Office Sharaku, and is currently affiliated with Anime ToroToro. He has a desk at

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

, where he usually works from. His works include

key animation In animation and filmmaking, a key frame (or keyframe) is a drawing or shot that defines the starting and ending points of a smooth transition. These are called ''frames'' because their position in time is measured in frames on a strip of film ...

on projects such as ''Cowboy Bebop'', ''Space Dandy'', ''Fullmetal Alchemist'', ''One Punch Man'', ''My Hero Academia'' and ''Eureka Seven''. He is known for his dynamic and unique action sequences that often make very heavy use of impact frames, and is considered in animation circles as one of the greatest action cinematographers of his generation. Having the freedom to storyboard his own scenes, he mixes unique action cinematography and animation timing to create distinctive action scenes in his animation. He is also known for his very detailed animations of

debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded waste, garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can ref ...

, often cubic in nature; this type of debris has become so synonymous with his work that they've been given the name "yutapon cubes" after his nickname "yutapon" within animation circles. His work has been discussed in an animation panel focused on Japanese animators, called: "Yutaka Nakamura: Grandmaster Fight Animator." One of his most notable animation works includes the last action scene in the movie ''

Sword of the Stranger A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed tip ...

''.

Filmography

*''

Sakigake!! Otokojuku , also known as simply ''Otokojuku'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Miyashita. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1985 to 1991. It is staged in an all-boys school t ...

'' (1988) (key animator) *'' Brave Exkaiser'' (1990) (key animator) *''

Getter Robo Go , sometimes romanized as ''Getter Robot Go'' and known in the United States as ''Venger Robo'', is a Japanese mecha anime and manga series and the third entry in the ''Getter Robo'' franchise originally created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa. ...

'' (1991) (key animator) *'' Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge'' (1991) (key animator) *''

The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1991) (key animator) *''

Tekkaman Blade is a 1992 Japanese anime television series produced by Tatsunoko Production and Sotsu Agency. The series was directed by Hiroshi Negishi and written by Mayori Sekijima and Satoru Akahori. The story follows an organization called the S ...

'' (1992) (key animator) *''Tekkaman Blade II'' (1994) (key animator) *''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from October 1995 to March 1 ...

'' (1995) (key animator) *''

The Vision of Escaflowne is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It premiered from April to September 1996, on TV Tokyo. Sony's anime satellite channel, Animax also aired the series, both in Japan and on its various worldwide networks, includi ...

'' (1996) (key animator) *''

Reideen the Superior , also known as "Brave Reideen" or "Heroic Raydeen", is a super robot anime series created by Tohokushinsha and Produced by Soeisha (later renamed as Sunrise). It aired on Nihon Educational Television (now TV Asahi) from 4 April 1975 to 26 ...

'' (1996) (key animator) *''

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a Japanese anime television series created by Be-Papas, a production group formed by director Kunihiko Ikuhara and composed of himself, Chiho Saito, Shinya Hasegawa, Yōji Enokido and Yūichirō Oguro. The series was produced by ...

'' (1997) (key animator) *''

Generator Gawl is a 1998 12-episode anime television series produced by Tatsunoko Production and the Victor Company of Japan ( JVC, now JVCKenwood). Plot The story is set in 2007, when Professor Takuma Nekasa uncovers a gene code that will unlock the huma ...

'' (1998) (assistant mechanical animation director) *''

Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise (company), Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, ...

'' (1998) (key animator) *''Tekkaman Blade: Twin Blood'' (1998) (mechanical animation director, Tekkaman re-design) *''

Escaflowne is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It premiered from April to September 1996, on TV Tokyo. Sony's anime satellite channel, Animax also aired the series, both in Japan and on its various worldwide networks, includi ...

'' (2000) (key animator) *'' Blood: The Last Vampire'' (2000) (key animator) *'' Cowboy Bebop: The Movie'' (2001) (key animator, weapons designer) *''

RahXephon is a Japanese anime television series created and directed by Yutaka Izubuchi. The series follows 17-year-old Ayato Kamina, his ability to control a mecha known as the RahXephon, and his inner journey to find a place in the world. His li ...

'' (2002) (key animator) *''

Overman King Gainer is a mecha anime television series, created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, and featuring character designs by Yoshihiro Nakamura, Kinu Nishimura and Ken'ichi Yoshida. The series ran from September 7, 2002 t ...

'' (2002) (key animator) *'' Animatrix: A Detective Story'' (2003) (key animator, digital effects) *'' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex '' (2003) (key animator) *''

Wolf's Rain ''Wolf's Rain'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese anime television series created by writer Keiko Nobumoto and produced by Bones. It was directed by Tensai Okamura and featured character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto with a soundtrack ...

'' (2003) (key animator) *''

Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga, manga anthology magazine ''Gangan Comics#Monthly Shōnen Gangan, Monthly Shōnen Gangan'' between July 2001 and June ...

'' (2004) (key animator, animation supervisor) *'' Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa'' (2005) (key animator, action animation supervisor) *''

Eureka Seven ''Eureka Seven'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series created and produced by Bones. The series was directed by Tomoki Kyoda, with series composition by Dai Satō, character designs by Kenichi Yoshida and ...

'' (2005) (key animator) *'' Gaiking: Legend of Daiku-Maryu'' (2005) (key animator) *''

Darker than Black is a Japanese anime television series created and directed by Tensai Okamura and animated by studio Bones (studio), Bones. 25 episodes were broadcast on Mainichi Broadcasting System, MBS, TBS Television (Japan), TBS and their affiliate ...

'' (2007) (key animator) *''

'' (2007) (key animator, action animation supervisor) *''

Soul Eater is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Atsushi Ohkubo. Set at the "Death Weapon Meister Academy", the series revolves around three teams, each consisting of a weapon meister and at least one human that can transform into a w ...

'' (2008) (key animator) *'' Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'' (2009) (key animator) *''

Star Driver ''Star Driver'', also known as is a Japanese anime television series created and animated by Bones. It was broadcast for twenty-five episodes on MBS and TBS from October 2010 to April 2011. The anime was licensed in North America by Anip ...

'' (2010) (key animator) *''

Towa no Quon Towa may refer to: Japanese municipalities * Tōwa, Fukushima, a town in Fukushima Prefecture * Tōwa, Iwate, a town in Iwate Prefecture * Tōwa, Kōchi, a village in Kōchi Prefecture * Tōwa, Yamaguchi, a former town in Yamaguchi Prefecture * ...

'' (2011) (key animator) *''

Eureka Seven AO ''Eureka Seven'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series created and produced by Bones. The series was directed by Tomoki Kyoda, with series composition by Dai Satō, character designs by Kenichi Yoshida and ...

'' (2012) (key animator) *''

Space Dandy , is a 2014 Japanese comic science fiction anime television series produced by Bones. The series follows the misadventures of Dandy, an alien hunter who is "a dandy guy in space", in search for undiscovered and rare aliens with his robot ass ...

'' (2014) (key animator) *''

Blood Blockade Battlefront is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. It revolves around a young photographer named Leonardo Watch, who obtains 'the All Seeing Eyes of the Gods' at the cost of his sister's eyesight. After the inciden ...

'' (2015) (key animator) *'' Concrete Revolutio'' (2015) (key animator) *''

One-Punch Man is a Japanese superhero manga series created by One. It tells the story of Saitama, an independent superhero who, having trained to the point that he can defeat any opponent with a single punch, grows bored from a lack of challenge. He ...

'' (2015) (key animator (ep 12, under a pseudonym)) *''

Mob Psycho 100 is a Japanese web manga series written and illustrated by One. It was serialized on Shogakukan's ''Ura Sunday'' website from April 2012 to December 2017. It has been also available online on Shogakukan's mobile app ''MangaONE'' since Dece ...

'' (2016–2022) (key animator) *''

My Hero Academia is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from July 2014 to August 2024, with its chapters collected in 42 volumes. Set in a wor ...

'' (2017–present) (key animator) *'' Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond'' (2017) (key animator) *'' My Hero Academia: Two Heroes'' (2018) (key animator) *'' My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising'' (2019) (key animator) *'' My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission'' (2021) (key animator) *'' Frieren: Beyond Journey's End'' (2023) (key animator) *''

Metallic Rouge is a Japanese original anime television series produced by Bones (studio), Bones for its 25th anniversary and directed by Motonobu Hori. The series aired on Fuji TV's +Ultra programming block from January to April 2024. A webtoon adaptation ...

'' (2024) (key animator) *'' My Hero Academia: You're Next'' (2024) (key animator, animation supervisor)

Books

* ''Yutaka Nakamura Animation Key Frame Vol.1'' (中村豊アニメーション原画集 Vol.1). Style , 2019. * ''Yutaka Nakamura Animation Key Frame Vol.2'' (中村豊アニメーション原画集 Vol.2). Style , 2022. * ''Yutaka Nakamura Animation Key Frame Vol.3'' (中村豊アニメーション原画集 Vol.3). Style , 2022.

Notes and references

1967 births Living people Japanese animators {{Japan-artist-stub