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Naoko Yamada

Directing

Naoko Yamada

Naoko Yamada is a director born on November 28, 1984 in Kyoto, Japan. She is known for A Silent Voice: The Movie, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid and Clannad. GloboWatch shows where to watch one of her movies and TV shows, country by country.

Known for
Directing
Born
November 28, 1984
Place of birth
Kyoto, Japan
Also known as
やまだ なおこ · Ryu Ando · 安堂隆

Biography

Naoko Yamada (山田 尚子) is a Japanese animator, television and film director. Working at Kyoto Animation, she directed the K-On! and Tamako Market anime series, and the anime films A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird. Yamada intended to work in film after university, but she decided to join Kyoto Animation after seeing an advertisement. Her first assignment at KyoAni was drawing inbetween frames for Inuyasha. She was eventually promoted to a key animator for Air. After working as an episode director of Clannad, she was asked to make her chief directorial debut with K-On!, an adaptation of a slice-of-life manga. The series was very successful, spurring a second season and a film. In 2013, she directed Tamako Market, and followed it with the film Tamako Love Story in 2014. For Tamako Love Story, she was awarded the New Face Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival. She storyboarded the entire film herself, and also wrote the lyrics for the opening theme song, Everybody Loves Somebody. Yamada's next project was the feature film A Silent Voice, an adaptation of the manga of the same name, that reflected on elements of bullying and physical impairment in Japan. The film opened at #2 in the Japanese Box Office and grossed a total of ¥2.3 billion, the 19th highest-grossing film in Japan in 2016. The film also received multiple award nominations, including Best Animation Film in the Mainichi Film Awards and the Excellent Animation of the Year in the Japan Academy Prize. For Yamada, the most important part of being a director is to observe people. She describes herself as a "method" director, emphasizing the minds of the characters. On July 18, 2019, a man started a fire at the main studio of Kyoto Animation, killing 36 of Yamada's colleagues and wounding 33 others. Yamada was reported not to have been hurt in the fire. In 2020, Yamada left KyoAni to join Science SARU, where she directed 2021's The Heike Story. Source: Wikipedia

Filmography

  1. 2026Jaadugar: A Witch in MongoliaDirector
  2. 2024The Colors WithinDirector
  3. 2022Garden of RemembranceDirector · Screenplay
  4. 2022Modern Love TokyoDirector
  5. 2022Modern Love Tokyo: He's Playing Our SongDirector
  6. 2022The Heike StoryDirector
  7. 2018TsuruneDirector
  8. 2018Liz and the Blue BirdDirector
  9. 2017Miss Kobayashi's Dragon MaidDirector
  10. 2016A Silent Voice: The MovieDirector
  11. 2015Sound! EuphoniumDirector
  12. 2014Tamako Love StoryDirector
  13. 2013Beyond the BoundaryDirector
  14. 2013Free!Director
  15. 2013Tamako MarketDirector
  16. 2012HyoukaDirector
  17. 2011K-ON! The MovieDirector
  18. 2011Nichijou: My Ordinary LifeDirector
  19. 2010轻音少女番外篇：访问as 导演
  20. 2009K-ON!Director
  21. 2007ClannadDirector
  22. 2006The Melancholy of Haruhi SuzumiyaDirector