Yukihiro Miyamoto

Template:Nihongo, occasionally nicknamed Otokomatsuri, is a Japanese anime director. He started at animation studio Vega Entertainment, and later joined Shaft. He is best known for directing Puella Magi Madoka Magica and its subsequent film trilogy alongside Akiyuki Shinbo, the latter trilogy which subsequently garnered ¥2 billion, making it a box-office success.

Early life

Miyamoto was interested in animation from a young age and was particularly interested in timing processes regarding characteristics like lip-sync timing or footstep sounds and whether they aligned with the screen images. After highs school, he went to a science-based university as per his parents' wishes but found that he still loved animation, so he went to a vocational school, Template:Ill.

Career

After graduating from vocational school, he joined the anime industry in 2002 as a production manager and assistant director for Vega Entertainment on their adaptation of Leiji Matsumoto's Gun Frontier manga series. In 2003 and 2004, he debuted as an episode director and storyboard artist (respectively) with F-Zero: GP Legend, and started directing Vega's outsourced episodes for Madhouse at the time too.

Around 2006, he happened to find himself at studio Shaft by chance. He studied under director Shin Oonuma for about a year and quickly became a prominent director alongside Akiyuki Shinbo, Oonuma, and Tatsuya Oishi. In 2008, he debuted as a chief unit director with (Zoku) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei alongside Shinbo. In the following years, Miyamoto directed several more series with Shinbo like Maria Holic in 2009 and Arakawa Under the Bridge in 2010 (both with Miyamoto acting as series director); and in 2011, they directed Puella Magi Madoka Magica which became a critical hit and, alongside Bakemonogatari, is considered to be one of the series that pushed the studio into the spotlight. Prior to joining the series' staff, he had known that the project was underway due to seeing the production materials, like Gekidan Inu Curry's production designs, next to the copy machine at the Shaft office while he was working on Arakawa Under the Bridge. Eventually, Miyamoto was given the role of series director again and joined the Madoka Magica project 3-4 months before the series started airing. During this time, Miyamoto also created a "Shaft directing manual" for first-time outside directors and younger staff to help them with directing Madoka and subsequent series with the so-called "Shaft style."

Subsequently, Miyamoto was tasked with directing the series' film trilogy, with Shinbo acting as chief director over the films, and Miyamoto acting as director instead of series director. He wasn't given the job right away, but instead happened to be asked by Shaft president Mitsutoshi Kubota around October of 2011 when the two bumped into each other at a convenience store next to the Shaft office one day. Although their credits differed from the TV counterparts, their jobs were essentially the same as before, according to Miyamoto. The first two films were compilations with updated visuals, and the third film was created as a sequel. Miyamoto intended to direct the work as its overall film director without doing unit direction; however, the directors that the staff tried to recruit were busy, and Miyamoto was made to act as a unit director on the film anyway. The only other directors involved to help were unit director Takashi Kawabata and assistant director Hiroyuki Terao, who were recruited due to the fact that it would've been impossible for Miyamoto to finish the film on his own.

In 2018, it was announced that the spin-off Magia Record mobile game would receive an adaptation by the studio; the following year, it was announced that Miyamoto would serve as an assistant director and director alongside Shaft directors Kenjirou Okada, Midori Yoshizawa, Doroinu of Gekidan Inu Curry, with Shinbo serving as an animation supervisor on the project.

In 2023, it was announced that Shinbo and Miyamoto would both return in their respective roles of chief director and director for the fourth Madoka Magica film.

Yoyogi Animation Academy invited him to give a special lecture to students in collaboration with The Quintessential Quintuplets~ in August of 2024.

Style

Miyamoto described himself as being a "heretic" at ShaftTemplate:Emdashsomeone who, in a company of many differing directors, is only good at doing "plain work", and isn't particularly original or creative. Shinbo described Miyamoto in a similar way, but said that he was more like a professional craftsman who leaves their mark in places that cannot be seen. Due to this, Shinbo has said that Miyamoto is a director whose work often exceeds his expectations. Shinbo himself likes to cut the space between dialogue when characters talk, though he mentioned that Miyamoto seems to cut dialogue pauses more than Shinbo to a point that the silence between characters talking is close to zero. Miyamoto said that it's like characters who have already started thinking of a response to the person who is actively talking, and thus begin speaking either directly after the person talking has stopped or interrupting their speech entirely.

Shaft producer Yasuhiro Okada, who was the animation producer for the Madoka Magica film trilogy, described Miyamoto as being the best director capable of absorbing and expressing Shinbo's flavor.

Personal life

Miyamoto is married and has a child who was born near the end of production of the Kizumonogatari trilogy. When his wife was in labor, Miyamoto was at the hospital and continued to text with Shaft's producers and staff regarding the film; and the director, Tatsuya Oishi, joked that Miyamoto should name them "Nekketsu" (after the second film in the trilogy, which Miyamoto was in charge of as unit director).

Works

Television series

Template:Color box In "Director(s)" column highlights Miyamoto's directorial works.

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio	SBTemplate:Efn	EDTemplate:Efn	Other roles and notes	Ref(s)
2002	Gun Frontier	Sōichirō Zen	Vega Entertainment	Template:No	Template:No	Production assistant Episode director's assistant
	Fortune Dogs	Hiroshi Saitō	Vega Entertainment	Template:No	Template:No	Episode director's assistant
2003	Mirmo!	Kenichi Kasai	Studio Hibari	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Submarine Super 99	Hiromichi Matano	Vega Entertainment	Template:No	Template:No	Episode director's assistant
2003	F-Zero: GP Legend	Ami Tomobuki	Ashi Productions	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2004	Tenjho Tenge	Toshifumi Kawase	Madhouse	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Monster	Masayuki Kojima	Madhouse	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2006	Kiba	Hiroshi Kōjina	Madhouse	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
	Negima!?	Akiyuki Shinbo Shin Oonuma Template:Small	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2007	Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei	Akiyuki Shinbo	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Extra animator Extra animation director Opening director Ending assistance
	Night Wizard!	Yūsuke Yamamoto	Hal Film Maker	Template:No	Template:Yes
2008	Hidamari Sketch x 365	Akiyuki Shinbo	Shaft	Template:No	Template:No	Assistant episode director
	(Zoku) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Opening director
2009	Maria Holic	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	(Zan) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Opening director
	Bakemonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo Tatsuya Oishi Template:Small	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2010	Arakawa Under the Bridge	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Arakawa Under the Bridge × Bridge	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu	Akiyuki Shinbo Kenichi Ishikura Template:Small	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Opening director
2011	Puella Magi Madoka MagicaTemplate:Efn	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Assistant opening director
	Ground Control to Psychoelectric GirlTemplate:Efn	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Hidamari Sketch x SP	Akiyuki Shinbo	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Opening director Ending director
2012	Nisemonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura Template:Small	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Assistant ending director
	Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb	Akiyuki Shinbo Yuki Yase Template:Small	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Nekomonogatari (Black)	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Tomoyuki Itamura	Shaft	Template:No	Template:No	Ending animation
2013	Monogatari Series Second Season	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Tomoyuki Itamura	Shaft	Template:No	Template:No	Ending animation
2014	Nisekoi	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Naoyuki Tatsuwa	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Mekakucity Actors	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Yuki Yase	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Assistant episode director
	Hanamonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Tomoyuki Itamura	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Tsukimonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Tomoyuki Itamura	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2015	Nisekoi:	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Opening director
	Gourmet Girl Graffiti	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Naoyuki Tatsuwa	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Owarimonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Tomoyuki Itamura	Shaft	Template:No	Template:No	Opening director
2016	March Comes In like a Lion	Akiyuki Shinbo Kenjirou Okada Template:Small	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2018	Fate/Extra Last Encore	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Yukihiro Miyamoto Template:Small	Shaft	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2020	Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story	Doroinu Template:Small Yukihiro MiyamotoTemplate:Efn Kenjirou OkadaTemplate:Efn Midori YoshizawaTemplate:Efn	Shaft	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Director's assistant
	Assault Lily Bouquet	Shouji Saeki Hajime Ootani Template:Small	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2021	Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story - The Eve of Awakening	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
	Pretty Boy Detective Club	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Hajime Ootani	Shaft	Template:No	Template:No	Ending director
2022	Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story - Dawn of a Shallow Dream	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
	RWBY: Ice Queendom	Toshimasa Suzuki Kenjirou Okada Template:Small	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Luminous Witches	Shouji Saeki	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2023	The Quintessential Quintuplets~	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Ending director
2024	Mashle	Tomoya Tanaka	A-1 Pictures	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Midori Yoshizawa	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2025	Ninja to Koroshiya no Futarigurashi	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:TBA	Template:TBA

OVAs/ONAs

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio	SBTemplate:Efn	EDTemplate:Efn	Other roles and notes	Ref(s)
2008	Mahō Sensei Negima!: Shiroki Tsubasa Ala Alba (#2)	Template:Yes	Shaft Studio Pastoral	Template:No	Template:No
	(Goku) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2009	(Zan) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Bangaichi	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2012	Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:No
	Kid Icarus (Shaft episodes)	Akiyuki Shinbo	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2014	Okitegami Kyouko no Bibouroku x Monogatari	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Miyamoto directed the short but is credited as unit director.
2015	Magical Suite Prism Nana I Want to Fulfill My Dreams!? Hope Advancing (First Half)	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:No
	Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Concept Movie	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2016	Nisekoi:	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Kakushigoto	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes	Miyamoto directed the short but is credited as unit director.
2021	Assault Lily Fruits	Shouji Saeki	Shaft	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2022	Bakemonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes

Films

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio	SBTemplate:Efn	EDTemplate:Efn	Other roles and notes	Ref(s)
2012	Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Beginnings	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
	Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Eternal	Template:Yes		Template:No	Template:Yes
2013	Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion	Template:Yes		Template:No	Template:Yes
2016	Kizumonogatari II: Nekketsu	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Tatsuya Oishi	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2017	Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Tatsuya Oishi		Template:No	Template:Yes
	Fireworks	Akiyuki Shinbo Template:Small Nobuyuki Takeuchi	Shaft	Template:No	Template:Yes
2025	Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising	Template:Yes	Shaft	Template:TBA	Template:TBA

Video games

Year	Title	Studio	Roles and notes	Ref(s)
2016	Fate/EXTELLA	Shaft	Opening cinematic director
2017 2020	Magia Record	Shaft	Transformation sequence director Cutscene director and storyboard artist

Notes

Works cited

• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:ANN
• Template:IMDb person