is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984), Angel's Egg (1985), Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993), and Ghost in the Shell (1995). He also holds the distinction of directing the first ever OVA, Dallos (1983). As a writer, Oshii has worked as a screenwriter, and occasionally as a manga writer and novelist. His most notable works as a writer include the manga Kerberos Panzer Cop (1988–2000) and its feature film adaptation Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999).
For his work, Oshii has received and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Palme d'Or and Leone d'Oro (Golden Lion). He has also attracted praise from many directors, including James Cameron, Steven Spielberg and The Wachowskis, especially for his work on Ghost in the Shell.
Career
Early career (1977–1982) Oshii has said he had an interest in Christianity and the Bible from an early age. In an interview with Animerica magazine in 1996 that "I really liked the Bible when I was a little boy. And when I was a student, at one point I was planning to enter a seminary, but I didn't. Even now, though, I read the Bible sometimes."
As a student, Mamoru Oshii was fascinated by the film La Jetée by Chris Marker. He also repeatedly watched European cinema, such as films by Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni and Jean-Pierre Melville. These filmmakers, together with Jean-Luc Godard, Andrei Tarkovsky and Jerzy Kawalerowicz, would later serve as influences for Oshii's own cinematic career. He was also influenced by his father, who was a cinephile.
In 1976, he graduated from Tokyo Gakugei University. The following year, he entered Tatsunoko Productions and worked on his first anime as a storyboard artist on Ippatsu Kanta-kun. During this period at Tatsunoko, Oshii worked on many anime as a storyboard artist, most of which were part of the Time Bokan television series. In 1980, he moved to Studio Pierrot under the supervision of his mentor, Hisayuki Toriumi.
Urusei Yatsura (1981–1984) Mamoru Oshii's work as director and storyboard artist of the animated Urusei Yatsura TV series brought him into the spotlight. Following its success, he directed two Urusei Yatsura films: Urusei Yatsura: Only You (1983) and Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984). The first film, though an original story, continued much in the spirit of the series. Beautiful Dreamer was also written by Oshii with no consultation from TakahashiMamoru Oshii commentary in U.S. Manga Corps DVD release of Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer and was a significant departure and an early example of his now contemporary style. Beautiful Dreamer is also notable for experimenting with concepts such as a time loop, where a high-school class relives the same day over and over again, as well as dreams and reality manipulation.
Dallos, Lupin, Angel's Egg and Anchor (1983–1985) In the midst of his work with Studio Pierrot, Oshii took on independent work and directed the first OVA, Dallos, in 1983. In 1984, Oshii left Studio Pierrot. Around this time, Oshii was hired to direct a movie for Lupin the Third for summer 1985, for which he started writing a column in Animage magazine in December 1984.文 押井守、イラスト 天野喜孝「映画『ルパン三世』制作おぼえがき」『アニメージュ』1984年12月号、pp.38–39 However, his proposal for it was very eccentric, with the producers from Yomiuri TV and Toho opposed his vision of the film, saying that it "made no sense". The film had been widely advertised with Oshii's name attached to it, and with the project based around him, they could not make the film without his proposal getting approved, and it was cancelled.インタビュー押井守 幻の押井ルパンは『虚構を盗む』はずだった」『THEルパン三世FILES ルパン三世全記録 〜増補改訂版〜』キネマ旬報社、1998年、p.35押井守『すべての映画はアニメになる』徳間書店、2004年、p.159 He would later go on to reuse themes and concepts he had come up with for the movie in later works such as Angel's Egg, Ghost in the Shell, and multiple Patlabor movies.「インタビュー押井守 幻の押井ルパンは『虚構を盗む』はずだった」『THEルパン三世FILES ルパン三世全記録 〜増補改訂版〜』キネマ旬報社、1998年、p.36押井守『イノセンス創作ノート 人形・建築・身体の旅+対談』徳間書店、2004年、p.73『BSアニメ夜話Vol.03 機動警察パトレイバー』キネマ旬報社、2006年、p.75
Oshii said that creating Ghost in the Shell allowed him to "finally get over Lupin"野田真外編著『前略、押井守様。』フットワーク出版、1998年 but continued to use elements from it in future films such as 009 RE:CYBORG, which was directed by Kenji Kamiyama, a student of Oshii, that Oshii was originally supposed to direct and had him participating in the scriptwriting for, which was also heavily influenced by the themes of Oshii's Lupin, which reused some of its plot,「神山健治インタビュウ」『S-Fマガジン』2012年12月号、pp.6、190 and , which reused the ending he originally had in mind for Lupin. He originally wanted to use this ending for the first Patlabor movie but was stopped by Izubuchi and others.「インタビュー押井守 幻の押井ルパンは『虚構を盗む』はずだった」『THEルパン三世FILES ルパン三世全記録 〜増補改訂版〜』キネマ旬報社、1998年、pg 36『BSアニメ夜話Vol.03 機動警察パトレイバー』キネマ旬報社、2006年、pg 75 Oshii was eventually able to revisit Lupin in Lupin the 3rd Part 6 in which he wrote the script for two episodes of which the second, "Darwin's Bird" reused some elements from the cancelled movie.
Moving to Studio Deen, Oshii wrote and directed Angel's Egg (1985), a surreal film rich with Biblical symbolism, featuring the character designs of Yoshitaka Amano. A producer of the film, Toshio Suzuki, later founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Following the release of the film, Miyazaki and Takahata began collaborating with Mamoru Oshii on his next film, Anchor. The film was canceled early in the initial planning stages when the trio had artistic disagreements. Despite their differences, Toshio Suzuki and Studio Ghibli would later help Oshii with his production of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004). To this day, Oshii maintains skeptical, but respectful, views of each of Takahata and Miyazaki's films. Though he has been critical of Miyazaki's attitude towards his workers, he also claims that he would feel "strangely empty" and "it would be boring" if both Miyazaki and Takahata stopped making films.
Patlabor and live-action (1987–1993) In the late 1980s, Oshii was solicited by his friend Kazunori Itō to join Headgear as a director. The group was composed of Kazunori Itō (screenwriter), Masami Yuki (manga artist), Yutaka Izubuchi (mechanical designer), Akemi Takada (character designer) and Mamoru Oshii (director). Together they were responsible for the Patlabor TV series, OVA, and films.ポストメディア編集部『機動警察パトレイバー 完全設定資料集 Vol.3 -劇場映画編(1)-』 2007, pg 213–214.
Between production of the Patlabor movies/series, Oshii delved into live-action for the first time, releasing his first non-animated film, The Red Spectacles (1987). This led to another live-action work titled Stray Dog: Kerberos Panzer Cops (1991); both films are part of Oshii's ongoing Kerberos Saga. Following Stray Dog Oshii made yet another live-action film, Talking Head (1992).
In the early 1990s, Oshii was approached by Studio Ghibli to direct an animated film adaptation of Ken'ichi Sakemi's novel Bokkō. Animator Katsuya Kondo even drew image boards, but the project was cancelled again due to a conflict between Oshii and Miyazaki.
Ghost in the Shell and international acclaim (1995–2008) In 1995, Mamoru Oshii released his landmark animated cyberpunk film, Ghost in the Shell, in Japan, the United States, and Europe. It hit the top of the US Billboard video charts in 1996, the first anime video ever to do so. Concerning a female cyborg desperate to find the meaning of her existence, the film was a critical success and is widely regarded to be a masterpiece and anime classic. Additionally, Oshii said that creating Ghost in the Shell allowed him to "finally get over Lupin".野田真外編著『前略、押井守様。』フットワーク出版、1998年
After a 5-year hiatus from directing to work on other projects, Oshii returned to live-action with the Japanese-Polish feature Avalon (2001), which was selected for an out of competition screening at the Cannes Film Festival. His next animated feature film was the long-awaited sequel to Ghost in the Shell, titled Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Four years in the making, the film focuses on Batou as he investigates a series of gruesome murders, while trying to reconcile with his deteriorating humanity. Though it received mixed reviews, Innocence was selected to compete at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for the coveted Palme d'Or prize, making it the first (and thus far, only) anime to be so honored.
Oshii was approached to be one of the directors of The Animatrix, but he was unable to participate because of his work in Innocence. Following Innocence, Oshii also contemplated directing a segment for the anthology film Paris, je t'aime, but ultimately declined the offer.
Meanwhile, in 2005, there were talks of a Kenta Fukasaku and Oshii collaboration. It was announced that Oshii would write the script for a film titled Elle is Burning, as well as provide CGI consultation, while Fukasaku would direct. Although Oshii completed the script, the film was ultimately shelved because, among other problems, the large budget it would require.
Oshii's next film, The Sky Crawlers (2008), competed for the Golden Lion in the Venice Film Festival. Subsequent to The Sky Crawlers, Oshii wrote the screenplay to the Production I.G film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai, which has been described as possibly the first ever anime documentary.
Return to live-action and anime directing hiatus (2009–present) In 2009, he wrote and directed the live-action feature Assault Girls and served as creative director for the Production I.G-produced segment of the animated short film anthology Halo Legends. In 2010, Oshii announced his next film will be an adaptation of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Tetsujin-28 manga. The Tetsujin-28 project turned out to be a live action film called '28 1/2'.
In 2012, Oshii announced that he was working on a new live-action film. He will be writing and directing the military science-fiction thriller Garm Wars: The Last Druid. The film's trailer was released in September 2014, and the premiere screening was held the following month at the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival.
He followed with the live-action film Tōkyō Mukokuseki Shōjo, a suspense thriller released in July 2015.
In March 2017, Toonami began airing Sand Whale and Me, a live-action micro-series directed by Oshii. In 2018, it was reported that an anime film adaptation of Chimera Kō is under production, with Oshii serving as director.
In June 2019, Oshii announced Vladlove, a comedy series that he described as a "girl-meets-girl story" about a vampire. The project also departs from the Japanese anime world's production committee system because Oshii is backed by a single investor, real estate company Ichigo Inc.
Style Oshii has stated his approach to directing is in direct contrast to what he perceives to be the Hollywood formula, i.e. he regards the visuals as the most important aspect, followed by the story and the characters come last. He also notes that his main motivation in making films is to "create worlds different from our own."
Mamoru Oshii's films typically open with an action sequence. Thereafter, the film usually follows a much slower rhythm punctuated by several sequences of fast action. Oshii also frequently inserts a montage sequence in each of his movies, typically two-minutes long, muted of dialogue and set against the backdrop of Kenji Kawai's music. Recurrent imagery include reflections/mirrors, flocks of birds, and Basset Hounds similar to his own. The basset hound was seen most prominently in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, and was a major plot point in his live-action film Avalon.