Yasuhiro Takemoto

Yasuhiro Takemoto (Japanese: 武本 康弘, April 5, 1972 – July 18, 2019) was a Japanese animator and television and film director. He worked at Kyoto Animation for almost his entire animation career after joining the company in 1996. His first major job as a director came in 2003 with Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu. Two years later he directed his sequel: The Second Raid. In 2007, Takemoto replaced Lucky Star director Yutaka Yamamoto after his dismissal. He led The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya and Nyorōn Churuya-san original net animation series, and was co-director with Tatsuya Ishihara of the second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, broadcast in 2009, as well as the film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. In 2012 he was in charge of directing Hyouka, based on a series of mystery novels by Honobu Yonezawa. In the series collaborated as screenwriter Shoji Gatoh, author of Full Metal Panic!. Two years later, in 2014, Takemoto was commissioned to direct another series of Gatoh novels, Amagi Brilliant Park. Four days after the Kyoto Animation arson attack on July 18, 2019, Takemoto was declared missing by his father, who stated "he was untraceable". His death was later confirmed by his relatives and authorities.