Biography
Akiharu Ishii is a Japanese animator, character designer, and animation director born August 9, 1966 [1]. He began his career at Kaname Production before working as a freelancer and later joining Production I.G, where he built a long association through the 2000s and into the 2010s [2]. His early key animation credits include the anthology film Robot Carnival, Chinpui, and Crayon Shin-chan, and he contributed key animation to landmark Production I.G titles such as Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, and Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion [1][2]. Through the 2000s he moved into character design and animation direction, taking on those roles for Love Hina, Blood+, and The Prince of Tennis, a franchise he stayed closely tied to through its various sequels, including New Prince of Tennis: U-17 World Cup [1][2]. In the 2010s he became a senior animation director on titles including Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Kuroko's Basketball, Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, and the sports series Aoashi [1][2]. More recently he has worked on Kaiju No. 8 and other productions moving into the mid-2020s [1].