Biography
Yasuomi Umetsu is a Japanese animator, director, and writer born December 19, 1960, in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture [1][2]. He broke into the industry as an in-between and key animator at Toei Animation, working on titles including the 1981 Spider-Man TV series and Arcadia of My Youth, and was promoted to animation director on Stop!! Hibari-kun! at just 23 [1]. He later moved to Madhouse, where director Yoshiaki Kawajiri mentored him in composition and perspective, and animator Masami Suda taught him key animation technique [1]. Umetsu made his directorial debut with the "Presence" segment of the 1987 anthology film Robot Carnival [1]. He is best known for a run of hard-edged, R-rated action titles: he wrote, designed, and directed the OVA Kite (1998), followed by Mezzo Forte (2000) and its television sequel Mezzo DSA (2004), largely produced through the studio Arms, which remained his home base through 2014 [1]. In 2013 he created and directed the original science-fiction series Galilei Donna [1]. Umetsu has described some productions, including Kite Liberator, as grueling, once going a year without a day off [1]. He has continued directing opening and ending sequences and character work into the 2020s, including for Pretty Boy Detective Club [1].