Takami Akai



Takami Akai (赤井 孝美) is an illustrator, game creator, character designer and animator born on November 21, 1961 in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. He was a board member of Gainax, and runs his own company titled NineLives. His wife is the mangaka Kimiko Higuchi. He stepped down from Gainax board after an incident in which he and another employee made disparaging remarks about fan criticisms made on the Japanese Internet forum 2channel.

Career history


Akai attended Osaka University of Arts majoring in fine art. While studying there, Akai created the character designs for the Daicon III opening animation. The main staff for the Daicon III and Daicon IV opening animations went on to create the animation studio Gainax. Akai was in the same class as Hiroyuki Yamaga and Hideaki Anno.

Works

 * Aikoku Sentai Dai Nippon
 * Akai Takami Works
 * Banner of the Stars (anime, character designs)
 * Crest of the Stars (anime, character designs)
 * Dennō Gakuen
 * Kaettekita Ultraman (Daicon Film)
 * Petite Princess Yucie (anime, original story, character design)
 * Princess Maker (game, character design, director)
 * Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise
 * Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
 * Yamata no Orochi no Gyakushū