Mori Masaki
Directing
Biography
Mori Masaki (真崎 守, Masaki Mori; born March 10, 1941 in Yokohama) is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter and director. Masaki's career as an animator began in 1963 at Mushi Production, where he was involved in Kimba the White Lion. After a few more works, he left the studio in 1968 and dedicated himself to his work as a mangaka. In 1979, he returned to the film and worked at Studio Madhouse as a director and screenwriter. He directed Natsu e no Tobira and Haguregumo, later wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of the manga Barefoot Gen and the sci-fi adventure Toki no Tabibito: Time Stranger. In 1986, Masaki retired from anime, although he continued his manga career into the 90s.
Known For
A story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.
Barefoot Gen
Retired samurai Kumosuke lives quietly, not to say idly, in Edo (old Tokyo) with his wife and two children, a young boy named Shinnosuke and an infant girl, Ohana. While he nominally runs a courier business to earn a living, he seems to spend most of his time smoking his pipe, drinking sake, and chasing women. The arrival of a Shinsengumi squad led by a young swordswman, Ichimonji Hyougo, disrupts this peaceful routine, forcing Kumosuke to defend himself.
Drifting Clouds
From the depths of space he is coming... Ancient beyond understanding, his power is immeasurable. He has destroyed half the universe and is on his way here. He is… Genma. Only two people are aware of the imminent catastrophe: Princess Luna, a modern day prophetess and Vega, a cybernetic crusader from a world long since ravaged by Genma. Determined to spare the Earth from a similar fate, Luna and Vega must try to mobilize the most potent psychics in the world. Together, this army of fledging psychic warriors must succeed where billions have tried... and failed. But will they be able to gather their champions in time? Genma’s agents are already on Earth to ensure that their master meets with no opposition!
Harmagedon
A club of young men who live by logic find themselves in love, and their lives fall apart as they try to cope with the emotions their romance strikes on them.
The Door Into Summer
A young boy named Jiro finds his mother and sister murdered in his home. Falsely accused of the crime, he flees from his village and meets a priest named Tenkai, who has him kill a rogue ninja named Tarouza. After fulfilling that task, Jiro undergoes training to become a master assassin. Many years later, Jiro finds out that he was an orphan and his real father was Tarouza, who had worked for Tenkai until he aborted his mission when he fell in love with an Ainu woman. The young ninja discovers that the Shogunate was to retrieve the lost treasure of Captain Kidd and use it to once again isolate Japan from the rest of the world. Using the clues that Tarouza had kept secret, Jiro - along with the female ninja Oyuki and a slave named Sam - travels to Russia and America to search for the treasure in hopes of using it to extract revenge from Tenkai.
The Dagger of Kamui
In the new Calendar Year of 392, in Neo-Tokyo, a young man, Agino Jiro, steals a time synchronization system and tries to escape to the past. The authorities give chase and damage his ship in the pursuit, forcing him to land in modern day Tokyo, Determined, he breaks into a van and attaches the device, recklessly kidnapping Nobucho, Shinichi, Teko and their teacher, Hokubei. Their initial resistance force lands them in Tokyo on March 9th 1945, during the US bombing campaign. Escaping again to the past the group eventually arrives at the Warring States period. There the future and the past collide as factions from Jiro's era seek to alter their past at a pivotal moment at Honnoji.
Space-Time Traveler - Time Stranger
Compilation of Episodes 1,2 46, 56 and 71 from the 1963 Astro Boy series that were reproduced in color for this theater version.