After Masami Obari’s name cropped up in the October anime schedules as directing pornographic videogame to anime adaptation Prism Ark, I figured it’d be a good time to post this clip reel of his work.
Masami Obari’s probably better known as a character designer than animator as he has a distinctive style. Very angular and exaggerated, there’s never going to be a chance of mistaking his style for someone else. He’s worked as director and animator on a variety of classic series (Gunbuster, Bubblegum Crisis, Dancougar), as well as various videogame related projects (Fatal Fury, Battle Arena Toshinden), he’s produced a body of personal work that veers towards the lurid. From the straight out porn of his Go Nagai homage Angel Blade, to the mecha show Gravion, to the reheated cyberpunk of Virus, his own creations are more over the top, more tongue in cheek and more ridiculous than any of his adapted material. And I think that tendancy, combined with a distinctive visual look that is tied heavily to the nineties material that got releases in the US, often overshadows his work as an animator and director.