Osamu Dezaki

Birthplace: Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan
Date of death: April 17, 2011

Osamu Dezaki was a Japanese anime director.

Dezaki started out as a manga artist while still in high school. In 1963 he joined Mushi Production, which was founded by manga and anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka. He made his debut as a director in 1970 with Ashita no Joe.

Dezaki was known for his distinct visual style, which makes use of split screen, stark lighting, extensive use of dutch angle, and pastel freeze frames that he called "postcard memories", which may be his most famous trademark. They feature a process whereby the screen fades into a detailed "painting" of the simpler original animation. Many of his techniques became popular and came to be seen as special techniques of Japanese animation. He particularly influenced Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Ryūtarō Nakamura, Kunihiko Ikuhara, Akiyuki Shinbo, and Yutaka Yamamoto.

Dezaki was known to be a notorious chain smoker, and as a result, he died from lung cancer on April 17, 2011, at the age of 67.

(Source: Wikipedia)