Junichi Hayama

Junichi Hayama (羽山 淳一) is a Japanese animator credited as the Character Designer and Chief Animation Director of the OVA adaptation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and the Phantom Blood movie by Studio A.P.P.P..

Originating from Monsieur Onion (affiliates of ), he now collaborates with various studios as a freelancer. He is well known for his work on the anime, where he developed his current style from his mentor, Masami Suda.

History
In 1984, after graduating from high school, Hayama moved to Tokyo and joined Monsieur Onion Productions, an affiliate of, where he made his animation debut on the series. He later debuted as a key animator for the anime Hai Step Jun in 1985. In 1987, Hayama quickly made his debut as an animation director for the TV series, after his skills were acknowledged by the series character designer, Masami Suda, who would go on to heavily influence his style. Hayama had previously worked as a key animator for the movie and would go on to draw illustrations for various games relating to the series, including the  in 2000, and the  in 2005.

In 1989, Hayama made his debut as a character designer for the OVA series. And in 1990, Hayama left Monsieur Onion Productions to start working as a freelance artist. In 2011, Hayama worked as an animation director for the TV mini-series produced by  in collaboration with. His wife Atsuko Ueno is a manga artist, animator, and the author of. His younger brother Kenji Hayama is also a key animator, animation director, and character designer. His cousin Yasunori Hayama is an anime photographer and cinematographer.

In 2022, Hayama worked as an animation director and key animator for the film.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Hayama is a fan of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and its creator, Hirohiko Araki. In 1993, Hayama was invited by Hiroyuki Kitakubo to work as a character designer and animation director on the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure OVA series. However, because of his inexperience as an animator and his difficulty animating expressive scenes, Hayama primarily worked on creating storyboards. This would later change when he was invited to work on the OVAs again in 2000.

From 2004 to 2007, Hayama worked as the character designer and chief animation director for the Phantom Blood film. Hayama was forced to take over as the main director after the original left the project during production. Despite being shown in theatres, the film never received a home video release and is considered. When asked at why the film never released, Hayama responded, "I don’t want you to see me angry and pissed off, so it's better if I don’t answer this question."

In 2023, when Hayama was once again asked about the Phantom Blood film at, he revealed that the initial runtime of the film was planned to be 70 minutes long, but was later pushed to 90 minutes. Despite facing various issues during production, A.P.P.P. tried to get the film ready for a DVD release. However, for reasons that Hayama couldn't disclose, Shueisha seized all the assets for the film, and he was unable to continue working on it. Hayama expressed his love for the manga and his regrets that the fans were unable to see the completed film.

Before working on the OVAs, a "Junichi Hayama" was also credited as an illustrator for the Super Famicom Secrets guidebook, making it his earliest work on the series. However, Hayama claims to have never worked on the game and that the person credited isn't him.

Credits

 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (OVA)
 * Character Design:
 * Chief Animation Director:
 * Animation Director:
 * Key Animation:
 * Promotional Artwork
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood
 * Director
 * Character Design
 * Chief Animation Director

Gallery
{{GBox|Title=Key Animation (原画)|bg={{Color|SC}}|height=auto {{Tabber
 * Key Animation|

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Personal Art (Property of Junichi Hayama)
2022+=