Hideya Takahashi (高橋 秀弥, Takahashi Hideya) is a Japanese director and producer credited for his work on the TV adaptation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by David Production. He is the director of Golden Wind, alongside Yasuhiro Kimura.
Graduate of Yoyogi Animation Academy and formerly affiliated with XEBEC, Takahashi is best known for his work directing series like To Love-Ru, Natsume's Book of Friends Season 3, Sword Art Online, the Future Card Buddyfight series, Keijo!!!!!!!!, and episode 3 of Pokémon Origins. He is also the director of David Production's Urusei Yatsura 2022 anime alongside Yasuhiro Kimura and Takahiro Kamei.[1]
Biography
Takahashi made his industry debut in 2004 as a production assistant for Fafner in the Azure. He later transitioned to assistant director and eventually became a director.[2]
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Takahashi loved the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series ever since he read the original manga as a student. However, he was initially hesitant to watch the anime when it started airing, worried it might not align with his expectations and leave him disappointed. Eventually, curiosity got the better of him, and he was blown away by how good Phantom Blood was when he started watching it. However, he didn't follow the anime regularly after that. Despite having a great deal of respect for the anime staff, he kept some distance from the series because he never dreamed he would get the chance to work on it himself and thought he might start feeling jealous if he continued watching it.[2]
After receiving the offer to work on Golden Wind, Takahashi was amazed and thought he was being pranked. He was incredibly happy to take on the role, as Vento Aureo was one of his favorite parts. Upon seeing Takahashi's storyboards, Yasuhiro Kimura thought he was a very logical and meticulous creator, describing his approach as like solving a shogi puzzle, carefully stacking up detailed direction one step at a time.[2]
Takahashi's favorite characters are Iggy and Narancia Ghirga. Takahashi considers himself fortunate to have been able to handle all of Narancia's key episodes in the series.[2] Since Takahashi directed GW Episode 28, Reki Taki asked him what the yellow flowers meant during Leone Abbacchio's death scene. Takahashi revealed that those were Yellow Sultans, flowers which symbolize "strong will", representing Abbacchio's will to pursue the truth.[3]
Credits
Interviews
| # | Interview | Type | Media | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sulle tracce dei gangster (July 2019) | Interview |
Guidebook |
July 19, 2019 |
| 2 | Animate Times (July 2019) | Interview |
Website/Online |
July 27, 2019 |
| 3 | Livedoor News (November 2019) | Interview |
Website/Online |
November 22, 2019 |
| 4 | Animation Series Production Note (March 2021) | Interview & Commentary |
Website/Online |
March 26, 2021 |
Gallery
GW Episode 6 Storyboard snippet
