Blood type: AB
Oobari Masami started his animation career right out of high school, joining Ashi Productions (now Production Reed) after graduating from Hiroshima Prefectural Miyajima Technical High School. Born January 24, 1966 in Hiroshima, he was only 18 when he debuted as a key animator on Transformers and Tokusou Kihei Dorvack.
He quickly moved into design work, landing his first character and mecha designer role on Dancougar at 19—a transition that marked the beginning of his signature style. After leaving Ashi Productions, he freelanced across various projects as an animator and designer for both characters and mechas.
His directorial work came early too. At 21, he directed the 5th and 6th Bubblegum Crisis OVAs, establishing himself as someone who could handle multiple roles in production. He's best known for the stylish, dynamic design work that defined a lot of 80s and 90s anime aesthetics.
These days he runs Studio G-1 Neo as its representative. He co-founded the studio with his ex-wife Ishida Atsuko, and it's become a notable independent production house in the industry.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
