Birthday: March 23, 1962

Birthplace: Niigata, Japan

Yamaga Hiroyuki is best known as a director, writer, and producer who's spent most of his career at Gainax, the studio he helped found and eventually led as president.

His big break came in 1981 when he directed the opening animation for the 20th Japan SF Exposition—the famous Daicon event. He pulled it off alongside fellow Osaka Geijutsu University students Hideaki Anno and Takami Akai. That project caught attention fast, and pretty soon he was working on Macross in 1982 as a professional animator.

By 1984, Yamaga was deep into directing Ouritsu Uchuugun: Honneamise no Tsubasa, a feature-length film that came out in 1987 and instantly became a cult classic. It was basically this legendary thing that a bunch of young unknowns had somehow pulled off. That same year marked the official founding of Gainax, which became his home base for the rest of his career.

Beyond directing, Yamaga's earned serious credit as a screenwriter—particularly for Top o Nerae! and Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. Fans often note how his writing gives those shows their distinctive feel. Since then, he's been involved in countless Gainax productions across multiple roles.