Otakon welcomes back to our 20th celebration award-winning
producer Masao Maruyama, a longtime friend of the convention. This will be Maruyama’s eleventh
appearance at Otakon, making him our most frequent guest. Maruyama is also the first guest to be
named an honorary staff member.
The founder and former creative director of Madhouse Studios, Masao Maruyama has had a hand in the
Japanese animation industry for forty years. Maruyama was born in 1941 in the Miyagi Prefecture. After
graduation from Hosei University, he went to work for Mushi Production. He later went on to help produce
Unico, based on a story by Osamu Tezuka, of Astro Boy fame. In 1972, Maruyama had a direct hand
in the establishment of the burgeoning new animation studio Madhouse and led the team as a creative
producer for many years.
Over the next three decades, Maruyama would oversee countless television, OAV, and theatrical
releases, all noted for a high level of production quality. He would also develop a reputation for finding
and nurturing talented directors; under his guidance, talents like Satoshi Kon and Atsuko Ishizuka have
flourished. Maruyama has also engaged with overseas partners quite often, working with the Wachowskis
on the Animatrix project, and overseeing anime takes on classic American comic book characters.
In 2011, Maruyama left Madhouse and formed MAPPA (Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association).
MAPPA allows him greater creative freedom to pursue projects that may be less obviously commercial. The studio’s first major project was the critically acclaimed Kids on the Slope, which reunited many of the creative team behind Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. He continues to consult with Madhouse on various projects.Maruyama’s list of credits has produced an amazing library of animation including Barefoot Gen, Dagger of Kamui, Record of Lodoss War, Vampire Hunter D, Ninja Scroll, Card Captor Sakura, Trigun, Perfect Blue, X, Boogiepop Phantom, Chobits, PitaTen, Abenobashi Maho Shotengai, Gungrave, Gunslinger Girl, Black Lagoon, Kiba, Nana, Tokyo Tribe 2, Beck, Monster, Highlander: Search for Vengeance, Devil May Cry, Death Note, RAINBOW and Red Line.
Maruyama has also overseen production of critically acclaimed films such as Paprika, The Girl Who Leapt
Through Time, and Summer Wars.