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“One step closer to the expression of true emotion”
Yohei Shimozawa

Yohei
SHIMOZAWA

Yohei
SHIMOZAWA

Profile
Born 1976 in Niigata Pref., Japan. Has a plenty of experiences regardless of genre. Currently works mainly for opening movies of video games and pachinko/pachislot projects.

My strength and future career preference

Because I have worked with a variety of media including realistic in-game cutscenes, cel animated films, experimental pachinko/pachislot and so on, it comes naturally to me to think about how to best use different elements of different media rather than to think in terms like “This has to be like this because it is in this medium”. I think this is my strength.
In the future, I would like to make a family drama piece. In the past, I have mainly worked on projects that involved action or fighting. Of course those are proud career moments and bring with it a certain image of me however, I would like to take a step closer towards conveying emotions. I know it is difficult to make the audience laugh and cry however, I want to compete this way since I am a director now.

The most memorable work

I really enjoyed working on projects that involved my favorite characters from my childhood. When I was an elementary student, I loved “Fist of the North Star” and would always draw pictures of Kenshiro (I wasn’t really good at it back then though). Now when I’ve grown up, I had an opportunity to make a 3D movie of “Fist of the North Star” for the summer event at Odaiba. I remembered my hands were shaking when I exchanged business card with Mr. Tetsuo Hara, the author of the original Manga.

Filmography

Career Path

  1. 2003Career start

    Joined DF. Did whatever was assigned to him as a generalist.

  2. 2004Year 2

    Worked on the game “Tekken 5” as a team leader. For him it seemed very audacious since he had only joined the company not too long ago. It was his first major project.

  3. 2005Year 3

    Promoted to senior designer.

  4. 2006-2007Year 4-5

    Worked on designing the title of the game “White Knight Chronicles” and the film “biohazard DEGENERATION” along with others as a team leader.

  5. 2008Year 6

    Involved in the animated film “Summer Wars”. It was his last work as a senior designer.

  6. 2009Year 7 - Present

    Promoted to CG director and have been since.

Personal life

Yohei Shimozawa I play guitar. My guitar skill is only at an amateur’s level though, I have played a variety of genre. I used to play at live shows twice a year until recently. I am on leave temporarily so I could spend more of my time dealing with household chores and childcare. Thankfully I am used to waking up at 5am in the morning since I’ve always lived a very regimented lifestyle. My daily duty consists of cleaning places using water. If I try to do too many places at once I will easily quit so I select a specific area every day. As a result, I enjoy not having to do it on the weekend and I can get a good head start in the morning.

The entertainment product(s) that changed my life

It would be “X/BLUE BLOOD”. In the late 80s, I was a junior high school student. I was making pixel arts similar to CG in secret. I entered a contest in a magazine and was accepted, so I bragged about it to my friends but their reaction weren’t very enthusiastic. So I started thinking about changing my goals and during that time there was a musical bands craze with the public - one of my friends lent me this album. It was very popular. This album made me quit CG and started playing guitar. After I entered high school I listened to a lot of western music and was really into it, I would excitedly talk about making a living by playing guitar but at the end, after travelling to so many places I make a living by CG.

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