Anime News

CGI Anime Pioneer Heads Takarazuka University Course
Date: 2/22/2005
While few may know his name, those who have been anime fans for more than 20 years should definetly be aware of the first time they saw his influence. Oomura Kouichi (67) had the distinguished honor of being fully responsible for one of the first CGI sequences (if not the first) in a work of Japanese Animation. The year was 1983, the movie: Golgo 13. Oomori supervised and created the infamous helicopter / cityscape scene which appears towards the end of the film. This is the same scene which is trashed endlessly in most English language reviews for Golgo 13 that you can find on the internet today for using "primitive" and "rudimentary" CGI. However, for the time period in which it was created, it was truly groundbreaking and today Oomori is hailed as a pioneer of computer graphics for Japan. Now he is preparing to tackle the role of Image Forming Subject Professor at the Takarazuka University of Art and Design's Graduate School in the spring. In 1996 he served as the Assistant Professor of Electronic Engineering at Osaka University.
Source: Anime News Service