News Reporting

Wake Up Girls! Director Yutaka Yamamoto Goes On Indefinite Hiatus


Yutaka Yamamoto Portrait 001 - 20160531Yamakan’s going on a bit of a break.

Yesterday, anime director Yutaka “Yamakan” Yamamoto announced that he’s taking an indefinite leave of absence. Yamakan tweeted that he’s taking time to recuperate from “far too unreasonable circumstances piling up,” which have contributed to his poor health.

https://twitter.com/yamacane_0901/status/737287485026246656

Rough Translation: At this time, due to far too unreasonable circumstances piling up and pushing me into poor health, I’ve decided to take an immediate, indefinite leave of absence. I’ll continue to serve as lead through phone and e-mail, but please keep me out of the basic day-to-day activities.

Yamakan did note that this wasn’t a retirement from the industry, in a response to a tweet by media commentator Kiyoshi Tane. Tane questioned whether this was to be Yamamoto’s retirement, to which the director replied “An incompetent critic starts incompetent criticism again (lol).”

Yamakan Hiatus - Critic Comment - 20160531

Yutaka Yamamoto began his career as a member of Kyoto Animation subsidiary Animation Do in 1998. He rose to promience in 2006, when he served as assistant director on Kyoto Animation’s Munto 2: Beyond the Walls of Time. In 2006, Yamakan was chosen to be the series director for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. He was to make his directorial debut in 2007 with Lucky Star, but was replaced after four episodes due to production problems. He was fired from Animation Do shortly thereafter.

In 2008, Yamamoto founded studio Ordet, which aiden in the production of Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens, while Yamamoto directed at A-1 Pictures. Yamamoto would later helm 2011 series Fractale, as well as idol franchise Wake Up, Girls!

Source: Netorabo, Yaraon!

About the author

Samantha Ferreira

Samantha Ferreira is Anime Herald’s founder and editor-in-chief. A Rhode Island native, Samantha has been an anime fan since 1992, and an active member of the anime press since 2002, when she began working as a reviewer for Anime Dream. She launched Anime Herald in 2010, and continues to oversee its operations to this day. Outside of journalism, Samantha actively studies the history of the North American anime fandom and industry, with a particular focus on the 2000s anime boom and bust. She’s a huge fan of all things Sakura Wars, and maintains series fansite Combat Revue Review when she has free time available. When not in the Anime Herald Discord, Samantha can typically be found on Bluesky.

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