Masamitsu Hidaka

Masamitsu Hidaka (Japanese: 日高政光 Hidaka Masamitsu) is a director and storyboard artist for the Pokémon anime. He also has various other credits.

Biography

Hidaka was born on October 19, 1960, and went on initially to become an architect. After losing his job at an architecture design office, however, he went into the animation industry and soon became a noted director. In addition to Pokémon, he has also worked on various other series, including Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

He directed the Pokémon anime up to the Battle Frontier arc, and he continues to be a storyboard artist.

Interview with Water Pokémon Master

Most notably, he was recently interviewed by PokéBeach webmaster Water Pokémon Master, the closest any Pokémon fan has come to those in charge of the raw anime. He answered many questions, including confirming that Celebi was planned to be in the GS Ball before it was decided to be put into the fourth movie, and that Brock left the show briefly during the Orange Islands arc due to fears that Americans, who would soon after the planning of Tracey's debut episode be getting the first episode, would find him a racist stereotype. When asked if Misty would return to the main cast, his response was a flat-out no.

He also made another comment in another interview that caused a degree of controversy among Pokémon fans. In the second interview he stated that part of the reason for the changing of Ash's female companion from Misty to May, and then to Dawn is that "boys need a new piece of eye candy to look at every once in a while". Many viewed this as a sexist comment. However, in his defense, it should be noted that Hidaka's comments went through the translator, and then the fan who posted the interview, so some of the original meaning may have been lost. Japanese culture is very different than the culture of English speaking nations, so the comment may have been received in a way Hidaka didn't mean for it to be.