Shinji Higuchi
Shinji Higuchi (Japanese: 樋口真嗣), born September 22, 1965, Tokyo, is a writer, director, storyboard artist and a prominent special effects figure in Japanese film and television. As a teenager he was one of the four founding members of Gainax (originally established as Daicon Films), working on many anime and tokusatsu productions. He played an important part in the creation of the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, serving as writer, assistant director, and art director/storyboarder. His previous work on the anime Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water led the show's director and fellow Gainax member Hideaki Anno to name Evangelion's protagonist, Shinji Ikari after him as an inside joke. Higuchi initially started his career in the mid 80s working within special effects on several kaiju films, and by the mid 90's had established himself as a master within the field with the release of the acclaimed Gamera trilogy of films. During this time, he continued to be a storyboarder for anime such as Gunbuster and Otaku no Video, his wife also providing the namesake for the former's heroine, Noriko Takaya.
In addition to his special effects direction, Higuchi branched into CG animation for several tokusatsu films in the early 2000s, and has since directed a number of live-action films. Higuchi became involved within the Pokémon franchise during the production of Jirachi: Wish Maker as a storyboard artist in 2004. He was later commissioned to produce the artwork for the new Pokémon LEGEND cards that first appeared in the HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and went on to co-illustrate all subsequent Pokémon LEGEND cards released in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Series. He was also involved in the art direction of two cards from the Undaunted expansion in collaboration with 3D illustrator Kent Kanetsuna.
Artwork
Cards illustrated
Cards directed
Works
Live-action
| Title | Date | Position |
|---|---|---|
| The Return of Godzilla | 1984 | Assistant Special Effects Director |
| Yamata no Orochi no Gyakushū | 1985 | Special Effects Director |
| Peacock King | 1988 | Special Effects |
| Mikadroid: Robokill Beneath Disco Club Layla | 1991 | Special Effects Director |
| Gamera: Guardian of the Universe | 1995 | Special Effects Director |
| Gamera 2: Advent of Legion | 1996 | Special Effects Director |
| Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys | 1999 | Special Effects Director |
| Sakuya: Slayer of Demons | 2000 | Special Effects |
| Pistol Opera | 2001 | Special Effects |
| Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack | 2001 | Special Effects Director |
| The Princess Blade | 2001 | Special Effects Coordinator |
| Minimoni ja Movie: Okashi na Daibōken! | 2002 | Director |
| Dragonhead | 2003 | Special Effects |
| Kill Bill: Vol. 1 | 2003 | Production Coordinator: Tokyo |
| Casshern | 2004 | Storyboard Artist |
| Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean | 2005 | Director |
| Nihon Chinbotsu | 2006 | Director |
| Kakushi Toride no San-Akunin: The Last Princess | 2008 | Director |
| MM9 | 2009 | Director |
| Kyoshinhei Tôkyô ni arawaru | 2012 | Director |
| The Floating Castle | 2012 | Director |
Animation
| Title | Date | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise | 1988 | Assistant Director |
| Gunbuster | 1988 | Storyboard Artist |
| Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (17 episodes) | 1990-1991 | Director/Storyboard Artist |
| Otaku no Video | 1991 | Storyboard Artist |
| Macross Plus | 1994 | Storyboard Artist |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion | 1995-1996 | Writer/Assistant Director/Art Director/Storyboard Artist |
| The End of Evangelion | 1997 | Writer/Storyboard Artist |
| Vandread | 2000 | Storyboard Artist |
| Vandread: The Second Stage | 2001 | Storyboard Artist |
| Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi | 2002 | Magic Circle Sequence |
| Jirachi: Wish Maker | 2004 | Storyboard Artist |
| Diebuster | 2004-2005 | Storyboard Artist |
| Skull Man | 2007 | Storyboard Artist |
| Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone | 2007 | Storyboard Artist |
| Shangri-La | 2009 | Title Logo Design |
| Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance | 2009 | Image Board/Storyboard Artist |
| Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo | 2012 | Image Board/Storyboard Artist |
| Space Battleship Yamato 2199 | 2013 | Storyboard Artist |
| Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time | 2021 | Storyboard Artist |
Games
| Title | Platform | Date | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams | PlayStation 2 | 2006 | Storyboard: Digital Frontier Inc. |
