A designer, a director, an animator; Kazuto Nakazawa has worn many hats over the course of his awe-inspiring career. His artwork and talent have evolved over the years, as he has worked on everything from El Hazard to Kill Bill. Nakazawa continues to amaze and excite fans all over the world with his singular vision.
Nakazawa began his career in 1988 as an animator on the television series Hai! Akko Desu. He followed that with subsequent jobs as animator for Tsurupika Hagemaru Kun, Oishinbo, Sword of Truth, and Katsuhiro Otomo's Roujin Z. In 1991, he served as the Chief Animator for the Heroic Legend of Arslan. 1993 marked the beginning of Nakazawa's rise to stardom when he became an animation director for the second OAV based on the Fatal Fury series of games. He returned as animation director the next year for the Fatal Fury motion picture.
In 1995, Nakazawa became the character designer for an OAV and TV series called El Hazard. El Hazard, and Nakazawa's character designs, became a hit, later spawning a second television series. Since then, he's served as a character designer for Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Landlock, the fourth Digimon movie, Ashita no Nadja, and Legend of Black Heaven; and key animator for Armitage: Dual Matrix, The Animatrix: The Kid's Story, The Animatrix: Detective Story, and New Dominion Tank Police.
Nakazawa has also directed a number of series and shorts, including Studio 4°C's Comedy and Moondrive, Parasite Dolls, the animated O-Ren short in Kill Bill Vol. 1, and the Linkin Park music video "Breaking The Habit".
Over the course of his eighteen-year career, Nakazawa has impressed fans and colleagues alike. He continues to adapt to new media and various challenges in the animation industry. This year Nakazawa builds on his already immense back-catalogue with Samurai Champloo, for which he provided character designs and served as chief animation director. Video gamers can also see his distinctive character work in the Namco RPG, Tales of Legendia.