Shin Ōnuma

is a Japanese anime director, animator, and storyboard artist best known for his contributions to studios Shaft and Silver Link.

Early life As a child, Oonuma did not care much for anime and found more interest in video games. He watched some parts of Mobile Suit Gundam while in elementary school without understanding it, and vividly remembered parts of a Gamba no Bouken rerun because of a weasel character he was terrified by, but otherwise was obsessed Famicom that was released around that time. It wasn't until late in high school that Oonuma watched various anime. Since he loved games, he was vaguely interested in going into the entertainment industry, so he watched anime as a part of that idea. This led to Oonuma's discovery of the 1992 OVA Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, which resonated with him through its characters, comedy style, and in particular the nature of its protagonist who is teased at the beginning of the story but essentially becomes a hero by its end. Tenchi Muyo! inspired Oonuma to join the anime industry. Up until that point, Oonuma avoided drawing because his mother was a former manga artist and illustrator and his older brother was a good artist, and Oonuma didn't like being compared; but Tenchi Muyo was the first time he thought about drawing and making the pictures move through animation himself.

Career Oonuma's first credit in anime was as an in-between animator for Berserk as a sub-contracting employee of Office AO. In 2009, Oonuma left Shaft to pursue work with Silver Link. At Silver Link, Oonuma has taken a similar role to Shinbo's executive role at Shaft. He has been involved with most of the studio's productions as either director or chief director, and has mentored or influenced several directors including Masato Jinbo, Masafumi Tamura, Keisuke Inoue, and Mirai Minato.

Style Since his time with the studio, Oonuma's directing style has been consistently compared to his former Shaft colleagues. ANN reviewer Carl Kimlinger, in his reviews of both seasons of Baka and Test, noted Oonuma's visual cues, which he seemed to take from his time under Akiyuki Shinbo; in comparison to Shinbo's "directorial madman" approach, Kimlinger described Oonuma's direction as being "semi-abstract" and "light"; Nick Creamer, reviewing C3, noted Oonuma's emphasis on "wildly creative" visuals, reminiscent of his previous series; and Theron Martin mentioned the similarities between Dusk Maiden of Amnesia and Ef. Despite the many analyses of Oonuma's style, Creamer later stated, in his review of the first episode of The Ones Within, that a single directorial style could not be attached to Oonuma, and that his visual style was more likely the result of visual experimentation for the sake of visual experimentation than any particular style of choice.

Initially, while he worked on Pani Poni Dash, Oonuma stated that he did not know how to make a comedy using gags since he had never done one until that point but became more interested in it upon viewing Yasuo Ejima's fourth episode of the series. After he saw Tatsuya Oishi's sixth episode of the series, Oonuma decided to take things he believed were interesting and make them his own. Oonuma also started to work closely with the animation staff, with whom he consulted with on how to make certain the storyboards and other parts of the production better, and would ask them to add their own ideas into the work. Although only a key animator at the time, Oonuma specifically consulted with later Shaft director Naoyuki Tatsuwa regarding some of the series' parodies and references as Tatsuwa was knowledgeable on how to implement them, for example. Oonuma developed his sense of style in tandem with the creators around him, as opposed to Oishi's self-indulgence as a director in which he made his own references and parodies away from what he described as the Oonuma team.

The most influential aspect of Shinbo's directing style on Oonuma, according to himself, was Shinbo's taste in colors in his works. Although Shinbo had, at this time, shifted away from using abnormal coloring, Oonuma noted that it was the "power of color" that he had been mostly influenced by while working with Shinbo. Speaking strictly on Oonuma's debut as a solo-director on Ef: A Tale of Memories, Shinbo noted that Oonuma would contrast close-ups of happy faces with long and sad lines from the characters (and vice versa). He considered his personal philosophy at the time to be storytelling through the pictures on the screen rather than the voices of the characters. For Natsu no Arashi!, Shinbo asked Oonuma to come up with a unique way of portraying the hot summer. After talking with the background team, Oonuma decided to use a high-contrast lighting style to emphasize the power of the sun's lighting. The shape of the lighting, however, which appears in certain shapes, was an idea Shinbo had used occasionally in prior instances, which was influenced by art director Yuuji Ikeda's work on Marude Dameo (which Shinbo worked on as an episode director). Oonuma stated that he doesn't give detailed instructions to either the cast or staff of his works, and instead develops the project around a single guideline by which all of the staff can move around and understand. In adapting works to the anime medium, he takes time trying to appeal to the intentions of the original author and the expectations of the viewers, so as to please both the audience and the creator of the work. 1998 Silent Mobius Hideki Tonokatsu Shaft (Radix) Key animator 2001 A Little Snow Fairy Sugar Shinichiro Kimura J.C.Staff Key animator 2002 G-On Riders Shinichiro Kimura ShaftTNK Key animator 2003 Twin Spica Tomomi Mochizuki Group TAC

Wind: A Breath of Heart Mitsuhiro Tōgō Radix Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase Akiyuki Shinbo Shaft Assistant episode directorOpening directorKey animator

Paniponi Dash! Shaft Ending animationSupervisor Akahori Gedou Hour Rabuge Hitoyuki Matsui Radix Key animator 2006 Negima!? Shaft

Hidamari Sketch Akiyuki Shinbo Ryouki Kamitsubo Shaft Opening director Ef: A Tale of Memories Shaft Opening director and storyboard2nd key animator

Hidamari Sketch x 365 Akiyuki Shinbo Shaft Opening director Bakemonogatari Akiyuki ShinboTatsuya Oishi Shaft Opening director Ef: A Tale of Melodies Shaft Opening director and storyboard

Natsu no Arashi! Shaft Opening directorEnding director Natsu no Arashi! Akinai-chū Shaft Series director for 7 episodesOpening directorEnding director 2010 Baka and Test Silver Link Opening director and storyboardEnding director and storyboard

Baka and Test 2 Silver Link Opening director and storyboardEnding director and storyboardScreenplay C3 Silver Link Opening director and storyboard Level E Toshiyuki Katō PierrotDavid Production

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia Silver Link Kokoro Connect Silver Link OniAi Keiichiro Kawaguchi Silver Link

No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! Silver Link Opening director and storyboardEnding director and storyboard Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya Silver Link Monogatari Series Second Season Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura Shaft Opening director

No-Rin Silver Link Opening director and storyboardEnding director and storyboardEnding photography Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei! Silver Link Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Silver Link Opening director and storyboard

Chivalry of a Failed Knight Silver LinkNexus Opening director and storyboard Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei Herz! Silver Link Chaos Dragon Hideki Tachibana Masato Matsune Silver LinkConnect

Anne Happy Silver Link Opening director and storyboard Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 3rei! Silver Link Magic of Stella Shinya Kawatsura Silver Link 2017 A Sister's All You Need Silver Link Opening director and storyboard

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Silver LinkConnect Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-sou Silver Link Opening director and storyboard Butlers: Chitose Momotose Monogatari Ken Takahashi Silver Link The Girl in Twilight (#12) Jin TamamuraYūichi Abe Dandelion Animation StudioOkuruto Noboru 2019 The Ones Within Silver Link Opening directorEnding director and storyboard

Bofuri Silver Link The Misfit of Demon King Academy Silver Link Opening director and storyboard Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World Silver Link 2021 Deep Insanity: The Lost Child Silver Link Opening director and storyboard

Bofuri 2nd Season Silver Link Opening director and storyboard The Misfit of Demon King Academy 2nd Season Silver Link Opening director and storyboard Ragna Crimson Ken Takahashi Silver Link Opening director and storyboard 2025 Princession Orchestra Silver Link Opening director and storyboard

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya Finale Silver Link Re:bel Robotica Silver Link OVAs