Yoshiji Kigami

was a Japanese animator, director and storyboarder. He started working at Shin-Ei Animation, later became part of Animaruya and then he became affiliated with Kyoto Animation.

Career When he was young, Kigami was a big fan of Disney movies and anime shows based on the manga series of Osamu Tezuka, and this led him to becoming an animator. He started working at Shin-Ei Animation before joining Kyoto Animation. Kigami became well known in the industry for his work on Grave of the Fireflies and Akira as a key animator. In 2003, Kigami directed his first work, Munto, and later became an instructor at Kyoto Animation's teaching program. In Kyoto Animation productions, he used the pen name Ichirou Miyoshi (三好一郎) when storyboarding, and Fumio Tada (多田文男) when doing key animation.

Death On 18 July 2019, during the Kyoto Animation arson attack, Kigami was killed alongside 35 of his colleagues, with 33 others wounded; Kigami was initially declared missing after the attack due to his mother declaring that he could not be contacted immediately following the fire.

Filmography Grave of the Fireflies: Key Animation Cat's Eye: Key Animation (4 episodes) Akira: Key Animation Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions: Episode Director (ep 6); Storyboard ep (ep 6) Crayon Shin Chan Movies (1; 3;7;9) : Key Animation Hyouka: Key Animation; Storyboard (ep 5); Episode Director (ep 5) K-On!: Key Animation (ep 10, ep 12) K-On! Movie: Key Animation Munto: Director Tamako Market: Episode Director (ep 2, ep 9), Storyboard (ep 9), Key Animation (ep 1) Violet Evergarden: Episode Director (ep 6), Storyboard (ep 6)