Masashi Ando

Career

Ando entered Studio Ghibli after passing its entrance exam while studying at the Nihon University College of Art. At age 25, he was selected as chief animation director for Princess Mononoke. He later acted as Hayao Miyazaki's right-hand man on Spirited Away in 2001, but departed Ghibli following a disagreement with Miyazaki over directing methods. Beginning in 2003, Ando worked on Satoshi Kon's films, serving as character designer and animation director for Kon's 2006 film Paprika. He performed the same roles for Hiroyuki Okiura's A Letter to Momo in 2012. In 2013, he returned to Studio Ghibli as part of the animation staff for The Tale of Princess Kaguya. The following year, he worked on When Marnie Was There as an animation director for Ghibli for the first time in 13 years since Spirited Away, and also co-wrote that film's script. Ando led the animation team for Makoto Shinkai's Your Name in 2016. He made his directorial debut with Shika no Ō: Yuna to Yakusoku no Tabi, sharing directing duties with Masayuki Miyaji, and additionally handled character design and animation direction.