Kenjirō Okada

Kenjirō Okada (Japanese: 岡田 堅二朗, Hepburn: Okada Kenjirō) is a Japanese director and storyboard artist best known for directing March Comes In like a Lion.

Kenjirō Okada 岡田 堅二朗
Born	Japan
Occupation(s)	Director, storyboard artist
Years active	2005–present
Employer	Group TAC (2005–2010)
Known for	March Comes In like a Lion

Career

Okada started off in the anime industry as a production assistant for Zoids: Genesis in 2005 at Group TAC.^[1] Over several years, Okada worked to this capacity, and in 2007 was promoted to production manager on Nenbutsu Monogatari (released in 2008). Two years later, in 2010, he made his debut as an episode director on episode 124 of Hana Kappa. That year, however, Group TAC filed for bankruptcy, and Okada had a short tenure at Studio CJT (founded by former Group TAC members) as a producer,^[2] but that same year became a freelancing director. In 2012, he became associated with Shaft and made his debut with the studio on the 2nd episode of Nekomonogatari: Black. For the next 4 years, he participated in a number of Shaft productions as an episode director and storyboard artist, and in 2016 made his debut as a series director with the studio on March Comes In like a Lion under Akiyuki Shinbo's direction,^[3] which received positive reviews from critics.^[4][5] Okada occasionally works with other companies, but a majority of his output continues to be with Shaft.

Style

In an interview between him and Shaft colleague Hajime Ootani, the two were asked to describe each other's styles and processes as directors. Commenting on his own style, Okada stated that he gave more attention to appealing to fans of the works he was adapting and the original author's expectations, to which Ootani supported and gave admiration for.^[6] In 2021, Okada acted as assistant director for Ootani's Pretty Boy Detective Club, and chief director Shinbo stated that Ootani and Okada complimented each other's strengths and weaknesses.^[7]

Works

Television series

  In "Director(s)" column highlights Okada's directorial works.

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio	SB[a]	ED[b]	Other roles and notes	Ref(s)
2005	Zoids: Genesis	Kazunori Mizuno	SMDE	No	No	Production assistant	[1]
2006	Otogi-Jūshi Akazukin	Takaaki Ishiyama	Madhouse	No	No	Production assistant	[8]
2007	Bakugan Battle Brawlers	Mitsuo Hashimoto	TMS Entertainment Japan Vistec	No	No	Production assistant
2009	Kimi ni Todoke	Hiro Kaburagi	Production I.G	No	No	In-between animator	[9]
2012	Tsuritama	Kenji Nakamura	A-1 Pictures	No	Yes		[10]
	Nekomonogatari: Black	Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura (series)	Shaft	No	Yes		[11]
	Picchipichi Shizuku-chan	Kazumi Nonaka	Asahi Production	No	No	Producer	[2]
2013	From the New World	Masashi Ishihama	A-1 Pictures	No	Yes		[12]
	Sasami-san@Ganbaranai	Akiyuki Shinbo	Shaft	No	Yes		[13]
	Monogatari Series Second Season	Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Tomoyuki Itamura Naoyuki Tatsuwa (series, #6–9) Yuki Yase (series, #14–17)	Shaft	No	Yes	Assistant episode director 2nd key animator	[14][15][16]
	Gatchaman Crowds	Kenji Nakamura	Tatsunoko Production	No	Yes		[17]
2014	Buddy Complex	Yasuhiro Tanabe	Sunrise	No	Yes		[18]
	Captain Earth	Takuya Igarashi	Bones	No	Yes		[19]
	Mekakucity Actors	Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Yuki Yase	Shaft	No	Yes		[20]
	Hanamonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Tomoyuki Itamura	Shaft	No	Yes		[21][22]
	Tsukimonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Tomoyuki Itamura	Shaft	No	Yes		[23]
2015	Nisekoi:	Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Yukihiro Miyamoto (chief episode)	Shaft	Yes	Yes		[24][25]
	Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA	Takashi Kawabata	Doga Kobo	No	Yes		[26]
	Owarimonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Tomoyuki Itamura	Shaft	No	Yes		[27]
2016	March Comes In like a Lion	Akiyuki Shinbo Kenjirou Okada (series)	Shaft	Yes	Yes		[3][28][29]
2017	March Comes In like a Lion 2nd Season	Akiyuki Shinbo Kenjirou Okada (series)	Shaft	Yes	Yes		[30][31][32]
2018	Fate/Extra: Last Encore	Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Yukihiro Miyamoto (series)	Shaft	No	Yes		[33]
2019	Zoku Owarimonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo	Shaft	Yes	Yes		[34]
2020	Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story	Doroinu (chief) Yukihiro Miyamoto Kenjirou Okada Midori Yoshizawa	Shaft	Yes	Yes		[35][36][37][38] [39]
	Wave, Listen to Me!	Tatsuma Minamikawa	Sunrise	Yes	No		[40]
	Assault Lily Bouquet	Shouji Saeki Hajime Ootani (chief episode)	Shaft	Yes	Yes		[41]
2021	Pretty Boy Detective Club	Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Hajime Ootani	Shaft	Yes	Yes	Assistant director	[42][43][44]
2022	RWBY: Ice Queendom	Toshimasa Suzuki Kenjirou Okada (chief)	Shaft	Yes	Yes		[45]
2023	Horimiya: The Missing Pieces	Masashi Ishihama	CloverWorks	Yes	Yes		[46]
2024	Black Butler: Public School Arc	Kenjirou Okada	CloverWorks	Yes	Yes		[47]
2025	Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc	Kenjirou Okada	CloverWorks	Yes	Yes		[48]

OVAs / ONAs

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio	SB[c]	ED[d]	Other roles and notes	Ref(s)
2008	Nenbutsu Monogatari	Takashi Ui	Group Tac	No	No	Production manager
2016	Koyomimonogatari	Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Tomoyuki Itamura	Shaft	No	Yes		[49]

Films

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio	SB[c]	ED[d]	Other roles and notes	Ref(s)
2006	Eien no Hou	Isamu Imakake	Group TAC	No	No	Production assistant
2020	Josee, the Tiger and the Fish	Kōtarō Tamura	Bones	No	Yes		[50]

Video games

Year	Title	Studio	Roles and notes	Ref(s)
2017	Magia Record (Arc I)	Shaft	Cutscene director and storyboard artist	[51]

Notes

1. Storyboard artist
2. Episode director, equivalent to unit director
3. Storyboard artist.
4. Episode director, equivalent to unit director.

Citations

• Aniplex (2021). Pretty Boy Detective Club Vol. 5 Special Booklet. Aniplex.