Naoko Yamada

Naoko Yamada (山田尚子, Yamada Naoko, born November 28, 1984) is a Japanese animator and television and film director. Working at Kyoto Animation, she directed the K-On! and Tamako Market anime series.

Life

Yamada was born in Gunma Prefecture on November 28, 1984. She enjoyed drawing as a child and would copy images from the Patlabor and Dragonball anime series. She joined the volleyball club in primary school, and the tennis and photography clubs in high school. At the Kyoto University of Art and Design, she studied oil painting and was a member of the special effects club.

She intended to work in film after university, but decided to join Kyoto Animation after seeing an advertisement. Her first assignment at KyoAni was drawing inbetween frames for Inuyasha. She was eventually promoted to a key animator for Air. After working as an episode director of Clannad, she was asked to direct K-On!, an adaptation of a slice-of-life manga. The series was very successful, spurring a second season and a film. In 2013, she directed Tamako Market, and followed it with the film Tamako Love Story in 2014. For Tamako Love Story, she was awarded the New Face Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival. She storyboarded the entire film herself, and also wrote the lyrics for the opening theme song, Everybody Loves Somebody.

Yamada

Yamada (山田, "mountain ricefield") is the 12th most common Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Yamada Yoshio

Yamada Yoshio (山田 孝雄, August 20, 1873 – November 20, 1958) was a Japanese linguist. He founded the influential "Yamada grammar", and was the first to use the word "chinjutsu" as a linguistic term.

Minami-ke

Minami-ke (みなみけ, lit. The Minami Family) is a Japanese manga series by Koharu Sakuraba, who also authored Kyō no Go no Ni. It was first serialized in the weekly Japanese manga magazine Young Magazine in March 2004. The slice of life comedy focuses on the everyday life of three sisters: Haruka, Kana, and Chiaki Minami. An anime series produced by Daume aired in 2007. Asread produced a second season in 2008 titled Minami-ke: Okawari, a third season in 2009 titled Minami-ke: Okaeri, and an original video animation (OVA) episode in 2009 titled Minami-ke: Betsubara. In 2012, Feel produced another OVA titled Minami-ke: Omatase, followed by a fourth anime series in 2013 titled Minami-ke: Tadaima.

Characters

Minami sisters

Other Minami family

High school students

Junior-high school students

Elementary school students

Other

Media

Manga

Minami-ke was first published as a manga by Koharu Sakuraba. It began serialization in Kodansha's Young Magazine on March 1, 2004. As of May 2015, 13 tankōbon volumes of the series have been released.