Shoji Kawamori - TV Tropes

Pictured with the intellectual properties that he created and designed himself

Shoji Kawamori (born February 20, 1960) (known in western circles as "Hory Froating Head◊") is a mechanical designer (originating from Studio Nue) and anime director with a very distinctive visual aesthetic and animation style. He frequently works together with Yoko Kanno and the animation director Ichiro Itano.

He has created and/or directed the following:

• Macross:
  • Super Dimension Fortress Macross: With Noboru Ishiguro
  • Macross: Do You Remember Love?: With Noboru Ishiguro
  • Macross Plus: With Shinichiro Watanabe
  • Macross 7: With Tetsuro Amino
  • Macross Zero
  • Macross Frontier: With Yasuhito Kikuchi
  • Macross Delta: With Kenji Yasuda
• The Vision of Escaflowne: With Kazuki Akane
• The Daichis - Earth Defense Family: With Tetsu Kimura
• Earth Maiden Arjuna
• Aquarion
  • Genesis of Aquarion
  • Aquarion Evol: With Yusuke Yamamoto
  • Aquarion Logos
  • Aquarion: Myth of Emotions
• Basquash!: With Thomas Romain, Shin Itagaki, and Hidekazu Sato
• Animal Detectives Kiruminzoo: With Soichi Masui
• AKB0048: With Yoshimasa Hiraike
• Nobunaga the Fool: With Hidekazu Sato
• Spring And Chaos
• Last Hope

He has also done mechanical design for the following:

• Ace Combat: Assault Horizon: Designed the ASF-X Shinden II. His Macross background shows through with it's design and functions.
• Armored Core series
• BattleTech: Until Harmony Gold filed a lawsuit in contravention of decisions that were made in Japanese courts.
  • Technically it was the other way round: he didn't really designed original BT mechs, FASA just used his Macross designs for them.
• Blue Submarine No. 6
• Bodacious Space Pirates
• Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter
• Cowboy Bebop: With Shinichiro Watanabe. Also wrote the screenplay for Episode 18.
• Crusher Joe
• Daemon X Machina
• Daimos
• Dangaioh: Also provided some key animation for episode 1.
• Eureka Seven
• Future GPX Cyber Formula series: Technically cars, but they're mechanical designs nonetheless.
• Ghost in the Shell
• Glass Fleet
• Godzilla vs. Biollante
• Gunhed
• LEGO Exo-Force
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory ^note 
• Moldiver
• Outlaw Star
• Patlabor series
• Saber Marionette J: Did key animation for episodes 1 and 5.
• Thunderbirds Are Go
• Time Jam: Valerian & Laureline
• Transformers: Masterpiece Starscream and Hybrid Style Convoy; also designed the original toys Optimus Prime^note  and Jetfire were based upon.
• Ulysses 31

Shoji Kawamori frequently uses the following in his works:

• God Never Said That: Many of the things he supposedly said to "troll" the Macross Frontier fandom were fiction made up by a disgruntled member of the fandom.
• Technology Porn: He graduated as an aircraft engineer, which is really evident in his designs.
• Transforming Mecha: The creator of transforming real robots himself. He designed the VF-1 Valkyrie and Optimus Prime, who are among the most famous of all mecha, period.
• Trolling Creator: He does have a way of messing with audience expectations, even those who have been following his work for a long time.

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