Tsukasa Kotobuki - TV Tropes

Tsukasa Kotobuki ^note  (born April 28, 1970) is an animator, character/mecha designer and mangaka known for his very distinct and very 90's art style that more often than not leans heavily into Fanservice and NSFW territory.

A lifelong fan of Gundam, Kotobuki began his career as a doujin artist in 1985 under the name "Sushi", though he would eventually change his penname to his current one with "Tsukasa" being derived from animator, Tsukasa Dokite ^note . He'd make connections throughout the industry due to this and eventually became an apprentice of Kenichi Sonoda, assisting him on Gunsmith Cats.

But once his apprenticeship under Sonoda ended, Kotobuki's good friend, Masami Obari invited him to work on Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, which began his long career in the anime world.

Aside from the aforementioned Dokite, Sonoda and Obari, he also names Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, Masamune Shirow and Masakazu Katsura as major influences. His distinctly 90's art style came about when Kadokawa was looking for artists for the Saber Marionette J light novels and wanted someone who could draw similarly to Slayers artist, Rui Araizumi, whom Kotobuki is also friends with and cites as another influence.

He also has accounts on both Twitter and Bluesky if you wish to keep up with his activities.

Works that Kotobuki has worked on include:

• Bastard!! (1988) (Key animation for episode 31 of the 2023 anime, uncredited)
• Battle Arena Toshinden (character designer)
• City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes (designed the Kisugi sisters)
• Cyberteam In Akihabara (character designer; also drew the tie-in manga for Nakayoshi)
• Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (Key animation for episode 98)
• Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (shared character design duties with Masami Obari, costume design, key animation)
• Godannar (mechanical designer; shared duties with Rihiro Yamane ^note )
• Gundam:
  • Gundam Breaker (character designer for Gundam Breaker 2)
  • Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (tie-in manga)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (character designer)
    • Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island (character designer)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage (character and mechanical designer)
  • Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Day After Tomorrow
• Mayonaka Punch (character designer; also illustrated the light novel)
• One Piece (Key Animation for episode 1085)
• Platinumhugen Ordian (mechanical designer; shared duties with Obari, Natsuki Mamiya and Noriyuki Jinguuji)
• Saber Marionette J (original character designer ^note ; illustrator for the original light novels)
• Super Robot Wars: Original Generation: The Inspector (mechanical designer; Angelg and Valsione)
• Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer (Key Animation for the OVA)
• VS Knight Lamune & 40 FIRE (character designer)
• Ziguru Hazeru (character designer)

Tropes applying to Kotobuki or his works:

• Cute Little Fangs: More often than not, Kotobuki's artwork features characters with a fang in their mouth be they male or female.
• He Also Did: Not too surprisingly given his background, Kotobuki often draws h-doujins under a pseudonym.
• Fanservice: This is another very common feature of his work to exaggerated degrees.