Kunio Okawara (大河原 邦男 Ōkawara Kunio) is a mechanical designer in the Japanese anime industry from Inagi, Tokyo. Okawara was the first in the industry to be specifically credited as a "mechanical designer", and is considered one of the most influential figures in the "real robot" anime genre, alongside fellow designer Kazutaka Miyatake.
Career[]
Okawara graduated from the Materials Design Department of Tokyo Model University and initially worked as a fashion designer. He would later join the art department of the Dragon Son Production Company, responsible for the background painting before moving to work on the mechanical designs on Science Ninja Team Gatchaman in 1972. He worked on a number of Sunrise's various super robot animation works through the decade, but it wasn't until his work on Mobile Suit Gundam where he achieved widespread acclaim and fame among anime enthusiasts.
During the release of Super Dimension Fortress Macross, he was inspired by the fighter designs of the series, but sponsors decided against it when he was working on Blue Comet SPT Layzner. Through the years, he would have a good friendship with Macross designer Kazutaka Miyatake, and would often appear on public panels discussing mecha design.
External Links[]
- Kunio Okawara
- Kunio Okawara, The Man Who Designed 'Gundam' And Created The Profession Of Mechanical Design