Ohata Koichi
Aim for the Top! MD Geist II!

Known for his striking mecha designs in such memorable series like MD GEIST, AIM FOR THE TOP! GUNBUSTER, DANGAIO and MACROSS II, Koichi Ohata has become one of the forerunners of mecha design in the anime industry. What makes Ohata one of the premiere mecha designers? Professionalism.
Ohata has controlled projects as the director, most notably MD GEIST and the GENOCYBER OAV series. But he is perfectly happy being "typecast" as a mecha designer when everything is done professionally. A director sets the parameters of what he needs and Ohata goes to work. "Managing everything," stated Ohata, "is too hard, both physically and mentally." Not to be seen as someone who backs away from work, Ohata does enjoy directing his own material and says that what is really needed is a dependable sponsor. Dependable as in professional.
Koichi Ohata became interested in working in the anime/manga industry after he became 20 years old. As a child, his interest was on par with that of other children-- simple enjoyment. But after that point in college, Ohata decided to become a manga artist. From that point, he evolved into a mecha designer. Much of his influences come from early 70's science-fiction anime.
He is currently preparing for the release of MD GEIST II. Because of its commercial success here in the States, MDGII was jointly financed with a US company. Ohata notes that it would've been difficult to produce MDGII without the US success of the original MD GEIST and the financing that resulted. Another related project is the recently released "director's cut" of MD GEIST, something that was not really possible until recently with the video market becoming more widespread.
The first GEIST was somewhat simple, but Ohata promises that MD GEIST II to be more violent with lots of heavy action. Also, the second story is directly involved with the original and is supposed to be more depressing in its ending. Ohata stresses that MD GEIST is not a superhero, but more represents an element in humans that he would like to see come out in people.
His next project after MD GEIST II are designs for a Sega game (most likely for the Saturn) that boasts new technology and lots of competition. However, Ohata would like to point out that, unusually, there are no monsters or mecha involved in this game.

Kitazume Hiroyuki
The Man Behind Moldiver

One of the anime titles that Pioneer Entertainment is enjoying success with in the United States is the MOLDIVER OAV series. So it's only natural that they bring over the producer, director and character designer of MOLDIVER to ANIME EXPO for promotion. Hiroyuki Kitazume had previously made his mark in the anime/manga industry as an outstanding character designer, but MOLDIVER was his first try at the helm of a project. And with his first attempt, Kitazume has shown that he's a success all around.
Kitazume got into the anime/manga industry the traditional route. As a child, he enjoyed drawing as a hobby. In high school, he concentrated on the skill even more and during this time, enjoyed the explosion of anime in Japan at the time, with such television series as Mobile Suit Gundam. From high school, Kitazume was accepted into the Tokyo Design Institute and studied diligently. After graduation, he went straight to work for Nippon Sunrise, an animation studio.
Once at Nippon Sunrise, he was put to work assisting on other artists' designs. After one project of such work, he started his own designing, notably character designs. Kitazume worked on several GUNDAM-related series: ZETA GUNDAM, GUNDAM ZZ and the movie CHAR'S COUNTERATTACK. While working on these projects, he was able to work with Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of the original MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM. The experience of working with a talented director helped Kitazume build a foundation toward becoming a director himself.
This foundation resulted in MOLDIVER. When directing MOLDIVER, he drew upon the contemporary world as his influences, which is very apparent with the "machinegals." Originally planned to be just clones, Kitazume was told to add variety to them. So, he based each separate girl on an actual American actresses/models.
The whole concept of MOLDIVER is about 80% his, according to Kitazume. The end product, though, he's not too sure about. There's a loss from idea to end product that always occurs, he says, and this, unfortunately, occurred with MOLDIVER. But even though only approximately 1/5 of what he really wanted remained, Kitazume expressed a satisfaction with MOLDIVER.
Much to fan disappointment, Kitazume has no concrete plans for the future. The only thing he has on the slate are proposals. But, with his current track record, fans can be sure to expect something from Kitazume Hiroyuki in the near future. (continued)