Ask John: Have Any Manga Creators Directed Anime Based on Their Own Works?

Question:
Has there ever been a time when a manga-ka has been the director of his or her own anime adaptation?

Answer:
For relatively practical reasons manga creators and animation directors are usually separate. The ability to write and draw a comic story does not necessarily include an ability to supervise a team of animators or understand the procedures involved in creating animation. Furthermore, manga artists are often too busy working on their comics to have the time to direct animation also. However, there have been some instances in which a manga artist has also directed the animated adaptation of his manga. I know of a few examples, and I’m sure that there are other instances that I’ve either forgotten, or which I’m unaware of. Many American anime fans are aware that Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo also directed the Akira feature film. Hayao Miyazaki directed the feature film adaptation of his Nausicaa manga, and the film adaptation of his short Porco Rosso manga story. The godfather of manga Osamu Tezuka directed many of the anime series based on his manga series, including Tetsuwan Atom, Unico, Ribbon no Kishi, and Jungle Emperor. Masamune Shirow was given the task of directing the Black Magic M-66 OVA, loosely based on his own Black Magic manga story. Leiji Matsumoto directed most of the Space Battleship Yamato animation, which was based on his original manga. Although not literally adapted directly from any particular manga story, Lupin the Third creator Monkey Punch did personally direct the 1996 Lupin movie “Dead or Alive.” Similarly, the four woman creative team Clamp is credited as the director behind the short Clamp in Wonderland 2 music video, but the video is not directly adapted from any singular manga story.

I think that it’s interesting to notice that at least among the examples of manga creators helming the anime adaptations of their works themselves, I can’t think of a single instance of a female manga creator directing a literal anime adaptation of her original manga. Clamp has never directed an adaptation of any of its manga stories. Well known female manga-ka including Rumiko Takahashi, Naoko Takeuchi, Moyocco Anno, Ai Yazawa, Yuu Watase, Minekura Kazuya, Hiromu Arakawa, Fuyumi Soryu, Riyoko Ikeda, Umino Chica, Miho Obana, and Moto Hagio have never directed anime.