Yutaka Izubuchi

A notable mechanical and character designer for both anime and tokusatsu series. He aspired a career in the industry after having seen [Space Battleship Yamato](https://anilist.co/anime/1650/), a franchise in which he would eventually serve as a director [in 2012](https://anilist.co/anime/12029/). His career began in 1978, debuting as a mechanical designer on [Toushou Daimos](https://anilist.co/anime/2816/), designing the enemy robots. Few years later in 1981, he made his tokusatsu debut on Robot 8-chan. The following decade he worked on industry shaping series such as [Gundam](https://anilist.co/anime/86/), [Macross](https://anilist.co/anime/1089/) and [Patlabor](https://anilist.co/anime/324/). During this time he also had ties to Parallel Creation, a creative group led by sci-fi writer [Aritsune Toyota](https://anilist.co/staff/220367/). This led him to work as an illustrator on novels such as [Record of Lodoss War](https://anilist.co/manga/92655/), in which his designs were deeply influential for Japanese fantasy series. In 2002, he directed [RahXephon](https://anilist.co/anime/165/), an anime original created by him. Izubuchi said that his attempt was to set a new standard for mecha anime, as well as to bring back aspects of '70s mecha shows like [Brave Raideen](https://anilist.co/anime/2128/). A trademark in his mechanical designs is the Buchi-hole (ブチ穴), a series of round holes embedded, usually in a cluster pattern of three holes above and two below, located somewhere on the mecha.