Kazuya Tsurumaki
Kazuya Tsurumaki, the director of Evangelion and Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, is this year's Japan Expo's Anime Guest of Honor.
Kazuya Tsurumaki is a director and animator born in 1966 in Niigata prefecture.
From the mid-80s to the present day, Kazuya Tsurumaki's work has nothing left to prove: he is the director of FLCL, the Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition series, and Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX.
He is Japan Expo 2025's Anime Guest of Honor.
After starting out as an animator at Studio Giants, he moved to animation studio GAINAX, which was a major turning point in his career. He worked as a key animator on the TV series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and directed the Nadia: Bonus Theater featurettes, which were included with the laserdisc box sets.
Kazuya Tsurumaki then took his first steps directing the New GunBuster: Science Lesson featurettes included in the GunBuster laserdisc box set.
He contributed to the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion as an assistant director and was involved in design and setting development. Mr. Tsurumaki continued his role as a director for the Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition series, including the latest installment, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021), while also contributing to the storyboard and design work.
Kazuya Tsurumaki's first fully original works as a director were the groundbreaking FLCL and Gunbuster 2, which gained a cult following for their unique style and iconic characters.
Now affiliated with khara, he participated as director, storyboarder, and character designer for the anthology Japan Anima(tor)'s Exhibition (khara/Dwango) and also directed The Dragon Dentist, which was broadcast on NHK BS Premium in February 2017.
Today, Kazuya Tsurumaki is back in the spotlight, directing the currently airing Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX series. This is the first collaboration between SUNRISE, the historic studio behind Mobile Suit Gundam, and the animation studio of Evangelion's creators, khara.
Meet Kazuya Tsurumaki at Japan Expo 2025 during these events:
- The Evangelion 30th Anniversary Special Event on Saturday, July 5
- The "Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX" Special Event on Sunday, July 6
- A signing session