Takahiko Abiru

Takahiko Abiru (阿比留 隆彦, Abiru Takahiko) is a Japanese character designer, animation director and animator. He studied Japanese painting at the Musashino Art University in Tokyo and joined Doga Kobo as an in-betweener in 2004. After his 2-year stint at Doga Kobo, he joined Madhouse as an in-between checker for the movies "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" and "Paprika," and in 2007 he made his debut as a key animator on "Death Note." His debut as an animation director was in 2010 on "Kaiji: Against All Rules," and he continued working as an animation director on "Hunter x Hunter" for 3 years. His first times as a character designer and a chief animation director were in 2019, when he worked on "Vinland Saga." In 2021, he founded his own animation studio called "Studio Kafka" together with director Kazuaki Terasawa and producer Kouichi Naruse.