Masami Obari Watch Guide
Anime
A guide to the best work of influential animator and director Masami Obari. This list will explore Obari's style not just as an animator, but also as a director, and it will explore his stylistic copycats.
OVA, 1985,
3 eps
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Author:7
Iczer-1 features the debut of many of Obari's stylistic signatures, such as lean, rugged mecha and the Obari punch.
OVA, 1987,
3 eps
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Author:8
Dangaioh takes the Obari style developed in Iczer-1 and thrusts it into the spotlight.
OVA, 1987,
1 ep
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Author:9
Hagane no Oni is Obari's style applied to large, monolithic Zeorymer-like mecha.
OVA, 1987,
8 eps
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Author:8
Episodes 5 and 6 are Obari's directorial debut, and they are some of Bubblegum Crisis's best episodes.
TV, 1987,
48 eps
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The OP was singlehandedly animated by Obari, and much of the mecha action in this show is animated in an early version of Obari's fast-paced, sleek yet rugged style.
TV, 1990,
48 eps
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Author:10
The OP was singlehandedly animated by Obari, and this show demonstrates Obari's ability to make blocky robot designs sleek and rugged. Exkaiser also features the debut of the Obari sword pose, also known as the "Brave Perspective", and a battle on the moon, which is an Obari staple.
TV, 1991,
48 eps
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Author:10
Obari was chief animation director on Fighbird, and it shows in just how dynamic and flashy the action is.
TV, 1991,
51 eps
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Author:9
The Eldran series is one of Obari's first copycats, particularly imitating Obari's sleek, rugged, fast-paced mecha animation found in the Brave series.
OVA, 1991,
3 eps
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Author:10
The first stand-alone anime directed by Obari, Detonator Orgun is one of Obari's most realistic anime and one of the best anime Obari directed with regards to story.
TV, 1992,
46 eps
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Author:10
Obari animated the OP, and Da Garn carries on the Obari style developed for the Brave series in Exkaiser and Fighbird.
TV, 1992,
47 eps
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Author:10
The Eldran series is one of Obari's first copycats, particularly imitating Obari's sleek, rugged, fast-paced mecha animation found in the Brave series.
OVA, 1992,
2 eps
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Author:7
Obari was the mechanical designer for the main mecha, and this anime bears similarities to Sparkaiser, a cancelled 90s OVA Obari was going to direct.
TV, 1992,
49 eps
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Tekkaman Blade was directly inspired by Detonator Orgun for aesthetics and plot. Obari also animated the OPs.
TV, 1993,
47 eps
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Author:9
Obari animated the OP (this is the Brave OP where Obari's style is most evident), and Might Gaine carries on the Obari style developed for the Brave series in Exkaiser and Fighbird.
TV, 1993,
51 eps
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The Eldran series is one of Obari's first copycats, particularly imitating Obari's sleek, rugged, fast-paced mecha animation found in the Brave series.
TV, 1994,
48 eps
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Author:9
Obari animated the OP, and J-Decker carries on the Obari style developed for the Brave series in Exkaiser and Fighbird. J-Decker also has character designs by Obari's ex-wife Atsuko Ishida, who would influence Obari's own character designs.
TV, 1995,
48 eps
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Author:9
Goldran carries on the Obari style developed for the Brave series in Exkaiser and Fighbird.
TV, 1996,
48 eps
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Dagwon carries on the Obari style developed for the Brave series in Exkaiser and Fighbird.
TV, 1997,
49 eps
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Author:10
GaoGaiGar carries on the Obari style developed for the Brave series in Exkaiser and Fighbird.
TV, 1997,
12 eps
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Virus Buster Serge is the show where Obari's fingerprints are most evident, as he was a series director, episode director, writer, character designer, and animator. The series, which is Obari's first TV show directed, is very dense and ambitious, and it contains lots of of Obari's notorious homoeroticism.
OVA, 1997,
3 eps
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Author:5
Obari directed and designed characters for this OVA, which is an adaptation of a radio drama. The third episode is renowned among many animators.
TV, 1998,
25 eps
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Obari animated the OP, which bears lots of similarities to Virus Buster Serge.
OVA, 1999,
4 eps
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Author:8
The robot in this OVA, which was directed by Obari, is inspired by Dangaioh. It also features Obari's tendency to set up elaborate conspiracies.
OVA, 1999,
6 eps
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Author:8
This OVA is a homage to the Brave series, which Obari worked on and helped develop the style for.
TV, 2000,
24 eps
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Directed by Obari, Orgun is Obari's first anime to combine real robots and super robots. It features Atsuko Ishida character designs and Obari's most ambitious story ever.
TV, 2000,
39 eps
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Author:9
The first Transformers show to feature the Brave/Obari style.
TV, 2001,
52 eps
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Author:10
One of the first shows to translate Obari's style to CGI.
TV, 2002,
50 eps
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Author:9
Though Obari didn't work on Gundam SEED, it heavily features the Obari style developed in Dragonar and the Brave series.
TV, 2002,
13 eps
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Author:8
Gravion is one of Obari's homages to the Brave series, and it features tons of cool animation from him.
TV, 2003,
52 eps
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Author:8
One of the last hand-drawn kids' shows to feature the sleek, rugged Obari style.
TV, 2004,
50 eps
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Author:-
Though Obari didn't work on Gundam SEED, it heavily features the Obari style developed in Dragonar and the Brave series.
TV, 2004,
12 eps
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Author:10
Gravion is one of Obari's homages to the Brave series, and it features tons of cool animation from him. Zwei features more of an overarching story than the first season.
TV, 2005,
52 eps
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Another Transformers show animated in the style of the Brave series. Contains the Obari sword pose.
TV, 2005,
39 eps
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Author:8
Obari animated the mecha transformations for this show in the style of the Brave series, as well as the OP.
TV, 2007,
12 eps
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Author:10
Dancouga Nova can be considered the third season of Gravion; it even features characters from Gravion.
TV, 2007,
12 eps
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Author:2
Prism Ark also features Gravion characters -- and yes, it does have robots and Obari poses.
TV, 2010,
13 eps
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Episode 7 is about a fictional mecha anime in the style of the Brave series. Though Obari did not work on this episode, several of his shots (such as the sword pose and sword cut) are homaged.
TV, 2010,
26 eps
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One of Obari's most digestible and accessible TV anime. It also features lots of sleek, rugged Obari animation for Super Robot Wars units.
TV, 2012,
48 eps
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Episode 35 features Obari mecha animation, including a Brave/Gravion reference.
TV, 2013,
6 eps
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A series of toy commercials directed by Obari that heavily homage the Brave series.
ONA, 2017,
1 ep
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An Obari-directed commercial for a long-running light novel series.
TV Special, 2019,
2 eps
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This features an OP directed by Obari for a fictional mecha anime in the style of the Brave series. Contains Exkaiser references.
Music, 2020,
1 ep
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Ichiro Mizuki's last anime project, and it also has Brave series references.
TV, 2022,
11 eps
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Episode 2, which was directed by Obari, features the plot of the mecha anime teased in the TV special. This short contains Fighbird references.
TV, 2024,
12 eps
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Author:5
A loving, parodic, homoerotic tribute that homages lots of Obari's anime, from Exkaiser to Gravion to Virus Buster Serge.
Movie, 2024,
1 ep
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Author:10
SEED Freedom retains the Obari-inspired animation of the original SEED series, except this time Obari worked on it as animation director.