Yōichi Kotabe

Yōichi Kotabe

Birth : 1936-09-15, Taipei, Taiwan

Profile

Yōichi Kotabe

Movies

Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages
Animation Supervisor
Ash, Pikachu, and their friends come to a desert city by the sea. Here they meet the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa, which has the ability to summon things—including people and Pokémon—through its magic rings. After a scary incident, they learn of a story about a brave hero who stopped the rampage of a terrifying Pokémon long ago. Now, the threat that has been bottled up for years is in danger of breaking loose again.
Hyohyo: Dear Mr. Yasuo Otsuka
Himself
Documentary about Yasuo Otsuka, famous Japanese animator and mentor of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Featuring interviews with Japanese animation legends such as Masaaki Osumi, Youichi Kotabe, Sadao Tsukioka and Isao Takahata.
Pikachu, What's This Key?
Animation Supervisor
Appearing before Pikachu and friends is the keyring Pokemon, Klefki. Inserting a mysteriously shaped key into the keyhole floating in the air, a very mysterious portal appears! Klefki has the key to go to various worlds. What kind of world will the key that Pikachu holds lead to?
Pokémon: Eevee & Friends
Animation Supervisor
There’s a party at Sylveon’s house, and you’re invited! Join Pikachu, Oshawott, Axew, and Pansage as they have fun with Eevee and all of its evolved forms!
Meloetta's Moonlight Serenade
Animation Supervisor
Pikachu and its Pokémon friends gather for a very special event: the Mythical Pokémon Meloetta is giving a once-a-year performance at Lunatone Rock! As the full moon rises, the Melody Tree sprouts up from the stage, growing the Melody Berries that enhance Meloetta’s song. But when a battle breaks out in the audience, the Melody Berries are scattered far and wide! Can Pikachu and the others track down these special Berries so Meloetta’s show can go on—and can they find them before Meowth does?
Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life
Animation Supervisor
When the creator of the world, Arceus, comes to pass judgement on humanity for the theft of the legendary Jewel of Life, Ash and his friends are sent back in time to possibly reverse the events that led to Arceus' vendetta.
Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior
Animation Supervisor
When Giratina is discovered to be able to create parallel dimensions, it's up to Ash and his friends to stop a mysterious stranger from using its powers for evil.
Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai
Animation Supervisor
Ash and friends (this time accompanied by newcomer Dawn) arrive at an idyllic village on their way to their next Pokemon contest, where chaos will soon erupt with the prophecy of two Pokemon Gods (Dialga and Palkia) and the arrival of a mysterious, seemingly deadly Pokemon named Darkrai, which has the power to distort space and time.
Pokémon: The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon
Animation Supervisor
The story of "The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon" centers on a Pokémon scientist who has developed a new Mirage System to resurrect extinct Pokémon. Satoshi, Haruka, Masato, and Takeshi show up at the Mirage Mansion for a demonstration of this new machine, only to witness the kidnapping of the scientist! Then a mysterious stranger appears and claims that the machine can actually create Pokémon without weaknesses. It’s up to Satoshi and company to preserve the natural balance of the Pokémon world.
Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew
Animation Supervisor
In the legendary past, before Poké Balls were invented, an aura-guiding hero Pokémon named Lucario sensed two groups of armies about to clash, and a threat of a massive war in front of Oldoran Castle in Kanto that would leave no survivors. He transferred this message to his master, the legendary hero Arlon, while he was being attacked by a violent group of Hellgar. During the battle, his sense of sight was lost and he was rendered unable to see. He used the detection of his Aura, and so with the offensive Wave Bomb, he eliminated them. Though by the threat, the queen of Rota, Lady Rin was resolute to die with her civilians, and so Arlon made a choice.
Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys
Animation Supervisor
Deoxys, a Pokémon from outer space, terrorizes the high-tech city Ash Ketchum and his friends are visiting.
Winter Days
Director
Winter Days is a 2003 animated film, directed by Kihachirō Kawamoto. It is based on one of the renku (collaborative linked poems) in the 1684 collection of the same name by the 17th-century Japanese poet Bashō. The creation of the film followed the traditional collaborative nature of the source material – the visuals for each of the 36 stanzas were independently created by 35 different animators. As well as many Japanese animators, Kawamoto assembled leading names of animation from across the world. Each animator was asked to contribute at least 30 seconds to illustrate their stanza, and most of the sequences are under a minute (Yuriy Norshteyn's, though, is nearly two minutes long).
Pokémon: Gotta Dance!
Animation Supervisor
Meowth is in charge of the Team Rocket secret base, a mysterious place full of odd gadgets and gizmos. Desperate to impress the boss, Meowth wants to use the Dancing PokéBaton—a device that lets users control Pokémon as they please—to create a show that’s sure to wow. Meanwhile, Pikachu and its friends finish up playing in the forest and stumble on the base. The gang hears Whismur, the Whisper Pokémon, crying for help—but when they try to make their rescue, the Dancing PokéBaton goes off and sends the whole group into a dancing frenzy! When a noise-loving Loudred and Ludicolo get caught up in the dancing, the madness gets even wilder! What’s going to happen to Meowth’s precious secret base?
Camp Pikachu
Animation Supervisor
Riding home atop a train, the Pichu Brothers suddenly find themselves knocked off and flying through the air! They hit a Wynaut on their way down, bringing all three of them to the forest where Pikachu, Totodile, and some more friends are playing in a waterfall and building a campfire. When it starts to rain, the group takes shelter in a water mill—but the water mill starts moving! The next morning, the whole group decides to work together to make sure the Pichu Brothers make their train. Will the two be able to make it home safe?
Pokemon Crystal: Raikou, the Legend of Thunder!
Animation Supervisor
Kenta, a Pokemon master in the making, meets up with his childhood friend, Marina, at a Pokemon Center, to see how their skills have developed. Their battle is interrupted by a thunderstorm and the arrival of Bashou and Buson, two Rocket-dan members using the Crystal System (which attracts Electric-type Pokemon). Their ultimate goal is to, under the guidance of professor Shiranui, bring Pokemon back to Sakaki. Kenta and Marina stumble upon this plan, and they try to stop it, but things get more difficult when the legendary Pokemon Raikou is captured.
Pikachu's PikaBoo
Animation Supervisor
At a giant beachside mansion, Pikachu and some of its buddies decide to play a game of hide-and-seek. Pikachu is “it,” and it goes off in search of its friends. Meanwhile, Larvitar, sick of being all by itself, kicks a rock in anger. The rock hurtles through the air—and hits a lawnmower, turning it on and sending it tearing off after Pikachu and its friends! The group draws the lawnmower into a maze and even gets it into the water, but the lawnmower just keeps on chasing. The Pokémon build a road out of logs, hoping to get the lawnmower into a shack, but Psyduck trips and ruins the whole setup. How will the friends ever escape the lawnmower? This fantasy will have you on the edge of your seat!
Pikachu and Pichu
Animation Supervisor
While visiting a big city with Ash, Pikachu meets the Pichu Brothers—Pichu Little, the rambunctious younger half, and Pichu Big, the reserved older half. Pikachu does its best to keep Pichu Little from falling off a building, but it ends up falling off itself! The adventures continue as Pikachu and the Pichu Brothers roll off the top of a bus, fall into a river, and then fly into the air and onto the back of a Houndour! With the angry Houndour in hot pursuit, the trio makes its way to a pile of tires that serves as a “secret fort.” All the hustle and bustle, though, sends the fort tumbling down. With the help of some Pokémon, the group works together to rebuild the fort—but Pikachu remembers that it has to get back to Ash. The Pichu Brothers whisk Pikachu away and head for the building where Ash is waiting, but will they manage to get there in time?
Pikachu's Vacation
Animation Supervisor
Pikachu and the gang learn responsibility, teamwork as well as cooperation during their Summer vacation at Pokemon Island.
Alps no Shoujo Heidi: Heidi to Clara Hen
Character Designer
This OVA together with Alps no Shoujo Heidi: Alm no Yama Hen provides an alternative cut and thus a longer summary of the TV series compared to the earlier Alps no Shoujo Heidi Theatre Film. They also replaced the changed voice actors with the ones from the series.
Super Mario Brothers: Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach
Character Designer
When Princess Peach is kidnapped by the monster King Koopa, Mario and his brother Luigi journey to the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue her.
Chie the Brat
Animation Director
Chie Takemoto is a dependable girl who struggles to help her troublesome father run a small tavern in Osaka. Unbeknown to her dad, she occasionally visits her mother who left him not too long ago. She plans on trying to reunite them, but not until her father gets a job.
3000 Leagues in Search of Mother: The Movie
Animation Director
A young Italian boy named Marco is devastated when his mother must leave home to work in Argentina to pay off the family debt. She sends the family letters, but soon the messages stop coming, which worries Marco and sets him off on an epic quest to find her.
Taro the Dragon Boy
Animation Director
Patterned after Japanese art and silk screens, Taro, The Dragon Boy is an animated feature about Japanese mythology and cultures, focusing on Taro, a young boy who has to make a voyage to a distant lake to save his mother, who has been turned into a dragon.
Tenguri, Boy of the Plains
Key Animation
The story surrounds a boy and a cow who have always lived their lives together. One winter, a famine strikes their village. The villagers resolve to the cow, but the boy secretly helped the cow escape. A few years ago, the boy (now grown-up) and the cow meet again...
Panda! Go Panda!
Visual Effects
Cheerful Mimiko has a wonderfully strange family—a Panda for her Papa; and his son Panny, calls her Mom! When Panny follows Mimiko to school, he must pretend to be a teddy bear so Mimiko won't get into trouble. Despite his efforts to behave, Panny causes trouble in school and now the school is after Panny! Then, Panny makes a new friend, Tiny, a baby tiger who's wandered off from the circus.
Panda! Go Panda!: Rainy Day Circus
Key Animation
The family consisting of two pandas and one girl lives happily when suddenly a little tiger appears at their home. It arrives that the circus had come to their town. All of a sudden starts the pouring rain but it can't stop them.
Panda! Go Panda!: Rainy Day Circus
Animation Director
The family consisting of two pandas and one girl lives happily when suddenly a little tiger appears at their home. It arrives that the circus had come to their town. All of a sudden starts the pouring rain but it can't stop them.
Yuki's Sun
Animation Director
TV pilot based on an original manga by Tetsuya Chiba, about a 10-year old girl named Yuki. An orphan who's being adopted by a family.
Panda! Go Panda!
Key Animation
The plot follows Mimiko, a bright little girl left alone when her grandmother leaves on a trip. Making a few stops at some local stores, Mimiko comes home to her house in a bamboo grove and finds a baby panda named Panny sleeping on the back doorstep. She quickly makes friends with the little panda, and invites him in for a drink. His father, PapaPanda, soon comes to visit, and they decide to become a family after PapaPanda offers to.
Panda! Go Panda!
Animation Director
The plot follows Mimiko, a bright little girl left alone when her grandmother leaves on a trip. Making a few stops at some local stores, Mimiko comes home to her house in a bamboo grove and finds a baby panda named Panny sleeping on the back doorstep. She quickly makes friends with the little panda, and invites him in for a drink. His father, PapaPanda, soon comes to visit, and they decide to become a family after PapaPanda offers to.
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Key Animation
A peasant boy and 38 cats band against the tyrannical Ali Baba the 33rd and his cat-phobic genie.
Animal Treasure Island
Key Animation
A Japanese adaption of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, featuring animals as the majority of the cast. By chance Jim comes upon a map of Treasure Island. He leaves the port accompanied by Glan, the rat and Bub, the baby on a strange looking boat of his own make to look for the island. Pirates soon find him and adventure ensues.
Flying Phantom Ship
Animation Director
Hayato's home city is under attack from a gigantic robot. His parents are lying dead in the rubble and the only remaining friend is his dog. His only thought now is revenge against the owner of the Phantom Ship (from where the robot said he was sent). He ends up in the house of Kuroshio, the leader of the fight against the Phantom Ship and the most important person in the city. By complete accident, Hayato finds his way to an underground passageway where he realises that the true nature of events does not mesh with what Kuroshio has told him. His life is now in great danger, and only he can stop the plans of the evildoers.
Doggie March
Animation
An animated collaboration between Osamu Tezuka and Toei Animation.