Masahiko Ōtsuka

Otsuka worked across multiple production roles on Gurren Lagann at Studio Gainax, directing several episodes, storyboarding others, and writing the script for one installment, in addition to serving as an assistant director on the series as a whole. He carried that same hands-on involvement into both Gurren Lagann theatrical films as unit director and assistant director. The breadth of his role reflects the tight, overlapping production team Gainax ran under director Hiroyuki Imaishi.

Masahiko Otsuka is a Japanese director and writer born in 1964, active in the anime industry since 1992. He began his career at Studio Ghibli before moving to Gainax, where he worked on Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. He is known to Gurren Lagann fans for his extensive behind-the-scenes work on that series.

Before Gurren Lagann, Otsuka worked at Gainax on Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. His career began even earlier at Studio Ghibli in the early 1990s. That range of credits reflects nearly two decades of production work before he left Gainax in 2011.

In 2011, Otsuka left Gainax alongside Hiroyuki Imaishi, the director of Gurren Lagann, to co-found Studio Trigger. He has since served as chief director on the studio's series When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace. That move followed years of working alongside Imaishi on Gurren Lagann's production team at Gainax.

At Studio Trigger, Otsuka served as executive producer on Little Witch Academia and directed "The Elder" segment of the anthology series Star Wars: Visions. Those credits came after he co-founded the studio in 2011 following his years of production work on Gurren Lagann at Gainax. He remains active in the industry today.