Koujin Ochi
| Koujin Ochi | |
|
| |
| Profile | |
| Gender: | Male |
|---|---|
| Place of birth: | Gifu Prefecture, Japan |
| Position: | Director Screenplay Organizer Storyboard Episode director |
| Years active: | 1987-present |
| Aliases: | 越智浩仁 宇恩寺稚子 |
| Also known as Hirohito Ochi and Chiko Uonji. | |
Koujin Ochi (於地 紘仁 Ochi Kōjin), real name Hirohito Ochi (越智 浩仁 Ochi Hirohito), is a Japanese anime director, technical director, and screenplay writer. He also uses rarely the alias Chiko Uonji (宇恩寺 稚子 Uonji Chiko). He directed Detective Conan from episode 505 to 666, and later episodes 678 to 679. He is mainly active in animation works done by TMS Entertainment and Bandai Namco Filmworks.
Contents
Biography
Ochi entered the Utsunomiya University Faculty of Education (宇都宮大学教育学部) in 1982, and even then, he was already active in the animation industry; he was affiliated with the animation research association of his university. Moreover, he was the person who held a screening event of Space Runaway Ideon (伝説巨神イデオン). In 1986, he dropped out of school during the academic year; thereafter, he began to work under his real name, Hirohito Ochi (越智 浩仁). In 1988, he served as the production advancement of the anime Topo Gigio (トッポ・ジージョ).
In 1996, he joined the production of the Detective Conan anime, and served as the storyboard artist and episode director for the 4th episode The Coded Map of the City Case, until the 2nd part of The Convenience Store Trap in 2003, Ochi temporarily quit the production (during this period, he had also written some screenplays for the anime, they were highly famed among the fandom as well). Starting 2006, he altered his name to Koujin Ochi (於地 紘仁), and became active again. He returned to the Detective Conan anime production team in 2008, first he did storyboard for Clash of Red and Black (Disguise). Since episode 505, Masato Sato stepped down from the anime director role, so Ochi replaced him as the director until episode 666 also under his alias Koujin Ochi. He was replaced by Yasuichiro Yamamoto in 2012 starting episode 667 (excluding episodes 678-679, which is mystery tour episodes and Koujin Ochi is still in charge of them when director change took place).
After taking over the director role, Ochi first invited the staff who went to work on the movies, during the Masato Sato era, back to the anime production. Art director was altered, and stabilized; the color design was also changed to Shigenobu Kaihoko and became brighter; Masatomo Sudo became the anime character design again, working along with Junko Yamanaka. Ochi did the storyboard for several openings and endings during this time, performing the recovery for the severe alteration in the staff team from the Masato Sato era. Nonetheless, the anime production remain chaotic; outsourcing has made many episodes become unstable and the quality dropped significantly. It is not until 2011 that he first officially introduced the "Animation Supervisor" role for the anime, (the credit used was "Chief Animator" (チーフアニメーター ) and "Key Animator" (キーアニメーター )); Seiji Muta was promoted by him for that role.[Note 1]
Apart from his director work, Ochi is also an excellent screenwriter, and has written many renowned episodes for the series; A Cursed Mask Coldly Laughs is the well-known case he wrote. After 2010, he began to use the pseudonym Chiko Uonji (宇恩寺 稚子) when serving as the screenwriter. After stepping down as director, Ochi's activity in Detective Conan decreased drastically, and he merely served as the screenwriter for Eyewitness Testimony Seven Years Later in 2018.
Just like a lot of mystery cases found in Detective Conan, the two aliases used by Ochi have an interesting origin based on his real name: Koujin Ochi shares the same pronunciation as his real name but written in different ways; Chiko Uonji is the rearrangement of his real name's romanji (Ochi Koujin → Uonji Chiko).
Style analysis
Ochi is one of the veteran staff (like Kazunari Kouchi and Junichi Miyashita) who have joined the anime production since the series began to broadcast. Although he did not write a lot of cases for the anime, most of his cases are of high quality. He is sometimes referred to as the John Dickson Carr of the Detective Conan screenwriters, because his style is just like Carr's, most consisting of locked-rooms, impossible crimes, ingenious tricks; which is a symbolisation of Shinhonkaku Detective Fiction (新本格派推理). He is also good at mingling ghost legends into his stories, and depicting supporting characters - he has created lots of memorable characters to his audience, for example Shingo Nachi, Toshiya Tadokoro, Shimogasa Twins, Touya Aikawa, and Otaro Minakitaya etc.
His style is very similar to that of those mystery writers from the golden age; even the Detective Conan original author Gosho Aoyama thought that the trick Ochi devised in The Case of the Furisode at the Hidden Hot Spring on a Snowy Night is fairly interesting - according to the producer, Michihiko Suwa, who disclosed this information in an interview with Minami Takayama[1].
Scenarios written
Number of case scenarios written under the name of Hirohito Ochi: 4 (6 episodes)
- On Location, TV Drama Murder Case (Episode 21)
- Dracula's Villa Murder Case (Episodes 88-89)
- A Cursed Mask Coldly Laughs (Episode 184)
- The Case of the Furisode at the Hidden Hot Spring on a Snowy Night (Episodes 379-380)
Number of case scenarios written under the name of Chiko Uonji: 4 (7 episodes)
- The Alibi of the Fall (Episode 596)
- The Séance's Double Locked Room Mystery Case (Episodes 603-605)
- The Suspicious Initial K (Episode 665)
- Eyewitness Testimony Seven Years Later (Episodes 905-906)
Other works in Detective Conan
As Hirohito Ochi
Anime
Participation in: 40 cases (49 episodes)
| Jpn# | Int# | Episode title | Original broadcast | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | The Coded Map of the City Case | January 29, 1996 | Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 7 | 7 | Once-A-Month Present Threat Case | February 19, 1996 | Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 12 | 13 | Ayumi-chan Kidnapping Case | April 15, 1996 | Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 16 | 17 | The Antique Collector Murder Case | May 20, 1996 | Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 21 | 22 | On Location, TV Drama Murder Case | June 24, 1996 | Storyboard, Episode director | + Screenplay |
| 26 | 27 | Pet Dog John Murder Case | July 29, 1996 | Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 31 | 32 | TV Station Murder Case | September 2, 1996 | Organizer, Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 38 | 39 | Akaoni Village Fire Festival Murder Case | November 18, 1996 | Organizer, Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 44 | 45 | Three Hotta Siblings Murder Case | January 20, 1997 | Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 50 | 51 | Library Murder Case | March 3, 1997 | Organizer, Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 53 | 55 | The Mystery Weapon Murder Case | April 7, 1997 | Episode director | |
| 61 | 63 | A Ghost Ship Murder Case (Part 1) | June 2, 1997 | Storyboard | |
| 66 | 68 | Night Road Murder Case | July 7, 1997 | Storyboard | |
| 88 | 91 | Dracula's Villa Murder Case (Part 1) | January 26, 1998 | Storyboard, Episode director | + Screenplay |
| 89 | 92 | Dracula's Villa Murder Case (Part 2) | February 2, 1998 | Storyboard, Episode director | + Screenplay |
| 95 | 98 | Kogoro's Date Murder Case | March 16, 1998 | Episode director | |
| 100 | 106 | The Memories of First Love Case (Part 1) | May 11, 1998 | Organizer, Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 105 | 111 | The Mysterious Mansion of a Band of Thieves Case (Part 2) | June 15, 1998 | Episode director | |
| 109 | 115 | Detective Club Pursuit Case | July 13, 1998 | Episode director | |
| 114 | 120 | Scuba Diving Murder Case (Part 1) | August 24, 1998 | Episode director | |
| 119 | 126 | The Kamen Yaiba Murder Case | October 12, 1998 | Episode director | |
| 125 | 132 | A Mysterious Sniper Murder Case (Part 2) | November 23, 1998 | Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 130 | 140 | The Indiscriminate Stadium Threatening Case (Part 1) | January 11, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 136 | 146 | The Old Blue Castle Investigation Case (Part 1) | February 22, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 137 | 147 | The Old Blue Castle Investigation Case (Part 2) | March 1, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 142 | 152 | The Night Before the Wedding Locked Room Case (Part 2) | April 26, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 150 | 160 | The Truth Behind the Car Explosion Case (Part 1) | June 28, 1999 | Episode director | |
| 157 | 167 | Metropolitan Police Detective Love Story 2 (Part 2) | August 16, 1999 | Episode director | |
| 163 | 174 | The Secret of the Moon, the Star, and the Sun (Part 1) | October 11, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 164 | 175 | The Secret of the Moon, the Star, and the Sun (Part 2) | October 18, 1999 | Organizer, Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 170 | 181 | The Blind Spot in the Darkness (Part 1) | November 29, 1999 | Episode director | |
| 176 | 190 | Reunion with the Black Organization (Haibara) | January 17, 2000 | Organizer, Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 184 | 198-199 | A Cursed Mask Coldly Laughs | March 13, 2000 | Storyboard, Episode director | 1 hour + Screenplay |
| 195 | 210 | The Significant Music Box (Part 2) | June 19, 2000 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 203 | 218 | The Black Wings of Icarus (Part 1) | August 14, 2000 | Storyboard, Episode director | |
| 204 | 219 | The Black Wings of Icarus (Part 2) | August 21, 2000 | Storyboard | |
| 208 | 223-224 | The Entrance to the Maze: The Anger of the Colossus | October 9, 2000 | Episode director | 1 hour |
| 214 | 230 | The Mysterious Retro Room Case | November 20, 2000 | Storyboard | |
| 222 | 241 | And Then There Were No Mermaids (The Case) | January 29, 2001 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 223 | 242 | And Then There Were No Mermaids (The Deduction) | February 5, 2001 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 224 | 243 | And Then There Were No Mermaids (The Resolution) | February 12, 2001 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 304 | 326-329 | The Trembling Police Headquarters: 12 Million Hostages | January 6, 2003 | Organizer, Storyboard | 2 hours |
| 323 | 348 | Heiji Hattori's Desperate Situation! (Part 1) | June 9, 2003 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 324 | 349 | Heiji Hattori's Desperate Situation! (Part 2) | June 16, 2003 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 329 | 354 | A Friendship That Can't Be Bought (Part 1) | July 28, 2003 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 330 | 355 | A Friendship That Can't Be Bought (Part 2) | August 4, 2003 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 331 | 356 | The Suspicious Spicy Curry (Part 1) | August 11, 2003 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 343 | 369 | The Convenience Store Trap (Part 1) | December 1, 2003 | Organizer, Storyboard | |
| 344 | 370 | The Convenience Store Trap (Part 2) | December 8, 2003 | Organizer, Storyboard |
As Koujin Ochi
Anime
Participation in: 3 cases (4 episodes)
| Jpn# | Int# | Episode title | Original broadcast | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 499 | 546 | Clash of Red and Black (Disguise) | March 10, 2008 | Storyboard | |
| 505 | 552 | Lawyer Eri Kisaki's Testimony (Part 1) | June 16, 2008 | Storyboard | |
| 506 | 553 | Lawyer Eri Kisaki's Testimony (Part 2) | June 23, 2008 | Storyboard | |
| 651 | 702-703 | Conan vs. Heiji, Deduction Battle Between the Detectives of the East and West | March 24, 2012 | Organizer | 1 hour |
Openings and Endings
Participation in: 8 openings and 10 endings
| # | Song name | Original title | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OP | ||||
| OP25 | Revive | Revive | Storyboard | |
| OP26 | Everlasting Luv | Everlasting Luv | Storyboard | |
| OP27 | MAGIC | MAGIC | Storyboard | |
| OP28 | As the Dew | As the Dew | Storyboard | |
| OP29 | SUMMER TIME GONE | SUMMER TIME GONE | Storyboard | |
| OP31 | Don't Wanna Lie | Don't Wanna Lie | Storyboard | |
| OP32 | Misty Mystery | Misty Mystery | Storyboard | |
| OP33 | Miss Mystery | Miss Mystery | Storyboard | |
| ED | ||||
| ED32 | Koigokoro Kagayaki Nagara | 恋心 輝きながら | Storyboard | |
| ED33 | Doing all right | Doing all right | Storyboard | |
| ED34 | Hikari | 光 | Storyboard | |
| ED35 | Hello Mr. my yesterday | Hello Mr. my yesterday | Storyboard | |
| ED36 | Tomorrow is the last Time | Tomorrow is the last Time | Storyboard | |
| ED38 | Tsukiyo no Itazura no Mahō | 月夜の悪戯の魔法 | Storyboard | |
| ED40 | Your Best Friend | Your Best Friend | Storyboard | |
| ED41 | Kanashii Hodo Kyō no Yūhi Kirei da ne | 悲しいほど 今日の夕陽 きれいだね | Storyboard | |
| ED42 | Overwrite | オーバーライト | Storyboard | |
| ED43 | Koi ni Koishite | 恋に恋して | Storyboard, Technical director | |
OVAs
Participation in: 3 OVAs
| OVA | Title | Original airdate | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | The Stranger from Ten Years Later | April 15, 2009 | Director, Ending storyboard | |
| 10 | Kid in Trap Island | April 14, 2010 | Director | |
| 11 | A Secret Order From London | April 13, 2011 | Director |
Other notable works
Anime
As Koujin Ochi:
- La Corda D'Oro ~primo passo~: Director, Storyboard
- Samurai Warriors: Director, Storyboard, Unit director
- Voice of Fox: Director, Screenplay
As Hirohito Ochi:
- After War Gundam X: Storyboard, Episode director
- Nekketsu Saikyo Gozaurer: Storyboard, Episode director
- Pocket Monster Crystal: Raikou Ikazuchi no Densetsu: Storyboard, Unit director, Opening animation
- Pokémon - Destiny Deoxys: Unit director
- Pokemon 4Ever: Assistant director
- Pokemon Heroes - Latias & Latios: Assistant director
- Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea: Storyboard, Assistant director
As Chiko Uonji:
- Samurai Warriors: Screenplay
References
- 於地紘仁 - Wikipedia (Japanese)
- Anime News Network
- ^ Note: According to the end credits in The Scarlet Alibi recap movie, Junko Yamanaka worked as animation supervisor, possibly when she also did character design between 2008 and 2010, but she was not credited back then.
- ^ エンタミクス. May 2014.
