Masao Maruyama

Masao Maruyama is the kind of person anime fans should know by name but rarely do — a behind-the-scenes producer who co-founded Madhouse back in 1965 and shaped some of the most ambitious animation in Japan over the following decades, then did the whole thing again by launching MAPPA in his seventies, which honestly is one of the most quietly audacious career moves in entertainment history. Born in Shiogama, Miyagi — a coastal fishing town — and educated at Hosei University, he came up in an era when Japanese animation was still figuring out what it wanted to be, and he helped it grow into something the whole world eventually took seriously. He's not the director, not the voice actor, not the face on the poster; he's the person who looks at a pitch and bets on it, who finds the talent and gives them room to work. The fact that he started over at an age when most people are long retired, and that MAPPA went on to produce some of the most talked-about titles of the 2020s, tells you everything about the kind of stubborn, genuine love for the craft this man carries.

Masao Maruyama is a Japanese animator, film producer, and television producer born on June 19, 1941, in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He studied at Hosei University before building a long career supporting the Japanese animation industry from behind the scenes. Known as a key figure in nurturing creators and shepherding animated works through production, he has worked across both theatrical and television formats throughout his career.

Name (English)

Masao Maruyama

Name (Japanese)

丸山正雄

Reading

まるやま まさお

Born

June 19, 1941 (age 84)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Snake (巳)

Origin

Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Blood type

Private

Height

Private

Agency

Private

Active years

Unknown

Occupation

Animator / Film Producer / Television Producer

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

Hosei University

Debut

Unknown

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%B8%E5%B1%B1%E6%AD%A3%E9%9B%84

Tags

• From Miyagi Prefecture
• Animator
• Film Producer
• Television Producer

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.