“Drawn Universes: Visions in Animation” marquee series to present “sweeping survey of animation”
Image courtesy of TIFF
© Masaaki Yuasa
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) revealed on Tuesday that director Masaaki Yuasa (DEVILMAN crybaby, INU-OH) is guest-curating a marquee series of anime this November-December titled “Drawn Universes: Visions in Animation.” TIFF will announce the specific dates at a later time. According to TIFF, the series “will present a sweeping survey of animation, spanning years of groundbreaking storytelling, artistry, and innovation.”
Yuasa commented:
“It is an honour to curate this series for TIFF. I am looking forward to finally meeting the Toronto audience that I have heard so much about. As I begin shaping the lineup, I am excited to look back at the works that sparked my own imagination from a young age, and to curate a series with a focus on the artists who have defined the genre and the incredible creators who continue to push the visual possibilities.”
Yuasa launched the ame pippin studio in February 2025 in collaboration with ASMIK Ace, Aniplex, and CoMix Wave Films. The studio’s website lists Yuasa as CEO and co-founder. The studio is releasing the Japanese-French co-production Daisy’s Life in 2026.
Yuasa started as a key animator for such anime as Doraemon: Nobita’s Animal Planet and The Legend of the Dog Warriors: The Hakkenden. He moved on to Crayon Shin-chan where he was animation director on a number of episodes, and did animation work on the franchise films.
Yuasa co-founded Science SARU with Eunyoung Choi in 2013. The duo’s “Food Chain” episode of the American animated series Adventure Time earned them an Annie Award nomination in 2014. Yuasa’s major anime credits as director include Japan Sinks: 2020, DEVILMAN crybaby, Kemonozume, Kick-Heart, Lu over the wall, Mind Game, Ride Your Wave, Ping Pong, The Tatami Galaxy, and Kaiba.
Yuasa retired as president of the studio Science SARU in March 2020. He most recently directed INU-OH, the musical anime feature film of Hideo Furukawa’s Heike Monogatari: Inu-Oh no Maki (Tales of the Heike: Inu-Oh) novel. The film opened in Japan in May 2022.
Source: Email correspondence
