Yōichi Kotabe (小田部 羊一)[2] is a Japanese animator and character designer, best known for his work on classic anime of the 1960s and 1970s, the Super Mario video game series, and the Pokémon franchise in television and film.[3][4] He was an employee at Nintendo for two decades doing illustrations, character designs, and supervision from 1985 to 2007.[5] After that, he began to work as a freelancer for the anime and video game industry, including for Nintendo again.
Biography
Kotabe became interested in animation after watching the short film Momotarō no Umiwashi as a child. He was fascinated with how the fighter moved in the film. His father, who was an oil painter, also influenced his decision to work as an artist.