Norio Shioyama

Norio Shioyama (塩山 紀生, Shioyama Norio, 28 March 1940 – 13 April 2017) was an animator, illustrator, character designer, and animation director born in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. He is most well known for his work as character designer on the anime television series Armored Trooper Votoms. Shioyama, along with Kōichi Murata, Kazuo Komatsubara, and Kōshin Yonekawa, was one of the founding members of the animation studio Oh! Production.

In 1961, Shioyama moved to Tokyo. In 1966, he joined Hatena Pro under the direction of Bonjin Nagaki. After helping to found Oh! Production in 1970, Shioyama left to become a freelancer, doing work for Tatsunoko Pro and working on many projects for Sunrise as an animation director.

Shioyama's first project as a character designer was for Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3, which anime director Ryōsuke Takahashi praised. Shioyama then worked on such shows as Fang of the Sun Dougram as animation production chief, and Armored Trooper Votoms, Panzer World Galient, and Ronin Warriors as both character designer and animation production chief. Together with Takahashi, he and his designs epitomized Sunrise's work in the 1980s.

On April 13, 2017, a fire occurred at 1:00 AM, destroying his eighth-floor apartment in the 14-floor Misato Danchi apartment complex in Misato, Saitama Prefecture. Shioyama and his wife Tokiko were both found dead, he was 77 years old.

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