Directing

Michael Arias

Born February 2, 1968 · Los Angeles, California, USA (age 58)

Michael Arias (born 1968) is an American-born filmmaker active primarily in Japan. Though Arias has worked variously as visual effects artist, animation software developer, and producer, he is best known for his directorial debut, the anime feature Tekkonkinkreet, which established him as the first non-Japanese director of a major anime film. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael …

Known For

Godzilla Minus One

Godzilla Minus One · 2023

Godzilla Minus One

MovieScience FictionHorror

In postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair and fight back against an unrelenting horror.

The Animatrix

The Animatrix · 2003

MovieAnimationScience Fiction

Straight from the creators of the groundbreaking Matrix trilogy, this collection of short animated films from the world's leading anime directors fuses computer graphics and Japanese anime to provide the background of the Matrix universe and the conflict between man and machines. The shorts include Final Flight of the Osiris, The Second Renaissance, Kid's Story, Program, World Record, Beyond, A Detective Story and Matriculated.

Tekkonkinkreet

Tekkonkinkreet · 2006

MovieAnimationAction

Two penniless orphans, Black and White, struggle to survive on the mean streets of Treasure Town. When a megacorporation threatens to tear down the town to build an amusement park, Black and White engage in the fight of their life.

Mind Game

Mind Game · 2004

MovieAnimationRomance

Nishi is a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.

Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury

Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury · 2019

Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury

MovieAnimationMusic

In this anime visual album, a mysterious driver heads deep into a postapocalyptic hellscape toward a ferocious showdown with two monstrous opponents.

Harmony

Harmony · 2015

MovieThrillerAnimation

Set in a future world. Japan has created a great medical technology that controls ethics, health, and social interaction to create a perfect world. Three young girls attempt to stand up to this by committing suicide, but it doesn't work. Years later, Tuan, one of the girls who attempted suicide must prevent a crisis that threatens this "perfect" world.

Heaven's Door

Heaven's Door · 2009

A young man Tomoya Nagase and a girl Mayuko Fukuda both learn that they have an untreatable illness and are nearing death. When one reveals that they have never been to the ocean, they embark on a comical adventure to see the sea.

Ani*Kuri15

Ani*Kuri15 · 2008

MovieAdventureAnimation

15 one-minute shorts created by various people from Japan's animation industry. The title of the collection, Ani*Kuri15, is abbreviated from the words "anime" and "creators".

Filmography

Sort

Godzilla Minus One

Godzilla Minus One · 2023

Godzilla Minus One

MovieScience FictionHorror

In postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair and fight back against an unrelenting horror.

Other

The Animatrix

The Animatrix · 2003

MovieAnimationScience Fiction

Straight from the creators of the groundbreaking Matrix trilogy, this collection of short animated films from the world's leading anime directors fuses computer graphics and Japanese anime to provide the background of the Matrix universe and the conflict between man and machines. The shorts include Final Flight of the Osiris, The Second Renaissance, Kid's Story, Program, World Record, Beyond, A Detective Story and Matriculated.

Producer

Tekkonkinkreet

Tekkonkinkreet · 2006

MovieAnimationAction

Two penniless orphans, Black and White, struggle to survive on the mean streets of Treasure Town. When a megacorporation threatens to tear down the town to build an amusement park, Black and White engage in the fight of their life.

Director

Mind Game

Mind Game · 2004

MovieAnimationRomance

Nishi is a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.

Assistant Director

Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury

Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury · 2019

Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury

MovieAnimationMusic

In this anime visual album, a mysterious driver heads deep into a postapocalyptic hellscape toward a ferocious showdown with two monstrous opponents.

Director

Harmony

Harmony · 2015

MovieThrillerAnimation

Set in a future world. Japan has created a great medical technology that controls ethics, health, and social interaction to create a perfect world. Three young girls attempt to stand up to this by committing suicide, but it doesn't work. Years later, Tuan, one of the girls who attempted suicide must prevent a crisis that threatens this "perfect" world.

Director

Heaven's Door

Heaven's Door · 2009

A young man Tomoya Nagase and a girl Mayuko Fukuda both learn that they have an untreatable illness and are nearing death. When one reveals that they have never been to the ocean, they embark on a comical adventure to see the sea.

Director

Ani*Kuri15

Ani*Kuri15 · 2008

MovieAdventureAnimation

15 one-minute shorts created by various people from Japan's animation industry. The title of the collection, Ani*Kuri15, is abbreviated from the words "anime" and "creators".

Director

Sunny

MovieAnimationDrama

The story of an orphanage, the children who live in it, and the beat-up old Nissan Sunny 1200 which provides a trio of boys with a means of escape from their bleak everyday lives.

Director

The Twilight World

The Twilight World

The Twilight World

MovieAnimationWar

An adaptation on the novel that tells the story of the Japanese soldier Hiro Onoda who, after the end of World War II, hid in the jungles for 30 years, convinced that he was still fighting a war.

Screenplay

Ani*Kuri15

Ani*Kuri15 · 2007

SeriesAction & AdventureAnimation

Ani-Kuri 15 is a series of fifteen 1-minute shorts that aired on the Japanese TV station, NHK between May 2007 and 2008. Intended as companion pieces to the AniKuri program and as filler between regularly scheduled programs, the shorts were broadcast in three seasons of 5 episodes. Each short was directed by a different director and the episodes were collected and uploaded to the official AniKuri15 website in 2008.

Director

Ueno Juri and the Five Bags

Ueno Juri and the Five Bags · 2009

Ueno Juri and the Five Bags

SeriesComedyDrama

The series features Ueno taking on five roles in five episodes. As the title suggests, each episode involves a bag of some kind, such as a guitar case or a mysterious delivery package.

Director

Tokyo Alien Bros.

Tokyo Alien Bros. · 2018

Tokyo Alien Bros.

SeriesDramaSci-Fi & Fantasy

In the year 2020, two alien brothers are on a mission. To learn about humans, they must interact with them. What will they discover in Tokyo?

Director

The Animated Bible Series

The Animated Bible Series · 2020

The Animated Bible Series

SeriesAnimation

The Animated Bible Series, is the world's first visual narrative of the entire Bible from creation and the fall to the kings and prophets, to the coming of the Christ and His final Revelation.

Narrator