Art director Ryou Kouno (河野羚), real name Hiromi Kouno (河野尋美), passed away on October 23, 2024, according to a post made by her nephew, Akira Kouno, on X (formerly Twitter). It’s suspected that she died from gastrointestinal bleeding.
Kouno originally worked under her real name, Hiromi Kouno, when she started working in the industry in the early 1980s. In the late 80s, she started to use the name Ryou Kouno instead.
She became an important part of several MADHOUSE productions in the early 2000s, at first participating as a background artist in several of the studio’s films in the late 90s until becoming the assistant art director for Metropolis in 2001. She was one of the guest art directors for Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent (2004) and became a vital part of director Masaaki Yuasa’s works beginning with Kemonozume (2006). She worked with Yuasa again at MADHOUSE as the art director for Kaiba (2008) and as a concept art designer on The Tatami Galaxy (2010), and after Yuasa began to work outside of MADHOUSE, she continued to work with him on projects like Space Dandy (2014) and Devilman Crybaby (2018).
Alongside her work with Yuasa, Kouno is also well-known for her work on Mob Psycho 100 (2016-2022), which she served as art director for across every season. Some of her most recent credits include a collaboration commercial between Science SARU and MBS, art boards for The Gene of Ai (2023), and she was also solely responsible for the background art of My Hero Academia season 7’s second ending.
Akira Kouno said that his aunt’s work was a source of pride for their family.
Featured image:
©ONE, Shogakukan／Mob Psycho 100 Project 2022
©Masaaki Yuasa / MADHOUSE, Kemonozume Production Committee
©2008 Masaaki Yuasa, MADHOUSE / Kaiba Production Committee
©2014 BONES / Project SPACE DANDY
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