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Shûkô Murase

Shûkô Murase

Director and writer · Born May 31, 1964 (62) · Japan

Shuko Murase (村瀬 修功 Murase Shūkō, born May 31, 1964) is a Japanese anime director and animator. A member of Sunrise, he is noted for contributing the character designs and key animation to New Mobile Report Gundam Wing and Argento Soma. In 2000, he contributed the main character designs to Final Fantasy IX. He made his directorial debut in 2002 with Witch Hunter Robin.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
May 31, 1964 (62)
From
Japan
Works as
Director and writer
Titles
24 on MovieCove · 36 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 38 days to Oct 27Up 90% in 30 days

What are Shûkô Murase's films like?

Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Power.

Themes

share of theme weight
Self
26%
Power
22%
Morality
18%
Ideas
12%
Society
9%
Bonds
8%
Survival
5%
Identity3 titles, browse their movies with this themeOppression2 titles, browse their movies with this themeTruth2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 4 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Dark: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their dark movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 0 · Serious 0 · Dark 4

Heightened: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their heightened movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

A split, not a type: Grounded 0 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 1

Intense: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their intense movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 0 · Charged 2 · Intense 2

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 2 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 1

Heavy: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their heavy movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

Easy watch 0 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 2

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 1 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 1

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
5
Dread
3
Contemplative
4
Melancholic
3
Cold
1
Other
1

How their films linger

Thought-provoking5 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteBittersweet3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 3 with a twist

  • Bittersweet2
  • Ambiguous4

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Shûkô Murase's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 16 of their 24 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Crunchyroll (10).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Shûkô Murase's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

36 credits, 24 with a MovieCove page.

  • Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe(2026)

    Director · Key Animation · Storyboard Artist

    Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films

  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway(2021)

    Director · Key Animation · Storyboard Artist

    Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films

  • Blade Runner: Black Out 2022(2017)

    Animation Director · Character Designer · Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films

  • Genocidal Organ(2017)

    Director · Animation Director · Character Designer · Key Animation · Screenplay · Storyboard Artist

    Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films

  • Gangsta.(2015)

    Show 12 episodes · Director · Storyboard Artist

    Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all shows

  • King of Thorn(2009)

    Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films

  • Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic(2010)

    Director

    Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films

  • Michiko & Hatchin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)

    Show 1 episode · Director · Animation Director · Key Animation

  • The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)

    Show 12 episodes · Storyboard

  • Mobile Suit Z Gundam III: A New Translation - Love Is the Pulse of the Stars(2006)

    Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films

  • Ergo Proxy(2006)

    Show 23 episodes · Director · Animation Director · Creator · Key Animation · Original Story · Series Director · Storyboard Artist

    Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all shows

  • Mobile Suit Z Gundam: A New Translation - Heirs to the Stars(2004)

    Animation Director · Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films

  • Samurai Champloo(2004)

    Show 1 episode · Director · Storyboard Artist

    Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows

  • Mobile Suit Gundam Evolve (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)

    Show 15 episodes · Story

  • Wolf's Rain(2003)

    Show 1 episode · Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all shows

  • Witch Hunter Robin(2002)

    Show 26 episodes · Director · Original Concept · Original Story · Series Director · Storyboard Artist · Writer

    Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all shows

  • Cowboy Bebop: The Movie(2001)

    Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • Gundam Evolve (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)

    Director · Story

  • Argento Soma (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)

    Show 25 episodes · Character Designer

  • Escaflowne: The Movie(2000)

    Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films

  • Gasaraki (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)

    Show 25 episodes · Character Designer

  • Gundam Wing: The Movie - Endless Waltz(1998)

    Character Designer

    Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films

  • Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)

    Show 1 episode · Animation Director

  • Mobile Suit Gundam Wing(1995)

    Show 49 episodes · Character Designer

    Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all shows

  • Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie(1994)

    Character Designer

    Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films

  • Ai monogatari(1991)

    Animation Director

    Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: The Afterglow of Zeon(1992)

    Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films

  • Mama is a 4th Grader (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)

    Show 1 episode · Opening/Ending Animation

  • Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)

    Show 1 episode · Key Animation

  • Mobile Suit Gundam F91(1991)

    Animation Director · Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films

  • Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water(1990)

    Show 1 episode · Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all shows

  • Ronin Warriors: New Adventures OVA - Legend of the Inferno Armor(1989)

    Show 4 episodes · Character Designer

    Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all shows (provisional, few ratings)

  • City Hunter: .357 Magnum(1989)

    Key Animation

    Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films

  • Ronin Warriors: Gaiden (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)

    Show 2 episodes · Character Designer

  • Jushin Liger (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)

    Show 1 episode · Key Animation

  • Ronin Warriors (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)

    Show 39 episodes · Animation Director · Key Animation · Opening/Ending Animation

Career shape

A full career of 36 titles from 1988 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway (2021)

$19M worldwide

Highest rated

Ergo Proxy (2006)

Midcredits 84th

By role

only this rolewith another role
Directing10 of 36: 1 only directing, 9 with another role · typical Midcredits score71stWriting6 of 36: 2 only writing, 4 with another roleOther crew32 of 36: 24 only other crew, 8 with another role · typical Midcredits score77th

36 titles, 9 with more than one role — other crew and directing overlap on 8 of them.

By decade

1980s5 · crew1990s11 · crew2000s13 · crew2010s5 · crew2020s2 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

How do Shûkô Murase's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 74th percentile, the median of all 16; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 76th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

76thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Approval · how many liked their films

66thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Reach · how many have seen their films

89thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Midcredits score across 24 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up13
  • 50th to 74th9
  • 25th to 49th2

Shape of the crowd

17 of their 24 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved3
  • Crowd Pleaser17
  • Broadly Agreed1
  • Mixed3

Most divisive · director

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe (2026)

50th percentile spread · 13% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · director

Samurai Champloo (2004)

Midcredits 98th · 92% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 71/100 and the pacing 36/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Shûkô Murase work with?

People who share at least 2 of Shûkô Murase's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Kazuhiro Yamada shares the most, 3.

Writers

Actors

Composers, cinematographers and editors

Producers