Tetsuro Araki (荒木 哲郎, Araki Tetsuro) is a Japanese anime director, best known as the director of the Death Note anime adaptation. He is married to editor Aya Hida. Araki is a graduate at Senshu University and worked with Madhouse before moving with Production I.G and later Wit Studio. His directorial debut was 2005's original video animation Otogi-Jūshi Akazukin. He is best known as the director of the Death Note, Highschool of the Dead and Attack on Titan anime adaptations. He is also the director of two original anime series Guilty Crown and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, and the original anime fiilm Bubble. Araki, along with Death Note character designer Masaru Kitao, appeared at Anime Expo 2007.
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Biography from TMDB.
- November 5, 1976 (49)
- Sayama, Saitama, Japan
- Director and writer
- 15 on MovieCove · 29 credits in all
Known for
What are Tetsurō Araki's films like?
Across their 10 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 6
A split, not a type: Light 1 · Serious 2 · Dark 3
Grounded 0 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 3
Gentle 0 · Charged 1 · Intense 5
Steady 1 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 0 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 4
A split, not a type: Casual 1 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 3
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 0
Resolved 4 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet5
- Ambiguous3
- Cyclical1
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 Tetsurō Araki's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 11 of their 15 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Crunchyroll (5).
- Crunchyroll
Subscription and free streaming for Tetsurō Araki'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
29 credits, 15 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Moonrise(2025)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all shows
COLORs (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Bubble(2022)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
Attack on Titan: Chronicle (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: Life That Burns (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all shows
Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Attack on Titan: Crimson Bow and Arrow (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Gundam Reconguista in G(2014)
Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all shows
Attack on Titan(2013)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows
Guilty Crown(2011)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all shows
High School of the Dead: Drifters of the Dead (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Highschool of the Dead(2010)
Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all shows
Aoi Bungaku Series (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Michiko & Hatchin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Kurozuka (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Death Note(2006)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows
Le Chevalier D'Eon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Black Lagoon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Futakoi Alternative (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Otogi-Juushi Akazukin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Gungrave (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Career shape
A full career of 28 titles from 2003 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Bubble (2022)
Highest rated
Attack on Titan: The Roar of Awakening (2018)
Most popular right now
Highschool of the Dead (2010)
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 Tetsurō Araki's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 88th percentile, the median of all 7; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 87th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up8
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 15 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved3
- Crowd Pleaser6
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the pacing 43/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 53, detractors 32. 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.
Is Tetsurō Araki's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 3 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Tetsurō Araki work with?
People who share at least 2 of Tetsurō Araki's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Aya Hida shares the most, 5.
Directors
- Kunihiro MoriShared titles: Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (2016), Gundam Reconguista in G (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Kunihiro Mori
Writers
- Ichirô ÔkouchiShared titles: Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato (2019), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (2016), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: Light That Gathers (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Ichirô Ôkouchi
- Hajime YatateShared titles: Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (2025), Gundam Reconguista in G (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Hajime Yatate
- Yoshiyuki TominoShared titles: Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (2025), Gundam Reconguista in G (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Yoshiyuki Tomino
- Yasuko KobayashiShared titles: Attack on Titan: The Roar of Awakening (2018), Death Note Relight 2 - L's Successors (2008)See all 2 shared titles with Yasuko Kobayashi
Actors
- Mamoru MiyanoShared titles: Bubble (2022), Death Note Relight 2 - L's Successors (2008), Death Note Relight - Visions of a God (2007)See all 3 shared titles with Mamoru Miyano
- Marina InoueShared titles: Bubble (2022), Attack on Titan: The Roar of Awakening (2018), Highschool of the Dead (2010)See all 3 shared titles with Marina Inoue
- Sayaka SenbongiShared titles: Bubble (2022), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato (2019), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: Light That Gathers (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Sayaka Senbongi
- Tasuku HatanakaShared titles: Bubble (2022), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato (2019), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: Light That Gathers (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Tasuku Hatanaka
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Aya HidaShared titles: Bubble (2022), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato (2019), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (2016), Death Note Relight 2 - L's Successors (2008), Death Note Relight - Visions of a God (2007)See all 5 shared titles with Aya Hida
- Hiroyuki SawanoShared titles: Bubble (2022), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato (2019), Attack on Titan: The Roar of Awakening (2018), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (2016)See all 4 shared titles with Hiroyuki Sawano
- Kazuhiro YamadaShared titles: Bubble (2022), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato (2019), Attack on Titan: The Roar of Awakening (2018), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (2016)See all 4 shared titles with Kazuhiro Yamada
- Hideki TaniuchiShared titles: Death Note Relight 2 - L's Successors (2008), Death Note Relight - Visions of a God (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Hideki Taniuchi
Producers
- Jouji WadaShared titles: Bubble (2022), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Jouji Wada
- Yuka OkayasuShared titles: Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (2016), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: Light That Gathers (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Yuka Okayasu
- Kentarô HashimotoShared titles: Death Note Relight 2 - L's Successors (2008), Death Note Relight - Visions of a God (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Kentarô Hashimoto
- Manabu TamuraShared titles: Death Note Relight 2 - L's Successors (2008), Death Note Relight - Visions of a God (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Manabu Tamura