Yūji Yamaguchi

Yūji Yamaguchi (山口祐司 , Yamaguchi Yūji , fl. 1988 – 2019, died before 9 January 2020) [a] was a Japanese anime director who directed the Fate/stay night TV series and the Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works film.

Yamaguchi directed several anime series, including Angel Links (1999), I My Me! Strawberry Eggs (2001), Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito (2003), AM Driver (2004–2005), and Tōka Gettan (2007). He was the director of the 2006 anime adaptation of the Fate/stay night visual novel, and he subsequently directed the 2010 theatrical installment Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works. He later directed The Severing Crime Edge (2013), and Z/X Ignition (2014). He directed episodes of Divergence Eve, GeGeGe no Kitarō, Hajime no Ippo, Outlaw Star, Suite and Smile PreCure!, and The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, and its sequel Final.

Yamaguchi died of undisclosed causes sometime before 9 January 2020, when his death was announced by a subsequently-removed tweet by Fate/stay night company Studio Deen. Animators Tomomi Mochizuki and Asako Nishida, who both worked with Yamaguchi, expressed their condolences following Yamaguchi's death.