Yes, you read that right, and it only gets more badass from there. Yoshiyuki Tomino described Nagahama as someone who greatly influenced him, and Kentaro Miura also cited
The Rose of Versailles as in inspiration for Serpico.
Many co-workers speak of Nagahama's kindness. Yuji Mitsuya recalled that when he debuted in the anime seiyuu scene for the first time, Nagahama helped guide him, being a former theater actor himself. Kazuhiro Ochi spoke of a time when he was unemployed and desperate to be an animator, so he sent Nagahama a Letter explaining his predicament. Nagahama responded by inviting him to Tokyo to work on Voltes V.
He loved interacting with his fans, some of which grew up to work with him. They include character designer Yutaka Izubuchi (a guest designer for Daimos) Norihisa Uchida (an animator), and Yumiko Tsukamoto (screenwriter). It is said that he welcomed fans who came to tour the studio, read fan letters, and responded to them diligently. Like Tomino, Nagahama had a penchant for killing characters, and when fan letters would ask, "Why did you kill him?" he would post long answers in anime magazines and other media. Nagahama also made multiple contributions to anime magazines such as Animage and Out, where he would give a glimpse of his thought process.
Tadao Nagahama and his wife died of hepatitis while travelling overseas. May their souls rest in peace.
Anime directed by Tadao Nagahama
- Brave Raideennote
- Robot Romance Trilogy
- The Rose of Versaillesnote
- Ulysses 31
- Perman
- Future Robot Daltanious
- Gutsy Frog
- Samurai Giants
- Star Of The Giants
- Obake No Q Taro
- Zukkoke Knight De La Manchanote
Common tropes in Tadao Nagahama's works
- Classic Theatre: Many of his works draw inspiration from Classic Theatre or literature.
- Zukkoke Knight De La Mancha is the anime adaptation of Don Quixote.
- Voltes V: The Boazanian Succession Crisis (and all the ensuing cheating and scheming) is reminiscient of Macbeth.
- Daimos is obviously based on Romeo and Juliet, due to the main characters being Star-Crossed Lovers who's respective races are at war.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Voltes V: Prince Heinel, who despises the Hornless Boazanians, has a Hornless father. And not he's not just any Hornless Boazanian... He's the father of the protagonist he's fighting against, and the leader of the slave rebellion.
- Daimos: Richter hates humans because he believes they were responsible for the death of his father. Except the humans never killed him, his assassination was the responsibility of a fellow Baamite. By the time Richter realizes this, he's already committed mass genocide against the Earthlings in the name of Revenge.
- Fantastic Racism: Voltes V and Daimos explore the themes of racial prejudice very seriously. Expect any racist character to be the Hate Sinks of their respective series. Both anime also stress that both humans and aliens aren't free of bias, and everyone has the capacity to be full of hate. Both series also end with the humans and aliens putting aside their differences and co-existing in peace.
- Gratuitous Princess: (inhales) Prince Heinel, Prince Gohl, Prince Orel, Prince Richter, Princess Erika, Prince Charkin, Princess Lemuria, Marie Antoinette....note
- An Immigrant's Tale: Poor Ippei and Kyoshiro...
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Heinel and Richter. Nagahama, in his art book, calls them both "beautiful boys".
- Melodrama: He practically drinks, bathes, and grinds his coffee beans in melodrama for a living. He is so infamous for this trope that in Japan and the West his works have the nickname "romance"note - for example, his mecha anime works are known as the Robot Romance Trilogy. Nagahama worked in theater before becoming an anime director and carried the dramatic tone with him to his animated works regardless of genre.
- Takarazuka Revue: Nagahama was a fan of them, and based Prince Heinel off of one of the actors.
- Tuckerization:
- Voltes V: Professor Hamaguchi's name is a Portmanteau of Tadao Nagahama (the creator of the Robot Romance Trilogy) and Shoichi Taguchi (the screenplay writer for Voltes V). In addition, Tako, Hiyoshi's Robot Buddy, is named so because "Tako" was Nagahama's nickname as a little boy.
- In episode 29 of Daimos, Dr. Izumi is sent a letter from the UN. Notice a familiar name on the envelope?
Voice acting roles
Literature
Tropes that apply to Nagahama himself
- Cool Shades: In almost every photo of him, Nagahama sports a pair of wide shades.
- Foreign Culture Fetish:
- Nagahama seems to have one for France. Not only is his most famous work The Rose of Versailles, (which earned the mangaka a national French award), but as noted on Voltes V's
Fan Wank section, there has been speculation among fan circles that possible research prior to Nagahama's then-upcoming stint as director of the The Rose of Versailles anime may have influenced some themes and plot ideas for this show, such as those of revolution, social class upheaval, the medieval-esque setting of Boazan, the dramatic approach and the frilly dresses. Some Super Robot Genre fans, who watched this show expecting pure Hot-Blooded action and are openly put-off with what they deem as excessive melodrama and angst, took things further by holding this theory to be the only explanation on why Nagahama would dare try to write "shojo sensibilities" into a super robot show that's supposed to be for young boys.- Voltes V's successor series, Daimos, has a deutragonist who lived in France during his childhood, and speaks Gratuitous French.
- The titular robot of Future Robot Daltanious is named after D'Artagnan, the hero of The Three Musketeers.
- He also directed Ulysses 31, which is a Franco-Japanese co-production.
- Nagahama also seems fond of Ancient Rome, as at least two of his works feature literal Space Romans.
- Though not a culture, a few of Nagahama's works also have references to Indian mythology.
- The main villain of Combattler V, Garuda, is lifted straight out of Hindu mythos.
- Daimos centers around the war between Earth and Planet Baam, the latter of which takes it's name and inspiration from the Brahmins of Vedic mythology.
- Nagahama seems to have one for France. Not only is his most famous work The Rose of Versailles, (which earned the mangaka a national French award), but as noted on Voltes V's
- Friend to All Children: While he had none of his own, Nagahama loved children and made sure his works were enjoyable to them. The character of Prince Heinel was created because he wanted to prevent children crying all the time from the anime's Darker and Edgier tone compared to it's predecessor.
- The Perfectionist: According to his own employees, Nagahama would constantly rework his storyboards after completing them and stressed that everything had to be absolutely perfect - Yuji Mitsuya called him the most demanding director he'd ever worked with.
- Renaissance Man: Nagahama is an acclaimed anime director, a history buff, and songwriternote .
