Studio Trigger President Masahiko Otsuka at Otakon 2018 - Yenra

Masahiko Otsuka

The president of Studio Trigger, Masahiko Otsuka, will be a guest at Otakon 2018.

Initially working in the live-action film industry, Masahiko Otsuka joined the animation industry as assistant director for Studio Ghibli's Pom Poko in 1992. He then moved on to Studio Gainax; participating in many acclaimed titles such as Neon Genesis Evangelion (episode director) and Gurren Lagann (co-director).

In 2011, Otsuka and Hiroyuki Imaishi left Gainax to establish their own animation company, Studio Trigger. Otsuka's most recent works include Kill la Kill and the Little Witch Academia series.

Studio Trigger is a Japanese animation studio founded by former Gainax employees Hiroyuki Imaishi and Masahiko Ohtsuka in August 2011.

Trigger was established on August 22, 2011 by Hiroyuki Imaishi and Masahiko Ohtsuka shortly after leaving Gainax. The studio name and official website was revealed in October 2011. Along with assisting production on various series, Trigger has released a short film, Little Witch Academia, and has developed its first original anime television series, Kill la Kill, which aired from October 2013 to March 2014. On July 8, 2013 Trigger launched a Kickstarter project in order to fund a second episode of Little Witch Academia. The project was well received and achieved its goal of $150,000 in under five hours, and went on to raise a total of $625,518.

Trigger, along with studios Sanzigen and Ordet, joined joint holding company Ultra Super Pictures.