Atsuko Ishizuka

Director and writer · Born September 3, 1981 (45) · Okazaki, Aichi, Japan

During her education at art school, Ishizuka made a number of short animated films for her own enjoyment, often set to music. One of these films, Gravitation, which was later featured at the 2005 Tehran International Short Film Festival, caught the attention of both the Japanese broadcasting giant NHK and Madhouse. NHK quickly contacted Atsuko with an offer to have her animate a music video segment for the popular and long running short film program Minna no Uta (Everyone's Songs), which was designed to highlight upcoming independent animators and musicians. However, by this time Ishizuka had already been hired by Madhouse as a production assistant, and feeling that it would not be right to accept freelance work outside of the studio, she turned them down. However, the Minna no Uta staff was unwilling to give up, and they requested that Madhouse take on the music video project with Ishizuka as director. The studio agreed, and in 2004, Atsuko rose through the ranks for her first professional film, The Moon Waltz.

What are Atsuko Ishizuka's films like?

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

Themes

share of theme weight

Self

41%

Bonds

38%

Survival

17%

Ideas

4%

Friendship4 Coming of age3 Survival2 Ambition2

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Hopeful

4

Bittersweet

3

Melancholic

4

Tense

2

Warm

2

Other

2

How their films linger

Bittersweet5 Hopeful4

How their films end · 1 with a twist

Happy2
Bittersweet4

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 Atsuko Ishizuka's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 7 of their 10 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Crunchyroll (4).

Also on these channels

HIDIVE2 titles, show their 2 titles on HIDIVE

Subscription and free streaming for Atsuko Ishizuka'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

16 credits, 10 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.

Goodbye, Don Glees!(2021)
Director · Screenplay · Second Unit Director · Storyboard Artist
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
A Place Further Than the Universe(2018)
Show 13 episodes · Director · Opening/Ending Animation · Series Director · Storyboard Artist · Writer
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all shows
No Game No Life: Zero(2017)
Director · Second Unit Director · Storyboard Artist
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Prince of Stride: Alternative(2016)
Show 12 episodes · Director
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all shows
Hanayamata(2014)
Show 12 episodes · Director
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all shows
No Game No Life (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Show 12 episodes · Director · Series Director · Storyboard Artist
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Show 24 episodes · Director · Series Director · Storyboard Artist
Chihayafuru(2011)
Show 4 episodes · Director · Key Animation · Storyboard Artist
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all shows
Supernatural: The Animation(2011)
Show 22 episodes · Director
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all shows
Aoi Bungaku Series (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Show 1 episode · Writer
Top Secret: The Revelation (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Show 2 episodes · Director · Storyboard Artist
The Piano Forest(2007)
Assistant Director
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Nana(2006)
Show 9 episodes · Director · Key Animation · Storyboard Artist
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows
Gravitation (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Director · Animation
The Moon Waltz (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
Director
Monster(2004)
Show 1 episode · Storyboard Artist
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows

Career shape

A full career of 16 titles from 2004 to 2022.

Biggest box office

No Game No Life: Zero (2017)

$6.4M worldwide

Highest rated

Nana (2006)

Midcredits 97^th

By role

only this rolewith another role

Directing13 of 16 · 80^thWriting2 of 16Other crew11 of 16 · 90^th

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

By decade

2000s7 · crew2010s8 · crew2020s1 · 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.

Is Atsuko Ishizuka's work okay for kids?

Across a limited sample of up to 3 MovieCove titles with content scores.

Their medianMedian of all films

Sex & Nudity3 titlesmedian 59 · moderate

Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.

Who does Atsuko Ishizuka work with?

People who share at least 2 of Atsuko Ishizuka's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Yoshiaki Fujisawa shares the most, 3.