Masao Maruyama

Maruyama was born in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, in 1941. After graduating from Hosei University in 1963, he spent approximately a year working in irregular jobs before an acquaintance introduced him to Mushi Production, which he joined in 1965. Although he did not initially intend to pursue a career in animation, his encounter with the studio's head, Osamu Tezuka, influenced his decision to remain in the industry. Maruyama later stated that he was fascinated by Tezuka, whom he described as someone who defied conventional norms.

Madhouse (1972–2011)

In 1972, Maruyama left Mushi Productions to found Madhouse alongside his colleagues Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. He became the studio's president in 1980, overseeing project planning, production design, and directorial assignments.

In 1987, Maruyama and director Rintaro invited manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo to make his directorial debut with the short film Construction Cancellation Order for the anthology film Neo Tokyo. Maruyama also produced Kawajiri's 1993 film Ninja Scroll, which achieved significant commercial success upon its home video release in North America.

During his tenure as studio head, Maruyama planned or produced numerous feature films, including all of Satoshi Kon's directorial works (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika), Mamoru Hosoda's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, and Sunao Katabuchi's Mai Mai Miracle. Following Kon's death in August 2010, production was suspended on his unfinished film, Dreaming Machine, for which Maruyama served as producer.

In 2010, Maruyama served as the executive producer for an anime project based on the TV show Supernatural, entitled Supernatural The Animation, which was the world's first animated project from a Japanese anime studio based on an overseas drama series.

Between 2010 and 2011, Maruyama acted as a planner for Marvel Anime, an animated anthology series featuring Iron Man, Wolverine, X-Men and Blade.