Masami Hata was born in 1942 in Taipei. He debuted as an animator in 1965 at Mushi Pro with Wonder 3, and while there directed his first two TV series. After Mushi Pro folded in 1973, he worked a bit for Tokyo Movie Shinsha, drawing storyboards and directing episodes in a handful of TV series. Around 1975 he began working at Sanrio, which was just moving into the anime market, and wound up staying there for over a decade, going on to direct several of Sanrio's lavish full-animation films. Since the breakup of Sanrio's animation department (Sanrio Films) in 1985 following the release of the film Fairy Florence he has been working freelance, directing and writing storyboards for TV series and movies at various studios. Show less «