As part of the anime premieres of "The World's Strongest Rearguard" and "The Insipid Prince's Furtive Grab for The Throne", the two new MAHO FILM series, we are delighted to welcome the episode director and character designer Ms Yuko Oba to the Anime Messe Babelsberg 2026.
It is rare for the same person to take on episode direction, main character design and chief animation direction all at once. With Ms Yuko Oba, however, this is precisely the case, which makes her one of the most distinctive voices at her studio. At MAHO FILM she sits in the episode director's chair for "The World's Strongest Rearguard", "The Insipid Prince's Furtive Grab for The Throne" and "Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra", among others, and we are thrilled to host her at the Anime Messe Babelsberg 2026 in Potsdam.
Ms Oba first reached a broader audience above all through her work on the main character design of series such as "Blue Miburo" and "Blue Miburo 2", "A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life", "My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1" and "I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss". To these works she lent her visual signature, creating characters with whom audiences connect at first sight. Add to this her countless credits as chief animation director on productions such as "I'll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History", "Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp", "By the Grace of the Gods 2", "In the Land of Leadale" and both seasons of "I'M STANDING ON A MILLION LIVES". On "Doctor Elise" and several further titles she additionally takes on the sub-character design.
For both premieres, on Friday at 16:50 and on Saturday at 12:10, Ms Oba will stand on stage in person, introduce her series to you and share background on how they came to be. An autograph session follows on each of those days.
A particular programme highlight awaits you on Sunday, 19 July 2026 at 16:20: while Ms Manami Inose draws live for you on the event stage, Ms Oba speaks from the perspective of her role as chief animation director about her work on character design and episode direction. A rare opportunity to hear the creative decisions behind an anime production explained directly at first hand.
Ms Oba is looking forward to meeting the German audience. Let us give her a very warm welcome to Potsdam!