Ken'ichi Ishikura

• Name — Kenichi Ishikura 石倉 賢一 • Birthplace — Japan • Known for — Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu Sakura Trick • Occupation — Director, storyboard artist, production assistant • Employer — E&G Films (2000?) • Years Active — 2000–present Kenichi Ishikura is a Japanese director and storyboard artist best known for his works with Shaft and the anime adaptation of Sakura Trick.

Ishikura began his career in the industry in 2000 as a production assistant for Invincible King Tri-Zenon under E&G Films, and made his debut as an episode director with the 18th episode of Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars. For the next several years, he worked mainly as a freelance director. In 2007, Ishikura had his first job with Shaft as an episode director and storyboard artist for Hidamari Sketch. Ishikura was working with a subcontracting studio when they asked him to choose one of their projects to work on. Ishikura chose Hidamari Sketch as he had seen director Akiyuki Shinbo's previous works including Pani Poni Dash!, which was a type of project he was interested in working on. According to him, Ishikura often got in trouble in his previous works for including too many parodies to other works; but for Hidamari Sketch, director Shinbo and the staff gave him the okay to do such. For the next 5 years, Ishikura worked mainly with Shaft, and made his series directorial debut with Natsu no Arashi! Akinai-chū (under Shinbo's general direction). The following year, he directed the third season to the Hidamari Sketch franchise with Shinbo, but he started to work less with Shaft. Following his mainstay departure from Shaft, Ishikura dirercted Da Capo III (2013) at studio Actas, but mainly based himself out of Studio Deen, where he directed both Sakura Trick (2014) and a short Ongaku Shōjo (2015) film. He stopped series directing for the time and focused mainly on episode directing and storyboarding until 2025 with the release of I'm a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic.

In "Director(s)" column highlights Ishikura's directorial works. • Year — Title — Director(s) — Studio — SB — ED — Other roles and notes — Ref(s) • 2000 — Invincible King Tri-Zenon — Takashi Watanabe — E&G Films — Assistant production manager • 2001 — Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars — Tatsuo Satō — Madhouse • 2002 — Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier — Jun Kawagoe — Japan Vistec • Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution — Yoshimitsu Ōhashi — Madhouse • Shrine of the Morning Mist — Yuji Moriyama — Chaos Project • 2003 — L/R: Licensed by Royalty — Itsuro Kawasaki — TNK • Shadow Star — Toshiaki Iino — Planet • Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch — Yoshitaka Fujimoto — Actas SynergySP • 2004 — Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure — Yoshitaka Fujimoto — Actas SynergySP • Tsuki wa Higashi ni Hi wa Nishi ni — Mitsuhiro Tōgō (chief) Shōsei Jinno — Radix • To Heart: Remember My Memories — Keitarō Motonaga — OLM, Inc. AIC ASTA • 2005 — Gun Sword — Gorō Taniguchi — AIC ASTA • Petopeto-san — Akira Nishimori — Xebec M2 • Paradise Kiss — Osamu Kobayashi — Madhouse • 2006 — Sugar Sugar Rune — Matsushita Yukihiro — Pierrot • Amaenaide yo!! Katsu!! — Keitarō Motonaga — Studio Deen • Tactical Roar — Yoshitaka Fujimoto — Actas • Love Get Chu: Miracle Seiyū Hakusho — Mitsuhiro Tōgō — Radix • Yume Tsukai — Kazuo Yamazaki — Madhouse — Assistant director • Night Head Genesis — Yoshio Takeuchi — Actas Bee Media • Tokimeki Memorial Only Love — Nobuhiro Takemoto — AIC ASTA • 2007 — Hidamari Sketch — Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Ryouki Kamitsubo (chief) — Shaft • Kaze no Stigma — Junichi Sakata — Gonzo • Nagasarete Airantō — Hideki Okamoto — feel. • Ef: A Tale of Memories — Shin Oonuma — Shaft • 2008 — Hidamari Sketch x 365 — Akiyuki Shinbo — Shaft • Ef: A Tale of Melodies — Shin Oonuma — Shaft • 2009 — Hidamari Sketch x 365 Specials — Akiyuki Shinbo — Shaft • Natsu no Arashi! — Akiyuki Shinbo Shin Oonuma (series) — Shaft • Maria Holic — Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto (series) — Shaft • Natsu no Arashi! Akinai-chū — yes|Akiyuki Shinbo Shin Oonuma (series, #1–7) Kenichi Ishikura (series, #8–13) — Shaft — Ending director • 2010 — Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu — Akiyuki Shinbo Kenichi Ishikura (series) — Shaft • Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu Specials — Akiyuki Shinbo Kenichi Ishikura (series) — Shaft • 2011 — Infinite Stratos — Yasuhito Kikuchi — Eight Bit • Shōwa Monogatari — Mitsuhiro Tōgō Masahiro Murakami (series) — Wao World — Assistant director (four episodes) • Maria Holic Alive — Akiyuki Shinbo (chief) Tomokazu Tokoro (series) — Shaft — Assistant director Opening director — • 2013 — Da Capo III — Kenichi Ishikura — Actas — Series composition • 2014 — Sakura Trick — Kenichi Ishikura — Studio Deen — Series composition • 2016 — Bakuon!! — Junji Nishimura — TMS Entertainment 8PAN • 2017 — Princess Principal — Masaki Tachibana — 3Hz Actas • 2018 — 100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams — Yukina Hiiro — Project No.9 • Hozuki's Coolheadedness — Kazuhiro Yoneda — Studio Deen • 2020 — The Seven Deadly Sins: Imperial Wrath of the Gods — Susumu Nishizawa — Studio Deen • Sorcerous Stabber Orphen — Takayuki Hamana — Studio Deen • Tamayomi — Toshinori Fukushima — Studio A-Cat • 2021 — Redo of Healer — Takuya Asaoka — TNK • |Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Battle of Kimluck — Takayuki Hamana — Studio Deen • I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level — Nobukage Kimura — Revoroot • 2022 — My Isekai Life — Keisuke Kojima — Revoroot • 2025 — I'm a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic — Kenichi Ishikura — Studio Deen Marvy Jack