Futoshi Nishiya

Futoshi Nishiya (西屋 太志 Nishiya Futoshi) was the primary character designer of the Free! series. On July 27th, 2019, Nishiya was confirmed to be one of the victims of the July 18, 2019 KyoAni arson attack.

A recurring story with many of the staff who died in the arson attack is one of versatility. The studio had a reputation from some fans for making series with a very similar design style and fan appeal, likely fuelled by their early adaptations of visual novels. But especially in the past decade, KyoAni showed themselves to be highly adaptable creators.

The late Nishiya was an animator and character designer who showed that more than almost anyone else. His most enduring contribution as a designer was [sic] a series where character design and differentiation played an important role in its popularity. Its focus on cute boys was also a major departure for a studio that previously specialized in cute girl characters, and any fan can tell you that he absolutely hit it out of the park with the designs.