Okiura left high school at the age of 16 and entered the animation industry as a member of the studio Anime R, where he studied under Moriyasu Taniguchi and which Taniguchi superintends.
[1] He is known for his detailed effects animation in, for example, the chopper attack scene in Patlabor 2: The Movie, and more recently his highly realistic character animation in works such as the opening credits to Cowboy Bebop: The Movie and several Production I.G features.
His debut work as a director, Jin-Roh, completed in 1998, was the recipient of the Minami Toshiko Award at the 11th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in February 2000.
He is married to voice actress Sumi Mutoh, who portrayed Kei Amemiya in Jin-Roh.
(1995) Memories (1995, chief animator and key animator: Magnetic Rose / key animator: Stink Bomb) Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) Metropolis (2001) Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001, opening credit sequence director and key animator) Tennis no Ōjisama – Futari no Samurai (2005) xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream (2005) Naruto the Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel (2005) Paprika (2006) Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012) Your Name (2016) Blade Runner: Black Out 2022 (2017) Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022) Blue Comet SPT Layzner (1985-1986, mechanical animation director) Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993, assistant animation supervisor) Ghost in the Shell (1995, character design, animation supervisor and layout artist) Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004, character designer and animation supervisor)