Takayuki Hamana (浜名 孝行, Hamana Takayuki, born November 3, 1967)[1] is a Japanese animator and director known for directing The Prince of Tennis.
Upon graduating high school, Takayuki Hamana joined Ajia-do as an in-between animator for four years.
[2][3] Hamana left Ajia-do and joined I.G Tatsunoko, where he became a key animator for various project such as Blue Seed (1994) and Jin-Roh (2000).
[3] His experience in storyboarding and directing an episode of Crayon Shin-chan became the "starting point" for his path to become a director.
[2] He made his series directing debut in 2001 with The Prince of Tennis and his film directing debut with The Prince of Tennis: Futari no Samurai (2005).