Cards by Shinji Higuchi: TCG Illustrator Guide

Shinji Higuchi (Japanese: 樋口真嗣), born September 22, 1965, Tokyo, is a writer, director, storyboard artist and a prominent special effects figure in Japanese film and television. As a teenager he was one of the four founding members of Gainax (originally established as Daicon Films), working on many anime and tokusatsu productions. He played an important part in the creation of the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, serving as writer, assistant director, and art director/storyboarder. His previous work on the anime Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water led the show's director and fellow Gainax member Hideaki Anno to name Evangelion's protagonist, Shinji Ikari after him as an inside joke.

Higuchi initially started his career in the mid 80s working within special effects on several kaiju films, and by the mid 90's had established himself as a master within the field with the release of the acclaimed Gamera trilogy of films. During this time, he continued to be a storyboard artist for anime such as Gunbuster and Otaku no Video, with his wife Noriko Takaya providing the namesake for the former's heroine. In addition to his special effects direction, Higuchi branched into CG animation for several tokusatsu films in the early 2000s, and has since directed a number of live-action films.

Higuchi became involved within the Pokémon franchise during the production of Jirachi: Wish Maker as a storyboard artist in 2004. He was later commissioned to produce the artwork for the new Pokémon LEGEND cards that first appeared in the HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and went on to co-illustrate all subsequent Pokémon LEGEND cards released in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Series. He was also involved in the art direction of two cards from the Undaunted expansion in collaboration with 3D illustrators Kent Kanetsuna and Wataru Kawahara, and remains the only person with a director credit on individual cards. In an interview with Tsunekazu Ishihara, Higuchi stated that his illustrations aim to depict Pokémon as realistic and monstrous.