Masaaki Yuasa is one of the most exciting directors working in Japanese animation today, with a three-decade career behind him. Yet until last year, you may not even have heard of him. Long the filmmaker of choice for discerning anime fans, the 53-year-old has had a significant profile boost over the past 18 months, releasing two theatrical features — "The Night is Short, Walk on Girl" and "Lu Over the Wall" — and a Netflix series, "Devilman Crybaby," which secured his biggest audience to date.

Yuasa is the featured anime director at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, following in the footsteps of Hideaki Anno, Mamoru Hosoda and his old pal Keiichi Hara. The program includes all three of his feature movies, starting with 2004 cult favorite "Mind Game," as well as an all-night "Devilman" screening and an anthology of animated shorts from throughout his career.

Getting animated: The works of Masaaki Yuasa will be celebrated at this year
Getting animated: The works of Masaaki Yuasa will be celebrated at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival.