Yuichiro Hira

Yuichiro Hira (平雄一郎, Hira Yuichiro ) was a Transformers designer at Takara from the end of Beast Wars to the beginning of Energon. He eventually moved into upper-level TakaraTomy management.

Known design projects

Beast Wars

Basic Class Sonar Spittor (Transmetals 2) Stinkbomb

Deluxe Class Cheetor (Transmetals 2 Iguanus (Transmetals 2) Jawbreaker Prowl (Transmetals 2) Ramulus

Mega Class Blackarachnia (Transmetals 2) Cybershark (Transmetals 2)

Ultra Class Megatron (Transmetals 2) Tigerhawk

Mega Blackarachnia

Beast Machines

Basic Class Buzzsaw Quickstrike

Deluxe Class Beast Changer Blackarachnia Blastcharge Optimus Primal Strika Thrust

Mega Class Cheetor Blast Punch Optimus Primal

Ultra Class Nightscream

Supreme Class Cheetor Air Attack Optimus Primal

Deluxe Strika

Mutant Beast Wars

Deluxe Class Poison Bite

Car Robots/Robots in Disguise (2001)

Team Bullet Train Rail Racer (Midnight Express, Railspike, and Rapid Run)

The combined Rail Racer

1-2-3 Transformers

Ultra Rescue Roy

Ultra Rescue Roy

Armada

Mini-Con Class Destruction Mini-Con Team (Buzzsaw, Drill Bit, Dualor)

Super-Con Class Hot Shot with Jolt Cyclonus with Crumplezone Thrust with Inferno

Roleplay Triple Changer Laserbeak

Super-Con Hot Shot

Playskool Big Adventures

Ultra Aerobot

Transformers Go-Bots

Deluxe Speed-Bot II / Mirage-Bot

Deluxe Speed-Bot II

Energon

Energon Class Battle Ravage

Battle Ravage

Notes

• Hira's earliest sign of working for Takara is a 1993 patent for a game that seemed to be a cross between Tiddlywinks and Pogs.
• He may have been the lead on Takara's Webdiver series. He designed the main robot Gladion, worked on other toys in the line, and appears on 3 patents relating to Gladion's internal video game system.
• His transition to management occurred around 2004, as he was given an Executive Producer credit on Beast Wars Returns and an executive-level "planning" credit in the Japanese version of the Cybertron anime. He would receive similar high-level credits on the Japanese version of Transformers Animated, as well as Takara's home-grown shows Ryukendo, Metal Fight Beyblade, Rescue Fire, and most recently Cap Kakumei Bottleman.