Akai attended
Osaka University of Arts majoring in
fine art . While studying there, Akai created the character designs for the
Daicon III opening animation. The main staff for the Daicon III and
Daicon IV opening animations went on to create the animation studio Gainax. Akai was in the same class as
Hiroyuki Yamaga and
Hideaki Anno. He was a board member of
Gainax. His wife is Kimiko Higuchi. He stepped down from Gainax board after an incident in which he and another employee made disparaging remarks about fan criticisms made on the Japanese
Internet forum 2channel. He runs his own company titled NineLives. He is portrayed by actor
Tomoya Nakamura in the
2014 TV Drama Aoi Honō based on the
autobiographical manga by his fellow
Osaka University of Arts alumnus
Kazuhiko Shimamoto. Akai himself cameos in the series as a bathhouse manager in Episode 10. ==Works==