Masaru Kitao (?? ?, Kitao Masaru, born July 15, 1961) is a Japanese animator known for his work with Madhouse.Primarily a key animator and animation director for anime TV series, Kitao has also on occasion done character designs. Recently, he has won much praise for his adaptated character designs for the popular Death Note TV series. Consequently, Death Note has become his best known work. Along with Death Note director Tetsur? Araki, he was a Guest of Honor at Anime Expo 2007.When asked by fans at Anime Expo 2007, he revealed that L from Death Note is his favorite character, both to empathize with and to draw. He also stated that he would like to work on an L-themed spin-off anime, and that fans in America and Japan should request one if they too are interested.