Kunihiko Ikuhara was a director at Toei Animation on the television anime series Sailor Moon in the 1990s, co-directing its second season with Junichi Sato, and serving as the sole director of its third season, fourth season, and the animated film Sailor Moon R: The Movie. Frustrated by the lack of creative control in producing a series adapted from an existing work, Ikuhara departed Toei in 1996 to create an original series. To this end, Ikuhara assembled Be-Papas, a group of creative professionals from the anime and manga industry. Its membership consisted of Ikuhara, manga artist Chiho Saito, animator and character designer Shinya Hasegawa, scriptwriter Yōji Enokido, and planner Yūichirō Oguro.
Kunihiko Ikuhara was a director at Toei Animation on the television anime series Sailor Moon in the 1990s co-directing its second season with Junichi Sato and serving as the sole director of its third season fourth season and the animated film Sailor Moon R The Movie Frustrated by the lack of creative control in producing a series adapted from an existing work Ikuhara departed Toei in 1996 to create an original series To this end Ikuhara assembled Be-Papas a group of creative professionals from the anime and manga industry Its membership consisted of Ikuhara manga artist Chiho Saito animator and character designer Shinya Hasegawa scriptwriter Yōji Enokido and planner Yūichirō Oguro