Takeshi Shudo was born on August 18, 1949 in Fukuoka, Japan. He was a student at the University of Tokyo before he entered the anime industry. Shudo is the creator of the Fairy Princess Minky Momo franchise, which started with the manga he had created. The manga would later become two anime series and several OAVs, and Shudo had direct involvement in the first anime television series and one of the Minky Momo OAVs. He also supervised the scripts for the original Pokemon anime television series, and he wrote the first three Pokemon films. In addition, he also worked on the Pokemon – Mewtwo Returns special, and also did some writing for Pokemon Advance.

The majority of Shudo's anime credits come from writing. His first credit was writing for Manga Hajimete Monogatari in 1978. This was followed by Manga Sarutobi Sasuke in 1979. In the 1980s, Shudo wrote for Space Warrior Baldios, Toshishun, Fairy Princess Minky Momo, Sasuga no Sarutobi, Tao Tao Ehonkan, Machikado no Meruhen, Cosmos Pink Shock, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and the film Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars.

In the 1990s, Shudo's credits included writing for Idol Tenshi Youkoso Yoko, Eien no Fielna, Minky Momo in Yume ni Kakeru Hashi, Chou Kuseninarisou, Martian Successor Nadeisco, Pokemon, Pokemon: The First Movie, and Pokemon 2000 The Movie. In the 2000s, Shudo wrote for Pokemon – Mewtwo Returns, Pokemon 3 – The Movie, Pokemon Advance, and Juusou Kikou Dancouga Nova. He also received credit for being the original creator of Minky Momo for Mahou no Princess Minky Momo: Yume wo Dakishimete and Minky Momo in Tabidachi no Eki.

Shudo also did some work on scenario and scenario supervision. His credits for this work are Chikkun Takkun in 1984 and 21 Seiki Hajimete Monogatari in 2001. In 2010, Shudo was working with Dogakobo and Gonzo on a character project titled Cheer Figu!

On Thursday, October 28, 2010, Shudo collapsed at the Nara railway station's smoking area in Nara City. He was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, where doctors determined that Shudo had suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage in his head. On Friday, October 29, 2010, tweets made by Legend of the Galactic Heroes producer Masatoshi Tahara and translator Dan Kanemitsu on Twitter that reported that Shudo had passed away that morning while he was recovering from the surgery. Takeshi Shudo was 61 years old at the time of his death.