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Yoshitaka Amano

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Yoshitaka Amano
File:Senoramano.jpg
Yoshitaka Amano at Comic-Con 2006.
Born
天野 嘉孝
NationalityJapanese
Known forcharacter design, illustration, printmaking, painting, sculpting
AwardsSeiun Award, Dragon Con Award, Julie Award


Yoshitaka Amano (天野 喜孝 Amano Yoshitaka) (his birth name is 天野 嘉孝, pronounced the same), born July 28, 1952) is a Japanese artist, best known for his illustrations for Vampire Hunter D and for his character designs for the video game series Final Fantasy.

Biography

Early Beginnings 1960s to 1970s

Amano was born in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan; as a young adolescent, he was fascinated with drawing. In 1967, he began working for Tatsunoko Productions in the animation department were he was introduced to the early Japanese anime movement[1][2]. His first paid project was for the Speed Racer anime franchise (also known as Mach GoGoGo). He worked in character design for anime shows such as the Time Boken series, the Gatchaman series, Tekkaman and the Honey Bee[3].

In the 1960s, Amano was exposed to American and other Western art styles through comic books and their Japanese Western-influenced counter parts. Amano also was fascinated by the art styles of Psychedelic and Pop Art of the West most particularly the work of American Pop artist Peter Max[4].

In the 1970s, Amano's intrigue led him to the study of the artworks of the late 19th century and early 20th century European movement of Art Nouveau and the ancient Japanese hand woodblock printing work of Ukiyo-e. While now doing illustration as well, he was still at Tatsunoko Productions until he left in 1982[4].

1980s to present

In the early 1980s, he then concentrated on primarily illustrations for Science Fiction and Fantasy, while still keeping the influence of his animation and other illustration works from the 1960s and 1970s[3]. This in turn created a unique personal style, a style taking from both modern surrealism as well and realism fluent in many classic and modern techniques.

In 1983, he was behind the illustrations for the novel Demon City Shinjuku and the first of Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel series Vampire Hunter D[3]. This was adapted to a movie in 1985 for which Amano worked as character designer. The film was one of the first anime movies to be released outside of Japan. In interviews, though, Amano has stated that he was not pleased with the final product of the movie. More involvement in illustration had led to the creation of collections of his artwork being published, such as "Maten" in 1984[5].

In 1987 he was introduced to a newly developed art department with a promising future for conceptual design for video games. He joined Square Co., Ltd. (Now known as Square Enix Co., Ltd) to work on what was expected to be their last video game for the Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System) Final Fantasy (released on December 18, 1987 in Japan). This task opened a new realm for Amano to work in. Even though at the time video game technology was very young, Amano produced striking pieces of conceptual design for the games in both traditional and computer designed artwork[6]. Final Fantasy (the first in a still running series) was a success and brought Square popularity in the RPG genre in Japan, as well as modest international fame. But the series would ignite extreme international fame as the series continued. At this time, he also worked for another video game company called Kure Software Koubou in which he did box cover illustrations as well as some character designs. This included work on Kure's First Queen series, which despite being fairly unknown overseas is regarded a classic in Japan.

In 1989, he had his first exhibition called "Hiten" at Yurakucho Mullion in Tokyo, Japan[7]. He continued to work with Square and their Final Fantasy series, and in 1990 he started to work as an artist for stage theater. His first work for theater was Tamasaburo Bando's Nayotake which was in the same year[4]. During this time while working as illustrator, character designer and set designer he had exhibitions of his becoming well known for his printing works.

In 1994, after Final Fantasy VI, he was no longer the main character and graphic designer of the series (he started to provide promotional and character artwork for the next games), but in 1995 he started to become better known world wide with his work at the Biennale d'Orléans in France, and then in his newly established workshop and exhibition "Think Like Amano" in New York in 1997[8]. Which followed another exhibition in New York at the Angel Orensanz Foundation entitled "Hero"[9].

Amano also appeared in the 1998 movie New Rose Hotel which is loosely based off the William Gibson short story with the same name, in which he played the character Hiroshi[10].

In 2000, Amano did the illustrations for comic writer and novelist Neil Gaiman on Sandman: The Dream Hunters[11] which won several awards and was nominated for a Hugo Award[12], as well as having his character designs used again in another Vampire Hunter D movie entitled Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. In 2001, Greg Rucka and Amano collaborated with another comic book tale, this time for Marvel Comics, Elektra and Wolverine: The Redeemer[13].

In 2006, he was selected with Final Fantasy video game composer Nobuo Uematsu, by former designer and creator of Square-Enix's Final Fantasy series, Hironobu Sakaguchi to work on video games at his company Mistwalker[14]. He also stated in an interview in the french magazine "Japan Vibes" that he is working on artwork for Final Fantasy XIII [15]. Finally, his series, Hero, will debut to American audiences by Boom Studios. He has also illustrated three album covers for the Japanese power metal band Galneryus, 2003 - The Flag of Punishment, 2005 - Advance to the Fall, 2006 - Beyond the End to Despair[16].

List of works

Illustration

Video Games

Game Name First Released System Name(s) Amano's Role(s)
Final Fantasy I 1987 NES Character Designer & Graphic Designer
Final Fantasy II 1988 NES Character Designer & Graphic Designer
First Queen 1988 PC98 & X68000 Box cover artist
Duel 1989 PC88 Box cover artist
Duel98 1989 PC98 Box cover artist
Final Fantasy III 1990 NES Character Designer & Graphic Designer
First Queen 2 1990 PC98 & X68000 Box cover artist
Final Fantasy IV 1991 SNES Character Designer, Image Designer & Graphic Designer
Final Fantasy V 1992 SNES Character Designer, Image Designer & Graphic Designer
Kawanakajima Ibunroku 1992 PC98 Box cover artist
First Queen 3 1993 PC98 Box cover artist
Final Fantasy VI 1994 SNES Character Designer, Image Designer, Title Logo Designer & Graphic Designer
Front Mission 1995 SNES Character Designer
Maten Densetsu 1995 SNES Character Designer
Front Mission: Gun Hazard 1996 SNES Character Designer
Final Fantasy VII 1997 PlayStation Promotional Artwork, Image Illustrations & Character Artwork
Kartia: World of Fate 1998 PlayStation Art Designer
Final Fantasy VIII 1999 PlayStation Promotional Artwork, Image Illustrator & Character Artwork
Final Fantasy IX 2000 PlayStation Character Illustrations & Original Character Designer
l Dorado Gate Vol. 1 to 7 2000-2001 Sega Dreamcast Creative Director & Additional Design
Final Fantasy X 2001 PlayStation 2 Promotional Artwork, Image Illustrations & Character Artwork
Final Fantasy X-2 2001 PlayStation 2 Promotional Artwork & Image Illustrator
Final Fantasy XI 2002 MS Windows,
PlayStation 2 & Xbox 360		 Promotional Artwork & Image Illustrator
Final Fantasy XII 2006 PlayStation 2 Promotional Artwork, Title Logo Designer & Image Illustrator
Final Fantasy XIII ? PlayStation 3 ?

Note:Tetsuya Nomura was the character designer of Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X, X-2 and XXIII. Shukou Murase was the character designer of Final Fantasy IX. Akihiko Yoshida was the character designer of Final Fantasy XII. Yoshitaka Amano has stated that he is currently working on Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII but his role is unknown so far. [17]

Animation

Notes & References

  1. ^ ex.org interview. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  2. ^ RPGamer interview. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  3. ^ a b c 1UP.com A Day in the Life of Yoshitaka Amano. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  4. ^ a b c Amano: The Complete Prints of Yoshitaka Amano Collins Design November 4 (2003) by Unno Hiroshi ISBN 0-06-056763-5. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  5. ^ Amano's World The Art of Yoshitaka Amano English Website Bibliography of "Maten". Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  6. ^ ABC News The Genius Behind Final Fantasy. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  7. ^ Amano's World The Art of Yoshitaka Amano English Website Exhibitions. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  8. ^ Amano's World The Art of Yoshitaka Amano English Website "Think Like Amano Exhibition". Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  9. ^ Amano's World The Art of Yoshitaka Amano English Website "HERO Exhibition". Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  10. ^ Combustible Celluloid Movie Review New Rose Hotel. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  11. ^ CNN Review "A dark tale 'of enduring charm". Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  12. ^ Powells.com Bibliography "The Sandman: The Dream Hunters". Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  13. ^ Cinescape Comics Book Review Elektra and Wolverine: The Redeemer. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  14. ^ ANS Exclusive Interview: 10 Questions To Yoshitaka Amano. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  15. ^ Japan Vibes interview. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  16. ^ cdjapan.co.jp Galneryus listing. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
  17. ^ Amano Working on Final Fantasy XIII. Retrieved on 2006-5-9.
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