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Yoshitaka Amano

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Yoshitaka Amano
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 known for his illustrations for Vampire Hunter D and for his character designs, image illustrations and title logo designs for the Final Fantasy video game series developed by Square Enix Co., Ltd. (formerly Square Co., Ltd.).[1].

Biography

Animation

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.[2][3] 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.[4]

In the 1960s, Amano was exposed to Western art styles through comic books and their Japanese Western-influenced counter parts. Amano was also fascinated by the art styles of Psychedelic and Pop Art of the West, particularly the work of American Pop artist Peter Max.[5] 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, as well as the ancient Japanese hand woodblock printing work of Ukiyo-e. While concentrating on illustration, he was still at Tatsunoko Productions until he left in 1982.[5]

Early fantasy works

In the early 1980s, he concentrated on illustrations for Science Fiction and Fantasy, while still keeping the influence of his animation and other illustration works from the 1960s and 1970s.[4] This in turn created a unique personal style, which was influenced by both modern surrealism as well as 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.[4] 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, however, 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.[6]

Final Fantasy

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 video game technology was very young, Amano produced striking pieces of conceptual design for the games in both traditional and computer designed artwork[7]. Final Fantasy, the first in a continuing 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.

Branching out

In 1989, he had his first exhibition called "Hiten" at Yurakucho Mullion in Tokyo, Japan.[8] 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.[5] During this time while working as illustrator, character designer and set designer, he had exhibitions of his becoming well known for his printing works.

Yoshitaka Amano designed the characters for the first six Final Fantasy games, as well as providing some conceptual artwork for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX. The above is a depiction of Terra riding a suit of Magitek Armor from Final Fantasy VI.

In 1994, after Final Fantasy VI, he was no longer the main character, image and graphic designer of the series (he started to provide promotional and character artwork for the next games, as well as working on the title logo designs for most of the 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[9]. Which followed another exhibition in New York at the Angel Orensanz Foundation entitled "Hero"[10]. 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[11].

Freelancing

In 2000, Amano did the illustrations for comic writer and novelist Neil Gaiman on Sandman: The Dream Hunters[12] which won several awards and was nominated for a Hugo Award[13], 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[14].

File:Amanoprints.jpg
Amano's art is displayed most prominently in his prints, which are drawn from various styles and cultures

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[15]. He also stated in an interview in the French magazine "Japan Vibes" that he is working on artwork for Final Fantasy XIII [16]. 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: The Flag of Punishment (2003), Advance to the Fall (2005) and Beyond the End of Despair (2006).[17].

List of works

Illustrations

Video Games

Game Name First Released System Name(s) Amano's Role(s)
Final Fantasy I 1987 NES Character Designer, Title Logo Designer & Graphic Designer
Final Fantasy II 1988 NES Character Designer, Title Logo 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 & Title Logo Designer
First Queen 2 1990 PC98 & X68000 Box cover artist
Final Fantasy IV 1991 SNES Character Designer, Image Designer & Title Logo Designer
Final Fantasy V 1992 SNES Character Designer, Image Designer & Title Logo 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
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 Illustrator, Title Logo Designer & Character Artwork
Kartia: World of Fate 1998 PlayStation Art Designer
Final Fantasy VIII 1999 PlayStation Promotional Artwork, Image Illustrator, Title Logo Designer & 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, Title Logo Designer & Character Artwork
Final Fantasy X-2 2001 PlayStation 2 Promotional Artwork, Title Logo Designer & Image Illustrator
Final Fantasy XI 2002 MS Windows,
PlayStation 2 & Xbox 360		 Promotional Artwork, Title Logo Designer & Image Illustrator
Final Fantasy XII 2006 PlayStation 2 Promotional Artwork, Title Logo Designer & Image Illustrator
Final Fantasy XIII ? PlayStation 3 Promotional Artwork, Title Logo Designer & Image Illustrator
Final Fantasy Agito XIII ? PlayStation 3 Promotional Artwork, Title Logo Designer & Image Illustrator
Final Fantasy Versus XIII ? PlayStation 3 Promotional Artwork, Title Logo Designer & Image Illustrator
Dissidia: Final Fantasy ? PlayStation Portable Title Logo Designer

Note: Tetsuya Nomura was the character designer of Final Fantasy VI (only minor characters), the main character designer of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XIII, and Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Nobuyoshi Mihara was the character designer of Final Fantasy XI. 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. [18]. It is confirmed that he will be the Title logo designer and Image illustrator on Fabula Nova Crystallis.

Animation

Notes and references

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