There is one man who best represents the look of the entire Final Fantasy franchise and that man is Yoshitaka Amano. Whether it be character design, art or logos, Amano’s left his mark on the series. Next up, his own anime.
While studying art history in university, I often wondered if professional artists really wear scarves in galleries. If they are Yoshitaka Amano, they do!
With credits ranging from Speed Racer to Gatchaman, Yoshitaka Amano is best known among gamers for his Final Fantasy illustrations, character work and logo-work.
Yoshitaka Amano, known for his Final Fantasy character and logo designs, did not do character designs for FFXIII — but did design the game’s now iconic title. But if he did draw the characters of FFXIII?
If you’ve ever read a copy of EGM or popped over to 1UP, you’ll know the name James Mielke. Guy’s been with Ziff Davis for a while now, and is currently Editor-in-Chief over at 1UP.com. Anyway, he recently proposed to his girlfriend. But didn’t just do the bended-knee thing. He went all video game nerd, roping in a couple of “friends” to help him make things special. Those friends? None other than composer Nobuo Uematsu and designer Yoshitaka Amano, both most famous for their work on the Final Fantasy series. Amano designed the ring (pictured), Uematsu a melody that Mielke had playing when he proposed. Girlfriend said yes, mission accomplished, thousands of FInal Fantasy nerds the world over find themselves getting all misty-eyed.
I know I am not alone when I say that nothing represents the Final Fantasy franchise more succinctly for me than the artwork of Yoshitaka Amano. From the logos to the concept art that we never actually see in the game, his work captures the feelings one gets while playing through a Final Fantasy game, if that makes any sense at all. He’s the one person working in the game industry that I would completely fall into a bubbling fanboy puddle upon meeting, which is why I probably shouldn’t attend the New York Anime Festival, which has just announced Amano as a Guest of Honour.
Amano will be on hand along with Vampire Hunter D novel author Hideyuki Kikuchi and novel translator Kevin Leahy courtesy of the convention and Dark Horse Comics. The New York Anime Festival will be held September 26th through the 28th. Hit the jump for further information in handy press release format.
