A Genius Behind Final Fantasy: Yoshitaka Amano

Posted Jul 23, 2006 at 2:11AM by QJ Staff Listed in: Wii, PS3, PSP, MMORPG, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360 Tags: Fantasy, Final Fantasy, Los Angeles, Massive, New York, New York City

I think no one will disagree if I say that Final Fantasy is one of the most successful franchises ever made. To date, there are now 12 titles to the Final Fantasy numbered series, one successful MMO, a couple of games for mobile phones, three anime productions, and two full-length CGI films. Surely, such massive success is a collaboration of a few smart minds. 1UP gives us a good look at one of those minds - Yoshitaka Amano, character designer of the first six FF games.

Of course, this 53-year old (54 by July 28 - a few days from now) Japanese was not a FF designer all his life. He first spent 15 years at Tatsunoko Productions, which is famous for Speed Racer, Gatchaman, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. He landed a spot designing characters for Final Fantasy when, after leaving Tatsunoko, his exhibits in New York City, Los Angeles, Germany, and Switzerland displayed a unique, delicate, and ethereal distinction.

His talents were not limited to the Final Fantasy series though. He also worked with Neil Gaiman on some Sandman title and also did some work for Marvel and DC Comics. Yet even though he's considered one of the most talented and in demand artists nowadays, he remains a humble and generous person as reflected in this documentation of a day spent by 1UP's James Mielke with the famed Japanese artist.

Read Mielke's interview and view the three installment videos of the "A Day in the Life of Yoshitaka Amano" docu by clicking on the link below.

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Comments

# i lov amano!! — Guest 2006-07-23 04:57

amano is my idol,besides nomura!! i look up tp him because i want to make games for square on sony systems and handheld,i lov square.

# umm — hush404 2006-07-23 08:18

I thought Studio Gainax was responsible for Evangelion not Tatsunoko Productions.

# Karen — Guest 2006-07-23 20:58

At least make it LOOK like you put effort into it, "some Sandman title" doesn't cut it.

# . — Guest 2006-07-24 02:58

Looks like we're gonna have ta wait until the GameFAQ's Best Series Ever poll to finish to see if people dissagree with you saying FF is the best series ever. I personally find Mario better.

# I have to agree, no other game has made me spend 500+ hours on it. — Guest 2006-07-24 06:04

ff4, 6,7,8 and 10 are the ff games ive spended over a hundred hours on. ff7 i have spended 500 hours on along, replaying over and over again. i think ive spend about 500 hours on a single mmorpg before all my party mate quit. I was the top highest lvl buffer in that mmorpg until 2 month past. So if i spended 500 hours on ff7 like i did in mmorpg, then it must be real good to me. by the way, I can't seem to like oblivion elder scroll at all, I only try cause the same people who declared ff7 the best has recent declare oblivion the best.

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