Kotaku: yoshitaka amano

A Great Final Fantasy Artist Draws Final Fantasy XIII

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:00:00 MST

Yoshitaka Amano, known for his Final Fantasy character and logo designs, did not do character designs for FFXII — but did design the game's now iconic title. But if he did draw the characters of FFXIII?

The characters in Final Fantasy XIII were designed by Tetsuya Nomura, but Amano offers his take on the cast of FFXIII in this drawing.

Did Final Fantasy Artist Draw 2ch Bear Character?

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:00:00 MDT

There were four 2ch Japanese-style ASCII art characters that folks voted on. The most popular selection was drawn by Final Fantasy and Vampire Hunter D artist Yoshitaka Amano. The winning character?

ASCII art character Yaruo. Below is Amano's take on Yaruo.

An exhibition of Amano's art is being held in Tokyo's Omotesando Hills until August 31.

天野喜孝氏の作品展"Amano Galaxy"開催—自らライブドローイングも [ファミ通.com]

1UP Editor In Final Fantasy Nerd Engagement Extravaganza

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:00:00 MST

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.

1UP EIC Proposes With The Help of Final Fantasy Creators [1UP]

Yoshitaka Amano Headlines New York Anime Festival

Mike Fahey — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:40:00 MDT

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 Honor.

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.

YOSHITAKA AMANO AT NYAF

FAMED ARTIST TO APPEAR AS A GUEST OF HONOR AT NYAF 2008

Norwalk, CT, June 24, 2008: The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced Yoshitaka Amano — an acclaimed artist whose credits include Final Fantasy, Sandman, and Vampire Hunter D — will appear at the 2008 New York Anime Festival as a Guest of Honor. The New York Anime Festival, an anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture convention from the creators of New York Comic Con, takes place September 26th through the 28th at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. Yoshitaka Amano joins fellow Vampire Hunter D talents Hideyuki Kikuchi (the author behind the Vampire Hunter D novel series) and Kevin Leahy (the translator of the Vampire Hunter D novel series) at NYAF. All are Co-Sponsored by Dark Horse Comics.

"The New York Anime Festival is tremendously honored to have Yoshitaka Amano join us," NYAF Show Manager Lance Fensterman said. "Mr. Amano is known around the world for his otherworldly fantasy illustrations, and we are excited to bring the man behind such beauty to New York City to meet all of his American fans."

Yoshitaka Amano began his career at Tatsunoko Productions where he served as a character designer for animated series including Gatchaman and Casshern. After 15 years with the studio, he chose to leave the comfort of a steady job to pursue his career as an artist. As a freelance illustrator, Amano contributed covers and illustrations to novels including Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D, Kaoru Kurimoto's Guin Saga, and Yoshiki Tanaka's The Heroic Legend of Arslan, teamed with Mamoru Oshii to create the film Angel's Egg, collaborated with Neil Gaiman to make the award-winning graphic novel Sandman: The Dream Hunters, and partnered with video game studio Squaresoft to create the look and feel for the company's flagship Final Fantasy series.

Mr. Amano has worked with media including pencils, ink, paint, ceramic, stained glass, and fabric, and exhibitions of his work have taken place in cities including Tokyo, London, Paris, Berlin, and New York City.

Tickets to the 2008 New York Anime Festival are now on sale at newyorkanimefestival.com.

Sakaguchi to Reunite with Final Fantasy Designer "Sometime"

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:00:13 MDT

You can take the Gooch out of the Final Fantasy, but you cannot take the Final Fantasy out of the Gooch. FF series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has confirmed that renowned character designer Yoshitaka Amano and he are keen on working together. Amano cut his teeth, creating conceptual design for the original Final Fantasy games. Amano moved on to freelance illustration and art, while the Gooch left Square Enix and eventually founded Mistwalker. So will these two get back together?

Wired: Have you considered getting Yoshitaka Amano back into the fold, working with him?
Sakaguchi: [In English] Yeah, good idea. And, he wants. Yeah, sometime.

Goes along with what Amano said back in 2006. So, it's now 2007. Looking forward to more informal confirmation in 2008!
Sakaguchi Amano [Game|Life]