No, that is not Blue Dragon creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. Sorry! That's former Morning Musume leader Miki Fujimoto, who had to leave the group after it was discovered she was dating a comedian.
But hey, she married that comedian! No big whoop. She was at the Tokyo presser for the latest Blue Dragon title, Blue Dragon: Ikai no Kyojyuu. The title was developed by Sakaguchi's Mistwalker Corporation and tri-Crescendo.
Ikai no Kyojyuu is a real-time role-playing-game that lets players create a customized hero that joins the Blue Dragon characters as they go exploring and on adventures. The game was originally slated for release on October, but was pushed back to October 8 for last minute polishing.
At the event, Sakaguchi stated that the title was the culmination of five years of work on the Blue Dragon franchise. According to Kotaku Japan, Sakaguchi said, "This Blue Dragon is the final chapter." However, don't take this to mean Sakaguchi is necessarily no longer making Blue Dragon games. If this latest title is a hit, we imagine that he and Mistwalker would certainly be up for more BD.
Also at the event was Kazuhiko Torishima, one of the giants of manga editing. Torishima edited both Dr. Slump and Dragonball and even appeared in Dr. Slump as the evil scientist "Mashirito", a word play on his last name "Torishima".
When asked why Blue Dragon has gone from Microsoft to AQ Interactive and now to Namco Bandai, Torishima explained that they wanted players to enjoy video games, manga and anime — and those cost money!
Hironobu Sakaguchi is best known for creating Final Fantasy while working working at Square. Click through the links below for more photos of Miki Fujimoto, Kazuhiko Torishima, Hironobu Sakaguchi and Hironobu Sakaguchi's mustache.
Miki Fujimoto [Kotaku Japan]
Blue Dragon Talk Show [Kotaku Japan]