The continued success of the franchise meant that Amano would become a household name in the world of video game illustrations for several years to come. It was in the late ’80s that Amano joined up with Square.įinal Fantasy was an ambitious project, said to be Square’s potential last hurrah at the time, but was met with immediate positive reception and invigorated the company.
In the first half of the 80s, he did the illustrations for the Vampire Hunter D series of novels, written by Hideyuki Kikuchi, and character designs for the anime movie adaptation of said series which came to be well known in the West during the 90s as the popularity of anime began to spread at a rapid pace. During the 70s, he studied turn of the century European Art Nouveau, which undoubtedly added another layer of complexity to his illustrations moving into the 80s.Īs Amano moved into freelance work, he ended up focusing on the fantasy genre. While at Tatsunoko, Amano was constantly exploring different forms of art throughout history to refine his personal style. Westerners Know Amano Mostly Due to Final Fantasy, but Amongst his Earlier Works are many Anime IconsĪmano got his start at Tatsunoko Productions, working on the iconic anime Speed Racer, and later on Gatchaman and Tekkaman, among a long list of titles throughout the 70s. The result is a unique, modern take on an important part of Japanese art history and culture.
However, Amano has blended this style with science fiction and comic influences as he gradually became exposed to them.
Traditionally, ukiyo-e paintings have featured portraits and characterizations of Japanese men and women, or sometimes folklore concepts as Japan was still mostly closed off to the rest of the world during this period, the source material and inspiration was limited. These are the work of Yoshitaka Amano, a Japanese illustrator who has done concept art for Square (before they were SquareEnix) since the 1980s and had beforehand enjoyed an extensive career as an illustrator, creating many well-known anime characters.Īmano’s signature style is best characterized as a combination of watercolor painting and ukiyo-e – woodblock paintings from Japan’s Edo period. If you’ve ever seen the cover art or logo of an early Final Fantasy game, you are probably familiar with the watercolor painting-like illustrations that adorn them.
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