Akihiko Yoshida

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Template:Nihongo is a Japanese video game artist. Yoshida was born in 1967 and joined Square in 1995, before the company merged with Enix. He then left Square Enix in September 2013 and became freelance. In October 2014, he became the company director of CyDesignation, a subsidiary of Cygames.<ref name="CyDesignation">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is well known for his work on the Final Fantasy series.<ref name="ign">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is a frequent collaborator of game designer Yasumi Matsuno.<ref name="vagrant">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Biography

In 1995, Yoshida joined Square and with each project he took on, he experimented with different styles of graphic design.<ref name="ign"/><ref name="up">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He has compared his use of color to that of Kingdom Hearts character designer Tetsuya Nomura, and the keeping of color consistent between the characters and the game world.<ref name="ff12"/>

For the game Tactics Ogre, pencil etchings and CG coloration were used together for the first time.<ref name="up"/> Yoshida considers the tone and style of the game to be the "ideal" art style and thus within his comfort zone.<ref name="up"/> The original tarot card illustrations for the game were done for dot graphics, and reflected a limited color index.<ref name="up"/> When remade for the PlayStation Portable, some staff wanted to use the original illustrations, but Yoshida requested to redraw the illustrations with more detail and color than was possible or required previously.<ref name="up"/>

In designing the character of Vaan for Final Fantasy XII, initially the character was "rugged" and "tough", but after considering the demographics of the games audience, the character was made younger and thinner.<ref name="ff12"/> Once the actors motion captured and voice actor Kohei Takeda did the part, the character became slightly less effeminate than was originally designed.<ref name="ff12">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Yoshida set out to create a cast of characters who looked unlike any previous Final Fantasy cast.<ref name="fantasy">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also stated that the character reflected what Japanese audiences want, but that they try to design characters everyone likes.<ref name="fantasy"/>

In addition to his work in video games, Yoshida designed the original characters for the 2018 directorial debut film of screenwriter Mari Okada entitled Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms. <ref name="annmaquia">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Reception

He has been cited as a "fantastic" artist by Kotaku, and his work on Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII was called "brilliant" and "refined" by IGN.<ref name="ign"/><ref name="vagrant"/><ref name="best">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Works

Notes

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References

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