Tomomi Kobayashi Explained

Tomomi Kobayashi
Nationality:Japanese
Occupation:Video game illustrator and character designer
Known For:Her illustration in the SaGa series

is a Japanese illustrator. She is best known for her character design and illustration work in the SaGa series of video games by Square Enix. Kobayashi has been termed an "iconic" artist for Japanese role-playing games, and has had multiple artbooks published.

Biography

Kobayashi's game playing was limited, noting her shock at seeing how advanced the Famicom game Final Fantasy III appeared. She was approached to work on the Japanese role-playing game Romancing SaGa by a representative from Square Co. (now Square Enix) following the release of a book for her illustration collection.[1] Development of Romancing SaGa had Kobayashi create concept art for characters before the in-game character designs were made, due to the game having stories and concepts for its characters created in advance. She was given only a profile for each character that was about two paragraphs in length and told to use her imagination. Sprite designer Kazuko Shibuya came to visit Kobayashi to look at and talk about Kobayashi's art with her before bringing it back to the team to show them. The camaraderie the two had made caused Shibuya to feel more attached to Kobayashi's work.[2] This method of illustration differs from her work illustrating concepts for characters in novels, where she reads the text of the novel first.[3] Kobayashi described this method as "half-terrifying and half-exhilarating."[3] The work proved more difficult for Kobayashi than expected due to the larger volume of characters she was expected to design for the project. She approximated 5 to 6 main characters and "at most" 10 minor characters to draw for a novel, whereas the number in Romancing SaGa was "triple or quadruple" that, with the sequel Romancing SaGa 2 having even more characters for her to design.[1] When designing for Romancing SaGa 2, Kobayashi aimed to change things with her approach, but felt that the outcome was largely the same.[1] For Romancing SaGa 3, she designed the characters to come from different parts of the world based the character's names rather than any design description.[4]

Kobayashi has done work to promote the SaGa series, such as during an event celebrating the series' 25th anniversary in the Saga Prefecture where her designs were on display in an art gallery. These designs were featured on porcelain plates (a process called "Arita-yaki") among other things, which were either used as presentation for the event or sold.[5] [6] Multiple artbooks of her art have been published, including both for the SaGa series, and for her own personal art.[7] [8]

Artistic style and philosophy

When designing a character, Kobayashi tries to keep her design "preferences" at the root of the character design, but not let it get in the way of trying new ideas or work against the character design, even if she doesn't typically work in that style. When working on different games in the SaGa series, she has tried to change up details and the "feel" of the illustrations in order to keep a difference between games.[4]

Legacy

She has been regarded as an iconic video game artist by multiple sources, including Shack News and Hobby Consolas.[9] [10]

Works

Notes and References

  1. Tomomi Kobayashi - Designer Interview . Famicom Tsuushin . February 1994.
  2. Web site: 「最近目指しているのは，洗練された美しいドット絵，ですね」――FF誕生以前から，アルバム「FINAL FANTASY TRIBUTE ～THANKS～」までを，スクウェア・エニックスのデザイナー・渋谷員子氏に振り返ってもらった . 4Gamer . March 2013 . November 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190725073806/https://www.4gamer.net/games/064/G006480/20130227073/ . July 25, 2019 . live .
  3. Dengeki Super Famicom Magazine . 1992 . History of Square.
  4. Web site: Square Enix Interviews SaGa's Tomomi Kobayashi, Kenji Ito . Fuller . Alex . RPGamer . November 25, 2019 . March 13, 2020.
  5. Web site: Watch SaGa Series Illustrator Tomomi Kobyashi Work Her Magic On Porcelain Plates . https://web.archive.org/web/20140607033107/https://www.siliconera.com/2014/03/17/watch-saga-series-illustrator-tomomi-kobyashi-work-magic-porcelain-plates/ . Siliconera . Sato . March 17, 2014 . November 11, 2019 . June 7, 2014.
  6. Web site: Square Enix's SaGa Teaser Was For An Event In Japan's Saga Prefecture . https://web.archive.org/web/20190121230241/http://www.siliconera.com/2014/02/19/square-enixs-saga-teaser-event-japans-saga-prefecture/ . Siliconera . Sato . February 19, 2014 . November 11, 2019 . January 21, 2019.
  7. Web site: SaGa Series Art Works Tomomi Kobayashi Art Book Harmoney -Seimei no Furusato- . CDJapan . March 13, 2020.
  8. Web site: Tomomi Kobayashi Art Book: Flower Garden . Otakumode . March 13, 2020.
  9. Web site: Análisis SaGa Frontier Remastered, un clásico mejorado . Hobby Consolas . Alonso . Álvaro . April 14, 2021 . May 27, 2024.
  10. Web site: The Legend of Legacy coming to 3DS in North America this holiday . . Perez . Daniel . June 11, 2015 . November 17, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191117062606/https://www.shacknews.com/article/89927/the-legend-of-legacy-coming-to-3ds-in-north-america-this-holiday . November 17, 2019 . live .
  11. Web site: SaGa Frontier Remastered : Plus accessible que le J-RPG culte ! . Jeuxvideo . TheXsable . April 14, 2021 . May 27, 2024.
  12. Web site: Atari UK - Unlimited Saga . Atari.com . 2009-04-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080616092955/http://www.uk.atari.com/playstation2/unlimited-saga-55.html . 2008-06-16 . live .
  13. Web site: Winkler, Chris . September 14, 2004 . Square Enix Triple Punch Revealed . RPGFan.com . 2009-04-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111216130822/http://rpgfan.com/news/2004/1814.html . December 16, 2011 . live .
  14. Web site: Winkler, Chris . June 11, 2005 . Granado Espada Event Held in Tokyo . RPGFan.com . 2009-04-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071012043448/http://rpgfan.com/news/2005/1573.html . October 12, 2007 . live .
  15. Web site: Shin Megami Tensei IV 'The Ritual' English trailer . Gematsu . Romano . Sal . May 15, 2013 . November 17, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191117070545/https://gematsu.com/2013/05/shin-megami-tensei-iv-the-ritual-english-trailer . November 17, 2019 . live .
  16. Web site: Imperial SaGa Is A Homage To The Fans Of The Series . https://web.archive.org/web/20160209014834/https://www.siliconera.com/2015/05/01/imperial-saga-is-an-homage-to-the-fans-of-the-series/ . Siliconera . Sato . May 1, 2015 . November 11, 2019 . February 9, 2016.
  17. Web site: Atlus USA officially announces Legend of Legacy . . Burleson . Kyle MacGregor . June 11, 2015 . November 11, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160413220028/http://www.destructoid.com/atlus-usa-officially-announces-legend-of-legacy-293737.phtml . April 13, 2016 . live .
  18. Web site: SaGa Scarlet Grace's Character Designs Are Now Complete . https://web.archive.org/web/20160318023422/https://www.siliconera.com/2016/03/15/saga-scarlet-graces-character-designs-now-complete/ . Siliconera . Sato . March 15, 2016 . November 11, 2019 . March 18, 2016.

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