Tsunako Explained

Tsunako
Birth Date:	January 28, 1986
Birth Place:	Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Nationality:	Japanese
Occupation:	Illustrator, video game artist, character designer

is a Japanese video game creator and illustrator who worked for Idea Factory. She has designed and illustrated characters for various games and print media. She is best known for illustrating the Hyperdimension Neptunia video game series, published by Idea Factory and developed by Compile Heart, as well as the Date A Live light novel series, written by Kōshi Tachibana.^[1]

Biography

Tsunako joined Idea Factory in 2007, beginning as a general game sprite creator for games such as Spectral Gene and Cross Edge. She later became the lead character designer for the Hyperdimension Neptunia game series,^[2] and signed a deal with light novel author Kōshi Tachibana as the illustrator for Date A Live.^[3] She has also made guest illustrations for games such as Sei Madou Monogatari.^[4] She ranked 6th on the Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! 2014 Top Illustrator Rankings.

On December 1, 2018, Tsunako left her role at Idea Factory and decided to move out of the city. She noted on her blog that her reasoning for this was one of her family members being in poor physical condition. She is still set to work at Idea Factory as a freelance illustrator.^{[5] [6]}

Main works

Video games

• Spectral Gene (2007, PS2): in-game sprite designer
• Spectral Force Genesis (2008, NDS): character designs
• Cross Edge (2008, PS3/X360): character designs, in-game sprite illustrator
• Trinity Universe (2009, PS3): character designs and official art
• Hyperdimension Neptunia (2010, PS3): character designs and official art^[2]
• Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 (2011, PS3)
• Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (2012, PS3)^[7]
• Hyperdimension Idol Neptunia PP (2013, PSVita)
• Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 (2013, PSVita)
• Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (2013, PS3): in-game sprite illustrator^[8]
• Fairy Fencer F (2013, PS3): character designs and official art^[9]
• (2014, PSVita)
• (2014, PSVita)
• Date A Live: Arusu Install (2014, PS3)
• (2014, PSVita)
• (2014, PSVita)
• (2015, PS4)
• Megadimension Neptunia VII (2015, PS4)
• Date A Live Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation (2015, PSVita)
• MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune vs. Zombies (2015, PSVita)
• Superdimension Neptune vs. Sega Hard Girls (2015, PSVita)
• (2017, PS4)
• Megadimension Neptunia VIIR (2017, PS4)
• Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation HD (2017, PS4)
• Super Neptunia RPG (2018, PS4, Switch)

Light novels

• Date A Live (2011–2020): character designs and novel illustrations^[10]

character designs and novel illustrations^[11]

• King's Proposal (2021–present): character design and novel illustrations

Anime

• Engage Kiss (2022): character designs

Manga

• マンガでわかる! 東大式麻雀入門 （監修:井出洋介、2007年 池田書店）
• マンガでわかる! 東大式麻雀入門 役の覚え方入門 （監修:井出洋介、2010年 池田書店）
• マンガでわかる! 東大式麻雀入門 勝つ打ち方入門 （監修:井出洋介、2010年 池田書店）

Notes and References

1. http://mayo.warabimochi.net/about.htm つなまよざ
2. 2010-08-19, 『超次元ゲイム ネプテューヌ』女性開発陣+naoのメガネ鼎談, Famitsu
3. 2013-03-30, シリーズ最大の強敵が出現！　「放課後ライトノベル」第135回は『デート・ア・ライブ』で百合っ子をデレさせろ, 4gamer
4. 2012-12-04, Sei Madou Monogatari announced for PS Vita, Gematsu
5. News: Idea Factory Character Designer Tsunako Goes Freelance . 2018-12-03. . 2024-03-28. Wong . Alistair . en-US.
6. News: 『ネプテューヌ』などで知られる つなこ氏がアイディアファクトリーを退職しフリーランスへ転向. 2018-12-01. ゲーム情報！ゲームのはなし. 2018-12-02. ja-JP.
7. 2012-04-09, Next Neptunia Game Set In The ’80s, Coming To Japan This Summer, Siliconera
8. 2013-06-19, PS3「デート・ア・ライブ 凜祢ユートピア」ビジュアルガイド7月発売, Otasuke
9. 2013-05-09, Fairy Fencer F detailed in Famitsu, Gematsu
10. 2013-03-02, Date A Live Novel to Bundle Unaired Anime Episode, Anime News Network
11. http://www.hifumi.co.jp/books/lineup/9784891990800.html 超次元ゲイム ネプテューヌ　はいすくーる