Tomomi Kobayashi

Tomomi Kobayashi (小林智美, Kobayashi Tomomi) 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.

Tomomi Kobayashi
NationalityJapanese
OccupationVideo game illustrator and character designer
Known forHer illustration in the SaGa series

Biography

Kobayashi's game playing was limited, noting her shock at seeing how advanced the Famicom game Final Fantasy III appeared.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3][1] 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.[3] This method of illustration differs from her work illustrating concepts for characters in novels, where she reads the text of the novel first.[1] Kobayashi described this method as "half-terrifying and half-exhilarating."[1] 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.[2] When designing for Romancing SaGa 2, Kobayashi aimed to change things with her approach, but felt that the outcome was largely the same.[2] 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]

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]

Works

Reception and Legacy

Kobayashi has been referred to as an "iconic" creator for Japanese role-playing games by Shack News.[14] Writer Jeremy Parish noted that people who did not like the SaGa series' gameplay as well may still find value as a result of Kobayashi's "gorgeous" art, a praise shared by Hardcore Gaming 101.[15][16] Multiple artbooks of her art have been published, including both for the SaGa series, and for her own personal art.[17][18]

References
  1. "History of Square". Dengeki Super Famicom Magazine. 1992.
  2. "Tomomi Kobayashi - Designer Interview". Famicom Tsuushin. February 1994.
  3. "「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. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  4. Fuller, Alex (November 25, 2019). "Square Enix Interviews SaGa's Tomomi Kobayashi, Kenji Ito". RPGamer. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  5. Sato (March 17, 2014). "Watch SaGa Series Illustrator Tomomi Kobyashi Work Her Magic On Porcelain Plates". Siliconera. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  6. Sato (February 19, 2014). "Square Enix's SaGa Teaser Was For An Event In Japan's Saga Prefecture". Siliconera. Archived from the original on January 21, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  7. "Atari UK - Unlimited Saga". Atari.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  8. Winkler, Chris (September 14, 2004). "Square Enix Triple Punch Revealed". RPGFan.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2011. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  9. Winkler, Chris (June 11, 2005). "Granado Espada Event Held in Tokyo". RPGFan.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  10. Romano, Sal (May 15, 2013). "Shin Megami Tensei IV 'The Ritual' English trailer". Gematsu. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  11. Sato (May 1, 2015). "Imperial SaGa Is A Homage To The Fans Of The Series". Siliconera. Archived from the original on February 9, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  12. Burleson, Kyle MacGregor (June 11, 2015). "Atlus USA officially announces Legend of Legacy". Destructoid. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  13. Sato (March 15, 2016). "SaGa Scarlet Grace's Character Designs Are Now Complete". Siliconera. Archived from the original on March 18, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  14. Perez, Daniel (June 11, 2015). "The Legend of Legacy coming to 3DS in North America this holiday". Shack News. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  15. Parish, Jeremy (March 15, 2016). "Remasters Watch: Two '90s Sequels Make Their Way to the '10s". USGamer. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  16. "Romancing SaGa (ロマンシング サ・ガ) - Super Famicom, WonderSwan Color, mobile phones, Wii Virtual Console, Wii U Virtual Console (1992)". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  17. "SaGa Series Art Works Tomomi Kobayashi Art Book Harmoney -Seimei no Furusato-". CDJapan. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  18. "Tomomi Kobayashi Art Book: Flower Garden". Otakumode. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
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