Shigenori Soejima(Phó đảo thành ký,Soejima Shigenori,born February 24, 1974)is a Japanesecharacter artistbest known for his work in thePersonaseries ofrole-playing video gamesbyAtlus.He initially worked in minor roles on several games after joining Atlus and took over as series art director from his mentorKazuma KanekowithPersona 3in 2006.
Shigenori Soejima | |
|---|---|
| Phó đảo thành ký | |
| Born | February 24, 1974 Kanagawa Prefecture,Japan |
| Occupation | Character artist |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Employer | Atlus |
| Notable work | |
Early life
editShigenori Soejima was born inKanagawa Prefectureon February 24, 1974. His family moved quite often during his childhood due to his father's office work: a month after his birth, his family moved toMachida, Tokyo,and in future moves relocatedFukuoka Prefecture,then back to Machida and then toSuginami.During his time in Fukuoka, Soejima attended kindergarten school. While there, he developed a taste for drawing and practiced his skills by copying the characters fromDoraemon,a manga series of which he was fond. As his family went through further moves while he was attending first-grade elementary school, he found the frequent changes in his environment unsettling, and became slightly introverted due to not being able to make friends. His drawing became a conciliatory activity during this period. For these early drawings, Soejima used a notepad and ballpoint pens. Eventually, he made some friends in elementary school, who shared his enthusiasm forDoraemonand encouraged him in his pursuit of a career as a cartoonist.[1]
During junior high, Soejima developed a love of video games of the time: one of the games he saw wasShin Megami Tensei II,which was recommended to him by a friend. This, and seeing the detailed animation inNausicaä of the Valley of the Wind,helped influence his future ambitions and character design. Upon recommendation, he enteredTama Universityafter completing his junior high education, earning high marks. While there, he began experimenting with painting alongside his cartoons, now wanting to pursue a career as an animator and character designer. In his second year, he was working part-time and used his wages to buy his first PC to play games, which would prove a great influence for him. During his third year in high school, he began dedicated training in painting atTokyo University of the Arts,then later gained a place at the Illustration Department of the Tokyo Design Academy after failing to qualify for a place at an arts college. It was at this point that he decided to pursue a professional career in illustration.
Atlus
editHe was hired byAtlusupon graduation after impressingKazuma Kaneko,the studio's art director, during an interview.[1][2]His first job at Atlus was creating pixel art forPurikura Photo Booth.Soejima's next several projects involved minor work under Kaneko. In this capacity, he worked onShin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner,Revelations: PersonaandKartia: The Word of Fate,alongside minor roles in overseeing the PlayStation ports of the first threeShin Megami Tenseigames. He acted as sub-character designer forDevil Summoner: Soul Hackers,thePersona 2gamesInnocent SinandEternal Punishment,and was involved in graphics work onShin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.His first job as art director and character designer was on Atlus' PlayStation 2 strategy gameStella Deus: The Gate of Eternity.Having eagerly pursued the job after hearing about it from rumors within the company, he was initially overwhelmed as he had a large amount of work to do on the title and had yet to refine his drawing style. By looking back at the days when he drew for fun, he managed to establish his drawing style.[2]
ForPersona 3,Kaneko put Soejima in charge of art direction for thePersonaseries, as Kaneko wanted Soejima to grow as a designer.[3]In a later interview, Soejima said that while he respected and admired Kaneko, he never consciously imitated the latter's work, and eventually settled into the role of pleasing the fans of thePersonaseries, approaching character design with the idea of creating something new rather than referring back to Kaneko's work.[4]Soejima felt a degree of pressure when designing the characters as he did not want to disappoint the series' fanbase. The goal was to makeMegami Tenseifans feel gratified that they had supported thePersonaseries. Soejima returned to design the character Metis forPersona 3 FES.[2]He returned in these roles for the severalPersonaspin-off games, as well asCatherine(2011) andMetaphor: ReFantazio(2024).[5][6]
Design and influences
editSeveral influences on Soejima's design and career were the work ofFujiko Fujio,the manga and anime franchisePatlabor,and video games such asStreet Fighter II.[1]For his character design, Soejima uses real people he has met or seen, looking at what their appearance says about their personality. If his designs come too close to the people he has seen, he does a rough sketch while keeping the personality of the person in mind.[7]For his work onStella Deus,Soejima used brushes to achieve the right feel for the game's fantasy setting. While he started with brushes forPersona 3,he felt it did not work with the setting and switched tocel shading,which was also used later forPersona 4.[2]
His designs forPersona 3andPersona 4vary significantly: he thought ofPersona 3as being similar in aesthetic to a fantastical manga, citing its use of mecha-like Persona andMitsuru'sflamboyant styling, while the setting ofPersona 4meant its environment and character design were a lot more grounded.[2]Persona 5was, in Soejima's view, a natural evolution from the art style ofPersona 4.[8]For his work onPersona Q,his first time working with adeformed Chibistyle due to its links with theEtrian Odysseyseries, Soejima took into account what fans felt about the characters. A crucial part of his design technique was looking at what made a character stand out, then adjusting those features so they remained recognizable even with the redesign.[9][7]
During his work on thePersonaseries, Soejima has used key colors to help illustrate the games' aesthetics and themes. For example,Persona 3had a dark atmosphere and serious characters, so the primary color was chosen as blue to reflect these and the urban setting. In contrast,Persona 4had a lighter tone and characters while also sporting a murder-mystery plot, so the color yellow was chosen to represent both the lighter tones and to evoke a "warning" signal.Persona 5used the color red to convey a harsh feeling in contrast to the previousPersonatitles and tie in with the game's story themes.[7][10]In 2014, Soejima saidPersona 3was his favorite entry in the series and Aigis being his favorite character.[7]
Works
edit| Year | Title | Role(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner | Pixel art | [2] |
| 1996 | Revelations: Persona | Art,cutscenes | [2] |
| 1997 | Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers | Character portraits, item graphics | [2] |
| 1998 | Kartia: The Word of Fate | Background art | [2] |
| 1999 | Persona 2: Innocent Sin | Character portraits, background art | [2] |
| 2000 | Persona 2: Eternal Punishment | Character portraits, background art | [11] |
| 2001 | Shin Megami Tensei | Quality control | [2] |
| 2002 | Shin Megami Tensei II | Supervisor | |
| Shin Megami Tensei If... | Supervisor | ||
| 2003 | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne | Setting concept, event production | [2] |
| 2004 | Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity | Art director, character design | [2] |
| Haisenjyou no Aria | Illustrations (novel) | [2] | |
| 2006 | Persona 3 | Art director, character design | [2] |
| 2007 | Persona 3 FES | Art director, character design | [2] |
| Another Century's Episode 3: The Final | Character design | [2] | |
| 2008 | Persona: Trinity Soul | Character design | [12] |
| Persona 4 | Art director, character design | [2] | |
| 2009 | Persona 3 Portable | Art director, character design | [2] |
| Momoiro Taisen Pairon | Character design | [2] | |
| 2011 | Catherine | Art director, character design | [5] |
| 2012 | Persona 4 Golden | Art director, character design | [13] |
| Persona 4 Arena | Art director, character design | [14] | |
| 2013 | Persona 4 Arena Ultimax | Art director, character design | [14] |
| 2014 | Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | Art director, character design | [9] |
| 2015 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night | Art director, character design | [15] |
| 2016 | Persona 5 | Character design | [8] |
| 2018 | Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight | Character design | [16] |
| Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight | Character design | [16] | |
| 2019 | Catherine: Full Body | Character design | [17] |
| Persona 5 Royal | Character design | [18] | |
| Sakura Wars | Character design (Hakushu Murasame) | [19] | |
| 2020 | Persona 5 Strikers | Character design | [20] |
| 2024 | Metaphor: ReFantazio | Character design | [6] |
| TBA | Persona 5: The Phantom X | Protagonist design | [21] |
References
edit- ^abcAbe, Mika (2008).PlayStation.com(Japan)/PS World/インタビュー phó đảo thành ký さん(in Japanese).PlayStation Japan.Archived fromthe originalon July 24, 2008.RetrievedJune 6,2015.
- ^abcdefghijklmnopqrst"Shigenori Soejima Interview".Shigenori Soejima Art Works 2004-2010.Udon Entertainment. July 1, 2010. pp. 145–153.ISBN978-1926778327.Transcript
- ^Kemps, Heidi (August 2008). "Game King: An Interview with Kazuma Kaneko".Otaku USA.2(1). Sovereign Media: 120–123.Scans
- ^Patterson, Eric L.; Kohama, Dai (2008). "The horrors of reality TV... Persona 4".Play(December 2008). Fusion Publishing.Scans
- ^ab『キャサリン』の công thức サイトで phó đảo thị miêu き hạ ろしの điếm 舗 biệt đặc điển イラストが công khai.Famitsu.January 25, 2011.Archivedfrom the original on December 1, 2011.RetrievedAugust 15,2015.
- ^abVitale, Adam."Atlus reveals Metaphor: ReFantazio for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, set to launch in 2024".RPG Site.RetrievedJune 11,2023.
- ^abcdWallace, Kimberley (July 18, 2014)."A Glimpse Into The Mind of Persona's Art Director".Game Informer.Archived fromthe originalon November 10, 2014.RetrievedJune 6,2015.
- ^abJames, Thomas (March 6, 2015)."Japanese Persona Magazine interviews Atlus staff on Persona 5, Dancing All Night [Update]".Gematsu.Archivedfrom the original on March 15, 2015.RetrievedMarch 17,2015.
- ^abParish, Jeremy (October 17, 2014)."How You Helped Design Persona Q".USGamer.Archivedfrom the original on April 16, 2015.RetrievedJune 6,2015.
- ^Romano, Sal (February 5, 2011)."Persona 5 is a game about attaining freedom".Gematsu.Archivedfrom the original on March 19, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 5,2014.
- ^ペルソナ2 tội công thức ガイドブック hoàn toàn bản[Persona 2: Sin Official Guide Book (full version)].Atlus.1999. p. 269.ISBN978-4-7577-0081-9.
- ^"Persona 3 Game Adapted as Television Anime for January".Anime News Network.November 7, 2007.Archivedfrom the original on April 12, 2015.RetrievedNovember 7,2007.
- ^『ペルソナ4 ザ・ゴールデン』 tân yếu tố が đa sổ! Tân キャラ “マリー” も đăng tràng.Gpara.com. September 8, 2011.Archivedfrom the original on May 15, 2013.RetrievedAugust 15,2015.
- ^abPhó đảo thành ký thị miêu き hạ ろしの minh thượng du ( chủ nhân công ) ＆ túc lập thấu が mục ấn! 4 nguyệt 2 nhật phát mại の『P4U』＆『P4U2』 công thức thiết định tư liêu tập のカバーイラスト đại công khai!!.Famitsu.March 14, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on May 21, 2015.RetrievedAugust 15,2015.
- ^“P4D” bổn nhật phát mại! スペシャルに “オープニングムービー” ＆ “P4D phát mại ký niệm イラスト phó đảo thành ký” truy gia!.Persona Website. June 25, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2015.RetrievedAugust 15,2015.
- ^ab『ペルソナ3』, 『ペルソナ5』のリズムゲームが2018 niên xuân đồng thời phát mại quyết định! 『ペルソナQ2 ( 仮 đề ) 』も khai phát trung(in Japanese).Famitsu.August 2, 2017.Archivedfrom the original on August 9, 2017.RetrievedAugust 9,2017.
- ^Romano, Sal (July 18, 2018)."Archipel 'Shigenori Soejima and Catherine: Full Body' spotlight video".Gematsu.RetrievedJune 11,2023.
- ^Hussain, Tamoor."Audio Logs: How Persona 5 Royal's New Character Was Made".GameSpot.RetrievedJune 11,2023.
- ^Jenni, Lada (November 20, 2019)."Persona character design Created Project Sakura Wars' Hakushu Murasame".Siliconera.RetrievedJanuary 27,2020.
- ^Joshua, Orpheus (January 27, 2022)."Persona 5 Strikers Character design Shigenori Soejima Shares Thank You Artwork For PlayStation Plus Downloads".Noisy Pixel.RetrievedJune 11,2023.
- ^Friscia, John (March 17, 2023)."Persona 5: The Phantom X Is a Full-Blown Persona RPG for Mobile".The Escapist.RetrievedJune 11,2023.
While Perfect World and Black Wings are distributing and operating the game, Sega and Atlus' P-Studio, the original developer of Persona 5, are supervising the game and providing additional resources. This includes Atlus artist Shigenori Soejima designing the protagonist and the protagonist's Persona, lending some nice visual continuity.