SaGa series character designer Tomomi Kobayashi appeared in an artist column in October’s issue of Nintendo Dream, talking about how she got into drawing and the challenges of designing the characters in SaGa: Scarlet Grace.
On how she got into drawing:
Tomomi Kobayashi, character designer: “I believe every kid probably has an interest in drawing, so naturally, I started to draw as well. In middle school, my friend drew paneled manga, and I wanted to draw like that as well.
It was around this point that I wanted to become an animator. During high school, I joined design class, and created an animation for real as part of my club activities. I got my upperclassman to teach me the process of making an anime around 10 minutes long. A friend of the writer and I worked on the key art, the animation, and the backgrounds, and I remember really drawing a lot back then.
I also liked Western music, and began to draw a series of exchange manga diaries with my classmates themed around it, with my music-loving classmates as my audience. My classmates had various interests in other things and manga, and while you’d think everyone was divided among their own groups, I remember the amazing feeling of how everyone would unite and work together whenever there was an event.
Then, I found out that my friends in the area were creating an original doujinshi circle, and found out about the world of doujinshi from that. After many other things happening, I ended up at my current line of work.”
On some challenges while designing for SaGa: Scarlet Grace
Kobayashi: “While not something particular because it is the SaGa series, I have an interest in the various fashion styles of different ages and cultures across the world, and by using that as a reference, I add a bit of my own essence into my artwork. This time around, there were a lot of male characters, and while drawing powerful-looking characters, I would instinctively use a lot of force during the drawing process while trying to draw out a powerful look for the character. It used a lot of my energy, and I really struggled there. (laughs)
In a similar situation, while drawing smiling characters, I find myself making a smile as well. When I asked my friend who draws about it, they said that it happend to them too. (laughs)
SaGa: Scarlet Grace is available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, iOS, Android, and PlayStation Vita in Japan.
