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Toshiyuki Itahana, a member of Square Enix who worked on Final Fantasy IX, Mobius Final Fantasy, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles as a character designer, contributed art for FFXIV, and worked on Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers as a director, announced he left Square Enix. He announced his time with the company ended after the FFIX 25th Anniversary Project. He currently described himself as “a freelance illustrator.”
Itahana specifically noted the idea of departing Square Enix came up as he contributed to the Final Fantasy IX 25th Anniversary Project, as new character art from the artist appeared online and was used on new FFIX merchandise. Among those were new acrylic stands of the cast. Square Enix shared a number of these pieces on social media. He noted, “…I felt this was the right moment to draw a line under this chapter and take on new challenges. From here on, I will be working as a freelance illustrator and character designer.
While remaining deeply grateful for all the connections I’ve been fortunate to receive through my work so far, I hope to draw upon my experience and continue creating a wide variety of new artwork.”
Here are some pieces of Final Fantasy IX character art Toshiyuki Itahana created for the FFIX 25th Anniversary Project:
Another design Itahana worked on, as of late, involved art for Sphene in FFXIV. He noted that the Dawntrail character’s outfits were both based on Garnet (Dagger) from FFIX.
Toshiyuki Itahana is now a freelance illustrator and no longer with Square Enix.
