Tetsuya Nomura

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Tetsuya Nomura
野村 哲也
Born (1970-10-08) October 8, 1970 (age 53)
Kōchi Prefecture, Japan
Occupation(s)Video game artist, director, producer, game designer
Years active1991–present
EmployerSquare Enix
Notable credits

Tetsuya Nomura (野村 哲也, Nomura Tetsuya, born October 8, 1970) is a Japanese

character designer alongside Yoshitaka Amano for Final Fantasy VI (1994). Final Fantasy VII (1997) had him working in the original story alongside Hironobu Sakaguchi, and marked his debut as the lead character designer, a capacity he would retain for several future installments of the series, as well as other Square Enix titles such as The Bouncer and The World Ends with You
.

Additionally, Nomura created and has led the development as director of the Kingdom Hearts series since its inception in 2002 and has been creative producer in The World Ends with You series. He has also directed the 2005 film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and directed Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), while coming back as creative director for the sequel Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024).

Early life

Nomura's father influenced his interest in art and games early on, creating little drawings and unique

Family Computer in high school. Around that time, Dragon Quest became Nomura's favorite because it surprised him and introduced him to video games with story elements. His art teacher in high school pointed him towards the works of Final Fantasy illustrator Yoshitaka Amano. Nomura also created his own manga during class and intended to do this as a profession although he ultimately abandoned the idea.[1] Nomura went to vocational school to learn magazine and advertising artwork.[1] Nomura then looked for an advertising job at a publishing company. However, he eventually applied to Square after he had seen a job advertisement with a drawing by Yoshitaka Amano.[1]

Career

1990s

In 1991, Nomura was hired by Square and at first worked as a debugger for

Aerith's death.[4][5] In 1998, Nomura worked on both Parasite Eve and Brave Fencer Musashi. He then designed characters and monsters for Final Fantasy VIII in what he described as his "actual style of drawing", working alongside art director Yusuke Naora to realize the more realistic approach to the game's graphics.[9] Additionally, he wrote the character's background stories and was the battle visual director in charge of designing fight sequences.[4][9] Afterwards, Nomura worked on several different projects for Square, for example as a character designer of the 1998 fighting game Ehrgeiz
which also used characters from Final Fantasy VII.

2000s

Nomura was the character designer for 2000s

full motion videos and in-game scenes, unlike in Final Fantasy VIII.[7] In February 2000, he started working as the director of Kingdom Hearts with the production team consisting of over one hundred members from both Square and Disney Interactive.[10] Nomura first heard of the game during a discussion between Shinji Hashimoto and Hironobu Sakaguchi regarding the use of the character of Mickey Mouse in a video game. He was inspired to work on Kingdom Hearts by Nintendo's platforming game Super Mario 64. After discussing with the Disney staff, Nomura convinced them to use original characters with him as the character designer.[11] The game's protagonist, Sora, became his favorite character he had designed so far.[12] Following Kingdom Hearts, Nomura worked once again on the Final Fantasy series with Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy X-2
.

For the

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, an international version which added more foreshadowing elements regarding the series' plot.[13] Nomura continued his work on the series with Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance in 2004. He had originally planned to work directly on the PlayStation 2 sequel Kingdom Hearts II. However, desire from fans to play the original game on a portable console resulted in the creation of Chain of Memories which would bridge the gap between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.[14] Afterwards, Nomura was the director and lyricist for the CGI animated film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children which was released in 2005 in Japan. This marked his film debut, and he redesigned the characters as well. Nomura joined the film's crew after producer Yoshinori Kitase called him and eventually became the director because of his attachment to the character of Cloud Strife.[15][16] He split the role of directing with Takeshi Nozue.[17]

Kingdom Hearts II was released in 2005, resolving the elements foreshadowed in the first game's secret ending. As a result of being set a year after previous titles, Nomura was careful to make the plot accessible to newcomers.[18] After Square Enix had finished development of the updated version Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Nomura was approached by Disney which expressed interest in a sequel. He said "We have various ideas, but we're not at the point where we can say that."[19] Wishing to stop using the character of Sora temporarily, Nomura instead wanted to continue the series with games that explained different subplots. This resulted in the creation of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS in 2008 which explored events that set up the story of Kingdom Hearts II.[20] In mid-2007, Nomura mentioned a desire to create a spin-off Kingdom Hearts game on a mobile platform and wanted it to play slightly differently from other titles in the series. The result was Kingdom Hearts Coded, a game set after the events of Kingdom Hearts II, which was later remade for the Nintendo DS in 2010.[21]

In the meantime, Nomura was also responsible for the main character designs and orchestration of

non-playable characters.[22] In 2008, he was the character designer of Dissidia Final Fantasy. The game was originally envisioned by Nomura as a Kingdom Hearts spin-off featuring a cast of Disney characters. He later felt uncomfortable with the Disney characters fighting each other and instead opted to use Final Fantasy characters.[23] Nomura was responsible for the character designs, which changed much of the look and style of Amano's illustrations.[24][25]

2010s

In 2010, Square released

Shadowbringers.[38]

2020s

In April 2020, Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix launched the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy VII Remake. He worked as the director of the project, character designer, and concept designer. After a successful launch, Nomura would go on to work on downloadable content for the game called "intermission", which released in 2021. During this, he was also working on the next installation, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Work for that project began in 2019,[39] however, it was revealed in an interview with him that progress for the game would be shown in the year 2022. As for a specific date on when it would be shown, or a release date for the project, one was not announced. He would begin working on it as the creative director (the person in charge of the creative vision for the game), as well as the concept designer and the character designer. He is also working on the recently announced Kingdom Hearts IV. Like the previous games, he will be in charge of the character design, the story, and the concept design. As for this project’s release date, and when more news would be shared, no release date was given, and any more visual showcases for the game will come at a later date, and not during the summer. Nomura also created art pieces for his characters on post cards which could be purchased in October 2022.[40] He also created artwork which was used to introduce Kingdom Hearts IV, which displayed many of the characters he has created through the games long timespan.[41]

Style and influences

Nomura considers

Squall Leonheart and Lulu are given multiple accessories, making the games more challenging for the programmers.[7] When directing Advent Children, Nomura explained how the film was different from Western films due to the lack of direct answers from the plot. He added that he wants viewers to interpret certain scenes themselves and then discuss them with friends as another way to enjoy the film.[17] The same occurs within the Kingdom Hearts series where the scenes that show unknown characters are left to the player's imagination until the following scene reveals it.[43]

Works

Year Title Role(s) Ref.
1991 Final Fantasy IV Debugger [2]
1992 Final Fantasy V Battle graphics design, monster designs [5]
1994 Final Fantasy VI Graphic director, monster design, character design (Setzer and Shadow) [6]
Live A Live
Tosa-ben
translation
1995 Front Mission Graphic designer
Chrono Trigger Field graphics
1996
DynamiTracer
 		Concept design
1997 Final Fantasy VII Character design, battle visual director, original story (with Hironobu Sakaguchi)
1998 Ehrgeiz Character supervisor
Parasite Eve Character designer
Brave Fencer Musashi Character illustration
1999 Final Fantasy VIII Character design, battle visual director [9]
Parasite Eve II Character illustration
2000 The Bouncer Character designer
2001 Final Fantasy X Character designer
2002 Kingdom Hearts Director, concept design, main character designer, storyboard designer [44]
Final Fantasy XI
Hume and Elvaan
character design
2003 Final Fantasy X-2 Main character designer
2004 Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII Concept, character design
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Director, concept design, scenario supervisor, character designer [45]
2005 Musashi: Samurai Legend Main character designer
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Director, character designer, lyricist
Last Order: Final Fantasy VII Supervising director
Kingdom Hearts II Director, concept design, 2D character art: main artist, base story
2006 Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Character designer
Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode: Final Fantasy VII
 		Character designer
Final Fantasy V Advance Monster design
2007 Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories Director, concept design, scenario supervisor, 2D character art: main artist
The World Ends with You Creative producer, character designer
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Creative producer, main character art designer
2008 Kingdom Hearts Coded Director, concept design, story
Dissidia Final Fantasy Creative producer, character designer
2009 Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Director, concept design, story, 2D art: main artist
Final Fantasy XIII Character designer
2010 Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Director, concept design, story, art
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
 		Director, concept design, story, art
Lord of Arcana Illustrator
The 3rd Birthday Creative producer, character designer [46]
2011 Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Creative producer, character designer
Final Fantasy Type-0 Creative producer, character designer
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Main character designer
2012 Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Creative producer
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Director, concept design, story, 2D art: main artist
2013 Final Fantasy All the Bravest Creative producer, original concept
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix Director, concept design, story, 2D art: main artist
Kingdom Hearts χ Director, concept design, story
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Main character designer
2014 Final Fantasy Explorers Character supervisor
Final Fantasy Record Keeper Creative producer, character designer, concept design
Final Fantasy Agito Main character designer
Final Fantasy VII G-Bike Creative producer, character illustration
Gunslinger Stratos 2
 		"Riccardo Martini" and "Sakura Ayanokoji" character design
Puzzle & Dragons Battle Tournament
 		Main character designer
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call Creative producer
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix Director, concept design, story, 2D art: main artist
2015 Mobius Final Fantasy Collaborative event support
Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ Director, concept design, story
Dissidia Final Fantasy
 		Creative producer, character designer
2016 World of Final Fantasy Creative producer, character designer [47]
Final Fantasy XV Original concept, character designer, lyrics [48]
2017 Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Director, concept design, story, 2D art: main artist
Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia Creative producer, character designer
Terra Battle 2
 		Guardian character designer
Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary
 		Final Fantasy character supervisor
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Character designer of "Torna" [36]
2018 Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Creative producer, character designer
Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition Lyrics, original concept, character designer
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country Character designer of "Torna"
2019 Kingdom Hearts III Director, concept design, story, main 2D character designer [49]
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Guest character/boss designer [38]
2020 Final Fantasy VII Remake Director, concept design [50]
Kingdom Hearts Dark Road
 		Director, concept design, story, character designer
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory Director, concept design, story, character designer
2021 Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier Creative director, character designer
Neo: The World Ends with You Creative producer, character designer
2022 Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Concept, creative producer, character designer
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Creative director, character designer
2023 Theatrhythm Final Bar Line Creative director
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis Creative director
Super Mario RPG Character supervisor
2024 Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Creative director [51]
TBA
Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link
 		Director, concept design, story, character designer
Kingdom Hearts IV Director, concept design, story, character designer

Accolades

Nomura received the "Excellence in Visual Arts" award by the International Game Developers Association for his work on the first Kingdom Hearts game, alongside Shinji Hashimoto.[52] In IGN's "The Top 100 Video Game Creators of all Time" Nomura was listed at number 84.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Sato (March 13, 2014). "Tetsuya Nomura Talks About His Childhood And How He Joined Square". Siliconera. Archived from the original on March 12, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Ashcraft, Brian (October 28, 2013). "Unseen Tetsuya Nomura Sketches From the 1990s". Kotaku. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Sato (March 13, 2014). "How Final Fantasy V Was A Turning Point In Tetsuya Nomura's Career". Siliconera. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Perry, Douglass C. "84. Tetsuya Nomura". IGN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "Afterthoughts: Final Fantasy VII". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 196. Ziff Davis. October 2005. p. 104.
  6. ^ a b "The Making Of... Final Fantasy VI". Edge. No. 251. Future Publishing. March 2013. pp. 124–127.
  7. ^ a b c d e Knight, Sheila (2003). "Tetsuya Nomura 20s". FLAREgamer. Retrieved April 13, 2006.
  8. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (May 16, 2012). "Nomura, Kitase and Nojima Discuss Final Fantasy VII's Development". Andriasang. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d "Interview with Nomura, Kitase and Naora". Shūkan Famitsu. ASCII Corporation. June 5, 1998. Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  10. ^ "Kingdom Hearts キングダム ハーツ" (in Japanese). Final Fantasy 2000. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
  11. ^ "Iwata Asks Tetsuya Nomura About Kingdom Hearts 3D". Andriasang. April 3, 2012. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  12. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (March 18, 2010). "Tetsuya Nomura Interviewed at Twitter". Andriasang. Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  13. ^ GameSpot Staff (October 10, 2003). "Kingdom Hearts II's Tetsuya Nomura Q & A". GameSpot. Retrieved June 15, 2007.
  14. ISBN 4-7575-1349-6
    .
  15. ^ "Kingdom Hearts II's Tetsuya Nomura Q & A". GameSpot. October 10, 2003. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
  16. ^ "Interview with Kazushige Nojima and Tetsuya Nomura from FLAREgamer". FLAREgamer. October 10, 2005. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
  17. ^
    ISBN 4-08-779339-7
    .
  18. ISBN 978-4-7575-1621-2
    .
  19. ^ Anoop Gantayat (October 30, 2006). "Nomura on Kingdom Hearts III - PS2 News at IGN". IGN. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
  20. ^
    ISBN 978-4-7575-2013-4
    .
  21. ^ Ransom-Wiley, James (May 4, 2007). "Next Kingdom Hearts to be portable spin-off, not KHIII". Joystiq. Retrieved September 22, 2007.
  22. ISBN 978-4-7575-2775-1
    .
  23. ^ "Dissidia: Final Fantasy Originated From Kingdom Hearts". Siliconera. June 30, 2009.
  24. ^ KujaFFman (May 9, 2007). "Dissidia : Images et informations !". Final Fantasy World (in French). Retrieved May 9, 2007.
  25. CNET Networks. Archived from the original
    on May 14, 2007. Retrieved May 12, 2007.
  26. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (September 27, 2010). "Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Developer Interview". Andriasang. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  27. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (July 13, 2011). "Final Fantasy XIII-2 Play Chance Coming Soon". Andriasang. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011.
  28. ISSN 1041-9551
    .
  29. ^ Anoop Gantayat (November 17, 2010). "Tetsuya Nomura Talks Kingdom Hearts 3DS". IGN. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  30. ^ "Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance - release date revealed". GoNintendo. December 11, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  31. ^ "Kingdom Hearts 3D Game's Premiere Light Show Streamed". Anime News Network. March 23, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  32. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (April 30, 2012). "Tetsuya Nomura Expects New Kingdom Hearts Announcement Soon". Andriasang. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  33. IGN.com
    . Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  34. ^ "Final Fantasy Versus XIII Is Now Final Fantasy XV". WIRED. June 10, 2013.
  35. ^ Sato. "Final Fantasy XV's Release Date Was Already Decided Back In 2013". Siliconera.
  36. ^ a b Romano, Sal (June 21, 2017). "Tetsuya Nomura handling character designs for Xenoblade Chronicles 2's Torna organization". Gematsu. Archived from the original on June 21, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  37. TIME
    . Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  38. ^ a b Williams, Mike (March 23, 2019). "Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers' Newest Raid Has Bosses Designed by Tetsuya Nomura". USgamer. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  39. ^ Oloman, Jordan (July 21, 2020). "Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 Has Entered Full Development". IGN. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  40. ^ "Kingdom Hearts Postcards with Tetsuya Nomura Art Will Appear in October". Siliconera. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  41. ^ "Nomura Shares Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Sketch". Siliconera. March 28, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  42. ^ a b "Iwata Asks Vol. 11: Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] – 3. Square's Intentions". Nintendo. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  43. ^ Kingdom Hearts Another Report (Included with the video game Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix) (in Japanese). Square Enix. March 2007.
  44. ISBN 4-7575-1344-5
    .
  45. ISBN 4-7575-1344-5
    .
  46. ^ "The 3rd Birthday Video - DKS3713 Trailer". Square Enix. December 15, 2008. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
  47. ^ World of Final Fantasy Interview with Director Hiroki Chiba | RPG Site
  48. ^ "Full Recap of Final Fantasy XV Active Time Report 6.0". FinalFantasy.net. June 4, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  49. ^ Nakamura, Toshi (September 25, 2014). "Tetsuya Nomura Talks Kingdom Hearts III, But Is Quiet on FFXV". Kotaku. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  50. ^ Square Enix (June 11, 2019). "Final Fantasy VII Remake Official Website". Square Enix. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  51. ^ NME (February 27, 2021). "Tetsuya Nomura no longer directing 'Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2'". NME. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  52. ^ "IGDA Names Metroid Game of the Year". IGN. March 7, 2003. Retrieved April 28, 2012.

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