Final Fantasy’s Yoshitaka Amano says he doesn’t do manga

SINGAPORE — The name Yoshitaka Amano already commands respect from many art, gaming and manga fans, but even if you don’t know him, you might have seen his work before — he’s been a character designer for anime like Gatchaman and Vampire Hunter D, has done work on the Final Fantasy series since its inception, and has done illustrations for various graphic novels.

The legendary artist was recently in Singapore for the opening of his exhibition Mythopoeia at the Mizuma Gallery in Gillman Barracks. While his first exhibition in South-east Asia is a big deal for many of his fans, he was also in town because he’s planning to open an office in Singapore with producer Mariko Suzuki of Studio Deva Loka (Amano’s own studio) to gather funds for a feature-length movie based on his own creation, Deva Zan.

Working on the exhibition (most of the works were done this year) and his Deva Zan project might make Amano sound like a very busy man, but Mythopoeia is just one of his ways of expressing the universe in his head.

“I’ve been doing animation, video games, graphic novels, and all these are mixed into the artworks that you can see at Mythopoeia,” Amano, 61, said in Japanese. “When I’m working on an animation or a game there’s only one particular area that I focus on, but when it comes to art I’m free to put just anything I like, because it’s my universe.”

HIS UNIVERSE

The word “Mythopoeia” was first used by Lord Of The Rings author J R R Tolkien to refer to the creation of mythologies by a single person, and with the exhibition, Amano aims to portray the universe that he’s stored in his head.

“People usually think of mythology as old stories, or something that’s unrelated to life, but I think mythology is something that’s close to us, that we are living with every day,” said Amano. “While we have many kinds of mythology all over the world, I want to try to express my very own kind of mythology, because it doesn’t make sense to just replicate something that I’ve heard.”

For Mythopoeia, Amano worked with automotive paint on various sizes of aluminium. It symbolizes modern Japan, he said, and allows him to dabble in new styles while keeping the detailed, very ethereal style that he’s most famous for.

“This is a kind of symbol of Japanese society and a way of expressing its modernity,” says Amano. “It’s also a way for me to try the latest technology — you have a lot of companies developing new colours and things like the glittering effect you can see on the paintings.”

And when it comes to styles, Amano is clear on one thing: Don’t say his style is influenced by anime. After all, he was working on Gatchaman during the early years of the form.

“I’m one of the creators who created the anime style,” says the 61-year-old artist. “So anime is my style.”

NOT-SO-FINAL FANTASY

For all the varied projects Amano has worked on, one thing he can’t escape from is being remembered for the classic Final Fantasy series (a relaunch of the 14th edition is set to be in August). Not that he really minds.

“I’m fine with this, because I’m still working on Final Fantasy,” he laughed, before being quick to add that works like Final Fantasy and Vampire Hunter D represent only five per cent of all that he’s ever worked on.

His main focus now is on something that he’s writing, illustrating and designing: Deva Zan.

Originally, Amano wanted to adapt Wagner’s The Ring Of The Nibelung into an operatic movie before he realised it was better to create his own stories. Now he’s already set up a Deva Zan “bible” where he has the entire universe fleshed out — during the interview, a thick, black hardbound book with the words “Deva Zan” emblazoned on its otherwise plain cover sits on the table close to Amano, holding the secrets to this new universe. From the book springs the storylines for the anime series that they’re producing, inspiration for the movies, and even potential video games down the line.

“Deva Zan can become everything,” he said.

MANGA? I’LL PASS

Amano’s work isn’t just limited to Japan, and he’s won an Eisner award — the Oscars of the comic world — for his work on a Sandman graphic novel with author Neil Gaiman under the Vertigo line from DC Comics. He’s also done a Wolverine and Elektra graphic novel for Marvel Comics, and he says all of this only happened because he was “fed up with working in Japan”.

Still, for a man who has mastered anime and illustrated novels, and worked with the big two of American comics, one key pop culture export from Japan remains unconquered — manga (Japanese comics).

“I’m not a manga-ka (comic artist) — I don’t do sequential art,” says Amano. Then he smiled.

“When I was younger I tried to do manga but it was too exhausting!”

Mythopoeia runs from June 7 to July 14 at Mizuma Gallery in Gillman Barracks.