Animation · blog · Manga · Proxymité Japon ·

Yoshiyuki Sadamoto Evangelion Character Illustrator

Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (born January 29, 1962) is a Japanese illustrator and manga artist born in Tokushima City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Several members of his family work in the animation industry. His wife is manga artist Takaha Mako. His cousin is Tomoshi Sadamoto, a producer at CAPCOM who worked on STREET FIGHTER III.

About the illustrator

Sadamoto is best known as the artist behind the manga adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion . He also worked as the main character designer for the Evangelion film series. He also designed characters for other recent and highly popular films: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006), Summer Wars (2009), and Wolf Children (2012). As an illustrator, his drawing style has had a profound influence on the Otaku scene and culture in Japan since the 1990s. His unique drawing lines and the lines of his human body are called the "Yoshiyuki touch." Thanks to his influential drawing skills, he has received high accolades as an animator.

History

When Sadamoto was a student, he didn't dream of becoming a professional manga artist. He had ambitions of becoming an art teacher after graduating from Tokyo Zokei University. While concentrating on his art studies, he entered the Shukan Shonen Champion New Star Manga Award. His main intention in entering the competition was to earn money to buy a motorcycle. He ultimately won the award for his car racing manga, FINAL STRETCH Saigo no Shissou (1981). He then worked part-time as the original image director for the animated series, Super Dimensional Fortress Macross (1982). As he became busier, his attendance at university classes began to dwindle. As he became less interested in university, he naturally focused less on his studies. To the point where he even painted over a previously completed drawing and submitted it to a university class.

After graduating from university, he joined Telecom Animation Film Co., Ltd. and learned animation under Yasuo Otsuka. Shortly after, he transferred to GAINAX with his former university classmate Année Hideaki to serve as character designer and animation director for the film, Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise (1987). While working at GAINAX and with the Evangelion franchise, he took his first steps towards becoming a world-renowned artist.

Sadamoto and Anime

One of Sadamoto's character design works is NERV , for which he is famous. NERV is an organization featured in the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series. Here are the famous main characters illustrated by Sadamoto: Shinji Ikari None Rei Ayanami None Asuka Langley Soryu These teenagers are Evangelion pilots who fight against the Angels. They also struggle with their personal issues and traumas. The audience can relate to them on a personal level, while others may interpret them as philosophical, historical, or religious symbols.

Sadamoto designed the visual appearances based on each character's personality. He wanted the audience to be able to understand at a glance what kind of person each character is. His creative designs for the main female characters led to high sales of Evangelion merchandise . Roi 's design was especially popular when the media abandoned her "Premium Girl" persona. Every time Rei appeared on the cover of a book, sales skyrocketed.

However, Sadamoto had difficulty distinguishing his characters from one another. He could only illustrate their differences by changing their hairstyles and clothing, which he admitted. When he was nervous about designing the famous "plug suit" (a suit worn by the Evangelion Unit pilots), he created a model figure himself to use as a reference.

Other animated works by Sadamoto

Makinami , a character who appears in Evangelion: 2.0 You Cannot (Advance) (2009), is an Eva pilot. She is the only one who admits to the joy of piloting. Yoshiyuki designed her character to be energetic and optimistic. The unique feature of this character is her sexy appearance. She has a brunette style with twin pigtails and red-framed glasses. This illustration continues to inspire many illustrators around the world.

Sadamoto's Evangelion manga

In addition to the character designs for Evangelion, Sadamoto published an official manga series based on the characters and story of the original series. This manga was published by Kadokawa Shoten from December 1994 until its conclusion in November 2014. The manga was adapted to differentiate itself from the original television series, and Sadamoto insisted that it was only a "supplement" designed to promote the series' franchise. The manga had 14 volumes in total, with the first 10 volumes selling over 15 million copies.