Yoji Shinkawa

Yoji Shinkawa
新川 洋司
Shinkawa in 2008
Born (1971-12-25) December 25, 1971 (age 52)
Hiroshima, Japan
Alma materKyoto Seika University
OccupationIllustrator
Years active1994–present
EmployerKojima Productions
Notable workMetal Gear

Yoji Shinkawa (Japanese: 新川洋司, Hepburn: Shinkawa Yōji, born December 25, 1971) is a Japanese artist. He is best known as the lead character and mecha designer for the Metal Gear franchise. He has collaborated with Hideo Kojima on many of his games.

Biography

Shinkawa was born in Hiroshima on December 25, 1971.[1] He began working at Konami after graduating from Kyoto Seika University.[2] He first worked as a debugger for the PC-98 version of Policenauts. He moved on to serve as art director for the later console ports of the game, and as the lead character and mecha designer for the Metal Gear series.[1] He served as the art director for all Metal Gear Solid games, while providing character designs for Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. He is the lead artist and character designer for Kojima Productions.

Shinkawa was inspired by anime and manga artists like Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and Yoshitaka Amano,[3] and western artists such as Frank Miller, Aubrey Beardsley and Willy Pogany.[3] He drew inspiration from French artists such as Mœbius. Shinkawa used felt-tip pens, especially the Pentel Brush Pen, as well as Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter.[2] He is a fan of heavy metal, and artists such as Megadeth, Rage, Killswitch Engage and Yngwie Malmsteen.[2][4]

Works

Video games

Year Title Role
1994 Policenauts Mechanical design
1998 Metal Gear Solid Art director, character design, mechanical design
2000 Metal Gear: Ghost Babel Illustrator
2001 Zone of the Enders Mechanical design
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Art director, character design, mechanical design
2003 Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Art director, mechanical design
2004 Fu-un Shinsengumi Illustrator
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Art director, character design, mechanical design
2005 Fu-un Bakumatsu-den Illustrator
2006 Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Character design
2008 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Art director, character design, mechanical design
2010 Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
2013 Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Character concept design
2014 Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Art director, character design, mechanical design
2015 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
2017 Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Zombies Chronicles Illustrator
2019 Left Alive Character design[5]
Death Stranding Art director, character design, mechanical design
2025 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

Other works

Novels

  • Urban Hercules (illustrations)
  • Metal Gear Solid (cover illustration)
  • Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (cover and interior illustrations)
  • Metal Gear Solid Substance I: Shadow Moses (cover illustration)
  • Metal Gear Solid Substance II: Manhattan (cover illustration)
  • Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain (cover illustration)
  • Point of Impact (cover illustration, 2013 Fusosha Mystery edition)

Films

Toys

  • Frame Arms/Frame Arms Girl (mecha/character design for Byakko)
  • Project M (mecha/character designer for Takara Tomy)

Trading cards

  • Magic: The Gathering – Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (Satoru Umezawa)
  • Magic: The Gathering – Special Guest: Yoji Shinkawa Secret Lair (Phyrexian Metamorph, Tezzeret the Seeker, Skullclamp, Solemn Simulacrum)

References

  1. ^ a b Cook, Dave (23 April 2013). "The art of Metal Gear: Yoji Shinkawa's visual legacy". VG247. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Shinkawa, Yōji (1999). The art of metal gear solid. Tokyo: Konami. ISBN 4797309504. OCLC 675249617.
  3. ^ a b Shinkawa, Yoji. "Yoji Shinkawa Interview". Metal Gear Solid: The Unofficial Site (Interview). Interviewed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  4. ^ Shinkawa, Yōji (2004). The art of metal gear solid. Version 1.5. Tokyo: Konami. ISBN 4797326808. OCLC 169873375.
  5. ^ Romano, Sal (19 September 2017). "Square Enix announces survival action shooter Left Alive for PS4, PC". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2017.

Bibliography

  • The Art of Metal Gear Solid
  • The Art of Metal Gear Solid 2
  • The Art of Metal Gear Solid 1.5
  • The Art of Metal Gear Solid: The Original Trilogy
  • Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: Master Art Work
  • Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker: Official Art Works
  • The Art of Metal Gear Solid V
  • Visual Works of Anubis: Zone of the Enders
  • The Art of Yoji Shinkawa Volumes 1-3
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