Yûsuke KOZAKI
Both a chara-designer and a mangaka, Yûsuke KOZAKI is famous for his work on iconic licenses such as Fire Emblem, No More Heroes, and the recent hit of mobile games: Pokemon Go. Don’t miss him this summer, at Japan Expo!
Biography
Yûsuke KOZAKI is a jack-of-all-trades in Japanese pop culture. Mangaka and chara-designer for anime and video games, he participated to huge titles in the latter.
At 19, he won the Manga Young Talent prize of honor from the 215th edition of the contest organized by Young Magazine. He was also rewarded by the Chiba Tetsuya Award which allowed him to publish his first short story, Mikakunin Higôshôjo Kaoru in Young Magazine. In 2002 his first series was published, Karasuma Kyoko no Jikenbo, which ended in 2012. In 2011, he launched a new series, Donyatsu, still going on.
He started expressing his artistic talent in anime and video games as a chara-designer in 2005. He collaborated with several animation studios, including Gonzo for Speed Grapher, a success to both the public and the media. After that, the studio Sunrise chose him for the chara-design of Intrigue in the Bakumatsu – Irohanihoheto. Lately, he’s worked on Human Lost, an animation film inspired from a novel by Osamu DAZAI, released in late 2019 in Japan.
As for video games, Yûsuke KOZAKI started with Osu! Tatakae! Oendan, then Lord of Vermilion and the famous No More Heroes series for which he worked on three opuses, including the third and latest one released in 2021. Since 2012, he regularly appeared on the Fire Emblem series, with Fire Emblem: Awakening, Fire Emblem Fates, and lately Fire Emblem Heroes. In 2016, he collaborated on the mobile game that became a huge success, Pokemon Go, and in 2019 on the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. In the recent years, he also worked on Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and AI: The Somnium Files.
Japan Expo is inviting you to meet this incredibly talented artist: he will be attending the festival all four days and for signings and conferences as well as a live drawing!
Signing sessions:
- Thursday, 14th of July from 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm
- Saturday, 16th of July from 10.45 am to 11.45 am and from 2 pm to 3 pm
- Sunday, 17th July from 1 pm to 2 pm and from 4 pm to 5 pm
Conference :
- Followed by a live drawing, Thursday, 14th of July from 1.15 pm to 2.30 pm
- Simple conference, Sunday, 17th of July from 3 pm to 3.45 pm
Selection of works
Video Games
- Osu! Tatakae! Oendan (2005)
- No More Heroes (2007)
- No More Heroes 2 (2009)
- Fire Emblem: Awakening (2012)
- Fire Emblem Fates (2015)
- Pokémon Go (2016)
- Fire Emblem Heroes (2017)
- Xenoblade chronicles 2 (2017)
- AI: The Somnium Files (2018)
- Pokemon Sword and Shield (2019)
- No More Heroes 3 (2020)
Manga
- Mikakunin Higôshôjo Kaoru (1997)
- Karasuma Kyoko no Jikenbo (2002-2012)
- Character Design Bible (2003, illustrations)
- Tokyo Karasu (2005-2008)
- Shutter Kill (2006, images et illustrations)
- Donyatsu (2011-en cours)
Anime
- Speed Grapher (2005)
- Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto (2006)
- Soul Eater (2009, programme de fin)
- Bubuki Buranki (2016)
- Under the Dog (2016)
- Human Lost (2019)
Vidéo
Follow Yûsuke KOZAKI on: