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not_sophieGotta take a break to get back to my original genre of Inomata. Since the world has taken her from us, though, there is only so much of her left in the world beyond our memories. Makes me a little sad, since I was always inspired by her art and designs. Oh well, this one is from the Tales of Berseria Illustrations Book, and interview in question took place on August 26, 2016. There are more interviews in this book than just Mutsumi Inomata's, but I'll get to them later, let's stick with our first love, shall we?
When did you hear about Tales of Berseria?
When the previous work, Tales of Zestiria, was finished. Beacuse of that, there wasn't any overlap between the production times.
When did you know about its connection to Zestiria's world?
I heard about it when I received the story materials. That said, I wasn't told about it in great detail. I was told that, since the time periods the two are set in are different, the settings aren't as close as Tales of Xillia and Tales of Xillia 2 were. So when I was designing characters, I thought through them from zero as a completely new work. However, for just Velvet, I was given this request: "We want her to be close to Lailah from Zestiria, so please draw her with a similar height."
Velvet was the first sole female protagonist in the series. What were your thoughts when you first learned that?
When I was told, "This time we want to go with a female lead!" I was just sort of like, "okay" and it didn't totally click. Then I said, "So Fujishima must be in charge of the male protagonist," and they told me "No, it will be a solo female protagonist." I just replied, "Huh? Is that really okay?" (laugh)
Why did you say that?
I was thinking it would be easier for the players to play as a male protagonist. We've always thought about it that way before, haven't we? Even when there was both a male and a female protagonist, it usually focused more on the boy character's adventure. It seems Bandai Namco Entertainment (BNE) wanted to use Berseria to take on new challenges.
Looking at Velvet's design, I don't think she's a character who would get more approval from one gender over the other. She's become a character with a presence that surpasses gender, you know?
As long as either gender would think, "I want to play as her!" then I'll be happy.
Did you make any big changes to her design before it was completed?
Not particularly. This was the kind of look we put together right from the start.
So it was easy for you to grasp her image.
That's right.
Since she's a woman burning for revenge, she doesn't laugh or cry a lot. Was it difficult to design a character who isn't very expressive?
It was a little hard to do her expressions, since she doesn't show a lot of different emotions on her face. When I was designing her, I thought a lot about her facial expressions. But it wasn't so hard that it was painful.
Speaking of heroines who have black as their basic color, in the past there was Rutee from Tales of Destiny.
Velvet and Rutee certainly share black as their main tone. In Rutee's case, it's because, despite being the heroine, her fighting style was that of a thief, so I finished her design with short pants that would be easy to move around in to bring the whole image together. So neither of them really looks like a heroine. This time I used black to match the dark atmosphere of the story.
I think the fan reception to Velvet was positive even before the game's release.
I hope it was. I was worried because she doesn't resemble a protagonist. She especially looks unusual for the Tales of series, which always had a male protagonist and outfits centered on colors like white. I worried she would seem out of place.
2015's "Tales of Festival" is the event that announced Berseria, along with showing an illustration of Velvet. Many of the audience members were excited by it. How did seeing that make you feel?
Secretly, I was really afraid. Like, "What if they all start booing?" (laughs). Since it was a type of protagonist we'd never had in any Tales of game, I was anxious about the idea that we might be giving the fans something none of them wanted. I was sneaking looks at the audience stealthily from a seat on the second floor of the venue (laughs).
At this year's Festival, Rina Satou, Velvet's voice actress, made an appearance. The audience were super excited when she showed up.
Once the cast members are involved, giving their voice performance to the character and seeing the movements on screen, it all really solidifies the character's image.
Despite being the protagonist, isn't Velvet actually on the side of evil, as a villain?
That's right. Personally, I've always wanted to draw that kind of protagonist. I was actually just thinking around that time about how I wanted to draw an anti-hero type character. But I didn't think it fit the Tales of series very much. If I were going to draw something like that, I thought it would have to be in a different project. I thought it was impossible that the series would ever have a protagonist on the side of evil. So I'm extremely glad that I was able to draw a character like Velvet for the Tales of series.
Velvet's design has quite the daring feel to it.
I had to be daring to push past my concerns. When I get a completely new job, I'm like, "Can I actually go this far? Yeah, I got this!" and I'm able to tackle the design. But within the framework of the Tales of series, we have to be more aware of how far we should go. Once I showed Iwamoto what I drew at the start, he told me "This direction is good," and that gave me some peace of mind. I was glad that everyone agreed on her image. Personally, I'm more fond of the rough version of her design than the complete version.
But doesn't the complete version give off a deeper feeling of sadness?
Does it? I'm glad to hear that, then. When her eyes are colored, it might emphasize the black in her design.
She seems like a protagonist that will be popular with players. Fighting off justice from the side of evil is a fun concept, at least for a game.
That's true. As long as gets people thinking, "I want to play this game," then I'm happy.
Innominat is also a character with a sense of presence. Even just his expression with his eyes lowered is enough for him to give off a completely out of the ordinary feeling.
Thank you very much. I tried to make some of the "last boss" feeling come through with his design.
This time, the packaging illustration features Velvet alone. It's been a long time since we've seen package design like this.
Yes. For a long time, we would have everyone's illustrations of major characters altogether, but to prevent that from becoming boring, we ended up going for something that had a different feeling. We tried to change to an idea that was a little bit minimalistic.
Early in the series, it wasn't uncommon to have packaging centered around just one character, like with Destiny.
That's true. Thinking of which games used just one character on the cover, Destinydoes come to mind.
Please explain your choice to use that art the way it is on the packaging.
We thought Velvet's face, and specifically her eyes, stood out. Velvet's half-closed eyes give her an expression that something was wrong. If that expression was turned the viewer's way, it might be unsettling. I gradually painted her while thinking about those things.
Your art's eyes might look big, but really, the area they take up relative to the face isn't particularly large.
Yes. I often hear "Inomata's characters have such huge eyes!" but that's not at all true! They look large to people, though, and I think it's because they can sense the amount of things I put into my eyes. I take such comments as compliments now (laughs). I put a lot of thought into the eyes when I'm drawing them. (laughs)
Were her lower eyelashes a point?
This time they were intentional. Velvet has some unpleasant expressions, so if you can see a little bit of hair under her eye it would be good. Her eye shape where you can see a bit of the white of her eye is also one of her special characteristics.
What about her hand's coloring in this illustration? Is it intentional?
That's right. It was done with uneven brush strokes. I enjoyed painting it that way more than I would on a Mac. But I made a mistake in the rough drawing, where something was bigger than it was supposed to be, so I had to patch it up with cellophane tape (laughs). It was copied and correctly resized.
You can almost feel the texture of the clothes. It almost looks like leather.
It could be leather. I imagined a material that seemed like it would break easily for the smaller strips of fabrics.
The book that this art will be published in will also have a new illustration of Velvet.
I drew that one while thinking, "Yaay! They're letting me draw her!" (laughs). I don't often get chances to draw things I want from start to finish like this these days, so it was a lot of fun!
What are the highlights of the cover illustration?
I thought that having the background of the cover be white, and contrasting that with all of Velvet's black, would create a monotone feeling. I drew another version too, but it just didn't seem to work for the cover. They were both drawn at a bit of a slanted angle and with bold outlines.
Together with the previous work, Zestiria, you were in charge of four characters' designs. Did you get to see what sorts of designs the others were creating?
No, I don't look at other people's characters while the project is still in progress.
Doesn't that make it difficult to create a balanced feeling amongst the different characters?
The two characters I was put in charge of are very special ones. I was able to draw without any mind to party balance due to my position, so I didn't feel any pressure to draw in a matching style to how others were.
So, because you were in a position where you didn't have to concern yourself with balancing your designs with the designs of others, it wasn't difficult to draw for you.
"Ooh, I see," is the kind of feeling I got when I eventually saw them. The party characters are all good, as expected. Eizen is cool, and Magilou's skirt of grimoires is cute. And I think when you actually play as the characters, they become more charming in their own ways.
I suppose if you had made them match too closely, it would just end up repetitive and cause a lot of stress.
When everyone tries too much to match the other, the completed designs would end up being kind of boring. This time, the party members are all very characteristic of themselves, and are kind of all over the place. They're a mishmash group of outsiders. It was probably for the best that everyone was able to design the characters freely.
You were put in charge of the design of one woman and one boy character. Which gender do you find easier to draw?
I like both of them. But it seems like the others always end up fighting with Iwamoto (laughs). I guess they really want to draw girls, don't they?
This time, Ms. Inomata went back and forth with Art Director Iwamoto, correct?
That's right. For Xillia and Xillia 2, Mr. Okumura was the Art Director. With Zestiria and its connection to Berseria, Mr. Iwamoto took on the art director role instead.
What was it like exchanging your work with Art Director Iwamoto?
At first, we collaborated more closely, but once we got more information on our projects, we started focusing more on just our own work.
Were there any differences between how Mr. Iwamoto and Mr. Okumura approached their art direction duties?
The two of them would always push certain points in the designs that related to the story, and demand that it get sorted out early on in the process. Mr. Okumura would always stay strict to the setting and want to stick close to it. He's the type that would make sure the entire setting was hardened so we couldn't change it much. With Mr. Iwamoto, the feel of everything seemed to be of the utmost importance. The two have very different approaches and priorities, and I think both come up with excellent designs on their own while expecting other artists to hold our own in terms of quality.
Which of your two characters from this work left you with more of an impression?
That would have to be the give and take of Velvet. Out of all my characters, I felt the need to consult with Iwamoto about her a lot. I know we discussed this in the previous pages, but my talks with him were along the lines of if showing Velvet's underboob would be okay. (laughs).
What kinds of things has the Tales of series not portrayed yet?
The Tales of series has a variety of different worlds and atmospheres. Up until now, we haven't had a work with this kind of dark atmosphere. I think that having an unexpectedly anti-hero protagonist in Velvet this time allows for a much different type of story.
When looking at Berseria on the whole, how did you feel working on the project?
I'm sorry that, after the start of the project, there was a long time with no news at all. I hope you will all forgive me for that. Since Velvet was the first character that was publicly revealed, I drew her quickly from rough sketches in a short amount of time... But for Innominat, I was told that I only needed to release the rough sketches to start with, so there was a long gap before I finished drawing him... Please don't ask how long it was since I gave any updates (laughs). I am so sorry. I might have caused some trouble, so I'm just glad that the game was released without any problems. (laughs)
Zestiria was the 20th mainline entry into the Tales of series, and was greeted as such. And now we're at the series' 21st entry. Having been involved in the series for such a long time, Ms. Inomata, are there any things within you that have changed because of the Tales of series? Or, on the other hand, do you think the series has itself been changed by your presence?
Hearing once again that it's been 21 years is quite the surprise... But I think in those 20 years it would make sense for it to change, and keep changing. I want to keep being a part of that change.
After all that talk about how Velvet doesn't have that Tales of series protagonist look, what exactly would Ms. Inomata think of when it comes to a protagonist of the Tales of series?
Rather than putting negative emotions front and center, I think these are games where playing them lets people look forward, so it feels fun to play through the game. That's what I think. A ton of the protagonists are that sort of type, too. Many things happen to the characters along the story, but despite that, they are always looking ahead towards survival. That's the kind of image I have of the Tales of franchise. With Velvet, though, I can at least say she's very much full of determination (laughs).
This time you were in charge of just two characters: Velvet and Innominat. Do you feel good about how the two of them turned out?
Absolutely. I have no regrets. Now I'm just waiting for everyone to be able to play the game and have fun interacting with these characters. I'll be so happy when that time comes.
[note: The following comments on the character reference sheets and 3D models are not explicitly part of the interview, but were from the bottom of the same pages the interview was on.]
Character Reference Sheet for Animation: Velvet
The design is bilaterally asymmetrical, her hair is long, her clothes are tattered... It seems so chaotic and hard to draw. I'm so sorry to the animators (laughs). But I think it's at least good that the coloring is simple and just red and black.
3D Model: Velvet
Her hair is tied back to consolidate it, because it would be difficult to control how it moves in-game otherwise. Since Velvet's coat is also long, the CG had to be adjusted to prevent her hair from clipping through her coat.
Character Reference Sheet for Animation: Innominat
I think his costume's pattern must be a hassle, yet they did a great job in adapting the different elements of the character's designs. It's unfortunate that the animated versions of the characters don't show up very often.
3D Model: Innominat
Innominat is a divine kind of existence. To bring together that kind of godly image, his design uses beautiful white and other light colors. At the same time, it gives the appearance of an unpleasant type of person who brandishes justice as a weapon.
Date of interview: 2016/7/26
When did you hear about Tales of Berseria?
When the previous work, Tales of Zestiria, was finished. Beacuse of that, there wasn't any overlap between the production times.
When did you know about its connection to Zestiria's world?
I heard about it when I received the story materials. That said, I wasn't told about it in great detail. I was told that, since the time periods the two are set in are different, the settings aren't as close as Tales of Xillia and Tales of Xillia 2 were. So when I was designing characters, I thought through them from zero as a completely new work. However, for just Velvet, I was given this request: "We want her to be close to Lailah from Zestiria, so please draw her with a similar height."
Velvet was the first sole female protagonist in the series. What were your thoughts when you first learned that?
When I was told, "This time we want to go with a female lead!" I was just sort of like, "okay" and it didn't totally click. Then I said, "So Fujishima must be in charge of the male protagonist," and they told me "No, it will be a solo female protagonist." I just replied, "Huh? Is that really okay?" (laugh)
Why did you say that?
I was thinking it would be easier for the players to play as a male protagonist. We've always thought about it that way before, haven't we? Even when there was both a male and a female protagonist, it usually focused more on the boy character's adventure. It seems Bandai Namco Entertainment (BNE) wanted to use Berseria to take on new challenges.
Looking at Velvet's design, I don't think she's a character who would get more approval from one gender over the other. She's become a character with a presence that surpasses gender, you know?
As long as either gender would think, "I want to play as her!" then I'll be happy.
Did you make any big changes to her design before it was completed?
Not particularly. This was the kind of look we put together right from the start.
So it was easy for you to grasp her image.
That's right.
Since she's a woman burning for revenge, she doesn't laugh or cry a lot. Was it difficult to design a character who isn't very expressive?
It was a little hard to do her expressions, since she doesn't show a lot of different emotions on her face. When I was designing her, I thought a lot about her facial expressions. But it wasn't so hard that it was painful.
Speaking of heroines who have black as their basic color, in the past there was Rutee from Tales of Destiny.
Velvet and Rutee certainly share black as their main tone. In Rutee's case, it's because, despite being the heroine, her fighting style was that of a thief, so I finished her design with short pants that would be easy to move around in to bring the whole image together. So neither of them really looks like a heroine. This time I used black to match the dark atmosphere of the story.
I think the fan reception to Velvet was positive even before the game's release.
I hope it was. I was worried because she doesn't resemble a protagonist. She especially looks unusual for the Tales of series, which always had a male protagonist and outfits centered on colors like white. I worried she would seem out of place.
2015's "Tales of Festival" is the event that announced Berseria, along with showing an illustration of Velvet. Many of the audience members were excited by it. How did seeing that make you feel?
Secretly, I was really afraid. Like, "What if they all start booing?" (laughs). Since it was a type of protagonist we'd never had in any Tales of game, I was anxious about the idea that we might be giving the fans something none of them wanted. I was sneaking looks at the audience stealthily from a seat on the second floor of the venue (laughs).
At this year's Festival, Rina Satou, Velvet's voice actress, made an appearance. The audience were super excited when she showed up.
Once the cast members are involved, giving their voice performance to the character and seeing the movements on screen, it all really solidifies the character's image.
Despite being the protagonist, isn't Velvet actually on the side of evil, as a villain?
That's right. Personally, I've always wanted to draw that kind of protagonist. I was actually just thinking around that time about how I wanted to draw an anti-hero type character. But I didn't think it fit the Tales of series very much. If I were going to draw something like that, I thought it would have to be in a different project. I thought it was impossible that the series would ever have a protagonist on the side of evil. So I'm extremely glad that I was able to draw a character like Velvet for the Tales of series.
Velvet's design has quite the daring feel to it.
I had to be daring to push past my concerns. When I get a completely new job, I'm like, "Can I actually go this far? Yeah, I got this!" and I'm able to tackle the design. But within the framework of the Tales of series, we have to be more aware of how far we should go. Once I showed Iwamoto what I drew at the start, he told me "This direction is good," and that gave me some peace of mind. I was glad that everyone agreed on her image. Personally, I'm more fond of the rough version of her design than the complete version.
But doesn't the complete version give off a deeper feeling of sadness?
Does it? I'm glad to hear that, then. When her eyes are colored, it might emphasize the black in her design.
She seems like a protagonist that will be popular with players. Fighting off justice from the side of evil is a fun concept, at least for a game.
That's true. As long as gets people thinking, "I want to play this game," then I'm happy.
Innominat is also a character with a sense of presence. Even just his expression with his eyes lowered is enough for him to give off a completely out of the ordinary feeling.
Thank you very much. I tried to make some of the "last boss" feeling come through with his design.
This time, the packaging illustration features Velvet alone. It's been a long time since we've seen package design like this.
Yes. For a long time, we would have everyone's illustrations of major characters altogether, but to prevent that from becoming boring, we ended up going for something that had a different feeling. We tried to change to an idea that was a little bit minimalistic.
Early in the series, it wasn't uncommon to have packaging centered around just one character, like with Destiny.
That's true. Thinking of which games used just one character on the cover, Destinydoes come to mind.
Please explain your choice to use that art the way it is on the packaging.
We thought Velvet's face, and specifically her eyes, stood out. Velvet's half-closed eyes give her an expression that something was wrong. If that expression was turned the viewer's way, it might be unsettling. I gradually painted her while thinking about those things.
Your art's eyes might look big, but really, the area they take up relative to the face isn't particularly large.
Yes. I often hear "Inomata's characters have such huge eyes!" but that's not at all true! They look large to people, though, and I think it's because they can sense the amount of things I put into my eyes. I take such comments as compliments now (laughs). I put a lot of thought into the eyes when I'm drawing them. (laughs)
Were her lower eyelashes a point?
This time they were intentional. Velvet has some unpleasant expressions, so if you can see a little bit of hair under her eye it would be good. Her eye shape where you can see a bit of the white of her eye is also one of her special characteristics.
What about her hand's coloring in this illustration? Is it intentional?
That's right. It was done with uneven brush strokes. I enjoyed painting it that way more than I would on a Mac. But I made a mistake in the rough drawing, where something was bigger than it was supposed to be, so I had to patch it up with cellophane tape (laughs). It was copied and correctly resized.
You can almost feel the texture of the clothes. It almost looks like leather.
It could be leather. I imagined a material that seemed like it would break easily for the smaller strips of fabrics.
The book that this art will be published in will also have a new illustration of Velvet.
I drew that one while thinking, "Yaay! They're letting me draw her!" (laughs). I don't often get chances to draw things I want from start to finish like this these days, so it was a lot of fun!
What are the highlights of the cover illustration?
I thought that having the background of the cover be white, and contrasting that with all of Velvet's black, would create a monotone feeling. I drew another version too, but it just didn't seem to work for the cover. They were both drawn at a bit of a slanted angle and with bold outlines.
Together with the previous work, Zestiria, you were in charge of four characters' designs. Did you get to see what sorts of designs the others were creating?
No, I don't look at other people's characters while the project is still in progress.
Doesn't that make it difficult to create a balanced feeling amongst the different characters?
The two characters I was put in charge of are very special ones. I was able to draw without any mind to party balance due to my position, so I didn't feel any pressure to draw in a matching style to how others were.
So, because you were in a position where you didn't have to concern yourself with balancing your designs with the designs of others, it wasn't difficult to draw for you.
"Ooh, I see," is the kind of feeling I got when I eventually saw them. The party characters are all good, as expected. Eizen is cool, and Magilou's skirt of grimoires is cute. And I think when you actually play as the characters, they become more charming in their own ways.
I suppose if you had made them match too closely, it would just end up repetitive and cause a lot of stress.
When everyone tries too much to match the other, the completed designs would end up being kind of boring. This time, the party members are all very characteristic of themselves, and are kind of all over the place. They're a mishmash group of outsiders. It was probably for the best that everyone was able to design the characters freely.
You were put in charge of the design of one woman and one boy character. Which gender do you find easier to draw?
I like both of them. But it seems like the others always end up fighting with Iwamoto (laughs). I guess they really want to draw girls, don't they?
This time, Ms. Inomata went back and forth with Art Director Iwamoto, correct?
That's right. For Xillia and Xillia 2, Mr. Okumura was the Art Director. With Zestiria and its connection to Berseria, Mr. Iwamoto took on the art director role instead.
What was it like exchanging your work with Art Director Iwamoto?
At first, we collaborated more closely, but once we got more information on our projects, we started focusing more on just our own work.
Were there any differences between how Mr. Iwamoto and Mr. Okumura approached their art direction duties?
The two of them would always push certain points in the designs that related to the story, and demand that it get sorted out early on in the process. Mr. Okumura would always stay strict to the setting and want to stick close to it. He's the type that would make sure the entire setting was hardened so we couldn't change it much. With Mr. Iwamoto, the feel of everything seemed to be of the utmost importance. The two have very different approaches and priorities, and I think both come up with excellent designs on their own while expecting other artists to hold our own in terms of quality.
Which of your two characters from this work left you with more of an impression?
That would have to be the give and take of Velvet. Out of all my characters, I felt the need to consult with Iwamoto about her a lot. I know we discussed this in the previous pages, but my talks with him were along the lines of if showing Velvet's underboob would be okay. (laughs).
What kinds of things has the Tales of series not portrayed yet?
The Tales of series has a variety of different worlds and atmospheres. Up until now, we haven't had a work with this kind of dark atmosphere. I think that having an unexpectedly anti-hero protagonist in Velvet this time allows for a much different type of story.
When looking at Berseria on the whole, how did you feel working on the project?
I'm sorry that, after the start of the project, there was a long time with no news at all. I hope you will all forgive me for that. Since Velvet was the first character that was publicly revealed, I drew her quickly from rough sketches in a short amount of time... But for Innominat, I was told that I only needed to release the rough sketches to start with, so there was a long gap before I finished drawing him... Please don't ask how long it was since I gave any updates (laughs). I am so sorry. I might have caused some trouble, so I'm just glad that the game was released without any problems. (laughs)
Zestiria was the 20th mainline entry into the Tales of series, and was greeted as such. And now we're at the series' 21st entry. Having been involved in the series for such a long time, Ms. Inomata, are there any things within you that have changed because of the Tales of series? Or, on the other hand, do you think the series has itself been changed by your presence?
Hearing once again that it's been 21 years is quite the surprise... But I think in those 20 years it would make sense for it to change, and keep changing. I want to keep being a part of that change.
After all that talk about how Velvet doesn't have that Tales of series protagonist look, what exactly would Ms. Inomata think of when it comes to a protagonist of the Tales of series?
Rather than putting negative emotions front and center, I think these are games where playing them lets people look forward, so it feels fun to play through the game. That's what I think. A ton of the protagonists are that sort of type, too. Many things happen to the characters along the story, but despite that, they are always looking ahead towards survival. That's the kind of image I have of the Tales of franchise. With Velvet, though, I can at least say she's very much full of determination (laughs).
This time you were in charge of just two characters: Velvet and Innominat. Do you feel good about how the two of them turned out?
Absolutely. I have no regrets. Now I'm just waiting for everyone to be able to play the game and have fun interacting with these characters. I'll be so happy when that time comes.
[note: The following comments on the character reference sheets and 3D models are not explicitly part of the interview, but were from the bottom of the same pages the interview was on.]
Character Reference Sheet for Animation: Velvet
The design is bilaterally asymmetrical, her hair is long, her clothes are tattered... It seems so chaotic and hard to draw. I'm so sorry to the animators (laughs). But I think it's at least good that the coloring is simple and just red and black.
3D Model: Velvet
Her hair is tied back to consolidate it, because it would be difficult to control how it moves in-game otherwise. Since Velvet's coat is also long, the CG had to be adjusted to prevent her hair from clipping through her coat.
Character Reference Sheet for Animation: Innominat
I think his costume's pattern must be a hassle, yet they did a great job in adapting the different elements of the character's designs. It's unfortunate that the animated versions of the characters don't show up very often.
3D Model: Innominat
Innominat is a divine kind of existence. To bring together that kind of godly image, his design uses beautiful white and other light colors. At the same time, it gives the appearance of an unpleasant type of person who brandishes justice as a weapon.
Date of interview: 2016/7/26
