Tetsuya Nomura - Your Thoughts?

[Soul Saver]

I think his designs and style are great, and part of what made, and continues to make the FF series so successful.

It's very ungrateful to attack him now. His most recent works may appear to be recycled from FFVII, but it isn't all that bad.

Yes, he needs to cut down on the Cloud cloning, but X did not look anything like VII. He's capable of originality, that's for sure.
I'd be more concerned with the repetition of the stereotype "pretty boy" main character. There will be a shift away from this with XIII, with the main character being a tough-looking girl.
That ginger-haired girl, looks pretty original too.
XIII's designs may look a lot like those in Advent Children, yes. It's because XIII's cinematics are now on the same level as AC's, and alot of the cutscenes will look like those out of a first-rate CGI film, a notch above those of XII.

And really, having some slightly reused character designs is better than having a repeat of what happened in FFXII. Yoshida's designs were just BORING, dull, and tacky, except with the judges, who looked pretty cool. It would have been alot better if Nomura had designed the characters.

 

[Rockman X]

It's very ungrateful to attack him now. His most recent works may appear to be recycled from FFVII, but it isn't all that bad.

Ungrateful? Why the hell should I be grateful to him for being an artist who clones his own work? When Amano designed characters we always had unique ones each game that were relatively hard to compare to the last set of characters.

And HA, you wanna talk about recycled? I took the liberty of making a side-by-side comparison of Sion from The Bouncer and Sora from KH1. Major recycling going on here:

Yes, he needs to cut down on the Cloud cloning, but X did not look anything like VII. He's capable of originality, that's for sure.

And most of the designs in X were ugly. If you hadn't noticed, I'm not just knocking Nomura for being repetitive, his designs are usually ugly too. He can't design outfits worth a shit. Just look at Sora's outfit, ffs. The entire red portion is all one piece with a zipper running all the way down the front. It just looks like crap. But then I suppose that all just comes down to a matter of personal taste. Nomura really does need to quit humping his belts and zippers though, he likes them way too much.

I'd be more concerned with the repetition of the stereotype "pretty boy" main character. There will be a shift away from this with XIII, with the main character being a tough-looking girl.

See that's sort of a whole cultural thing going on, not just in Japan but other Asian counties too, like South Korea for example. They like the androgynous men types, and that appeal has been around for a long time in those part. It's only manifesting itself in games and anime because it has new mediums to travel.

That ginger-haired girl, looks pretty original too.

Kairi with shorter hair and a stupid hat

XIII's designs may look a lot like those in Advent Children, yes. It's because XIII's cinematics are now on the same level as AC's, and alot of the cutscenes will look like those out of a first-rate CGI film, a notch above those of XII.

What's your point? We don't care about the CGI quality, it's the designs we don't like. And really, need I say more?

And really, having some slightly reused character designs is better than having a repeat of what happened in FFXII. Yoshida's designs were just BORING, dull, and tacky, except with the judges, who looked pretty cool. It would have been alot better if Nomura had designed the characters.

Yoshida's designs did suck. That's because he strayed from his usual art style and tried something new. It didn't work. Now as for the personalities and character development, alot of that SE is to blame for because they rushed the project.

 

[Soul Saver]

Well, I liked most of FFX's character designs, except Wakka and Tidus'.
Yes, it does come down to personal taste, always. Though I do agree about the belts. How does Lulu put that dress on with all those belts, haha.

It's not that I have anything against Androgynous/feminine male characters, it's just that there hasn't been a change for a while, and you get bored when the main character is recycled all the time. I wish they'd stop doing it. Vaan was the last straw.

What I'm saying, most of all, is that Nomura's designs were, and still are great in my opinion,and it's silly to bitch about him recycling some features of his outfits. Look what happened to XII, when he wasn't the character artist.
As I've never played (and don't care about) Kingdom Hearts, I can't really say much except that it's meant to appeal to kids, the characters are supposed to look silly. Really, if he wanted to cartoonise a character design from another series, possibly as a tribute to fans, what's wrong with that?

X-2, well, there was a different director as well, and as has been said before, the characters were intended to look slutty anyway.

It could be worse than varying degrees of recycling, that's for sure.
Anyhow, I'm no art critic, but I stand by the point that attacking Nomura, who has done alot for Final Fantasy, is ungrateful. Let's just see how XIII and Versus XIII turn out.

 

[Grand Lethal]

Ha, if Nomura designed the characters for XII, then Ashe and Fran would be even more slutty. He's the King of Fanwank. Even though XII's designs generally sucked, I proffered them to Nomura's. Hell, Basch would've been an emotard with anime spiky black hair and scars all over him to make him look 'cool' to go with his 'dark' personality + storyline. Why can I assume this? See Squall and Cloud for details.

And the other thing that annoys me: can this man draw hair that isn't remotely spiked or braided? For the love of God, realism in these goddamn "realistic" Final Fantasies sure has its holes. I'm so thankful that XII's hair was realistic looking, even Vaan's was. Nomura's hair designs generally make me sigh. Why is there never good looking hair? (Yuna's was the only remotely good design). Look what he did to Zidane for Dissidia T_T

Sure, I may be bitching and I don't really give a damn about being 'ungrateful', since the games he had creative influence over I generally liked less, but all I can say is that I think it's time for him to step down. SE have used Amano, Nomura and whatshisface from Tactics, XII and FFIII DS, I think it's time that they find someone new. And for the love of god, NOT the person who did the redesigns for Revenant Wings ... *shudder*.

I'd like for FFXIV to have a 'fresh' feel ... and nothing Nomura-fied. Hell, I can dream ...

 

[Rockman X]

What I'm saying, most of all, is that Nomura's designs were, and still are great in my opinion,and it's silly to bitch about him recycling some features of his outfits. Look what happened to XII, when he wasn't the character artist.

See, I'm not quite ready to give up on Yoshida yet, because his past artwork was awesome. He just decided to try something new and failed miserably at it. He still has a chance to redeem himself by going back to his old style from Tactics and Vagrant Story. Nomura, on the other hand, is as lacking in originality as Akira Toriyama.

With him at the helm of designing characters, FF is becoming another Dragon Quest. Each game you have the same characters, just with different hair and clothes.

As I've never played (and don't care about) Kingdom Hearts, I can't really say much except that it's meant to appeal to kids, the characters are supposed to look silly.

I don't buy that. I don't think the story would be as heavy and complicated as it is if it was geared towards kids. SE's kid stuff is more like, you know, the chocobo games and Crystal Chronicles. Not to mention anime is supposedly modeled after old Disney cartoons or whatever, so they probably just wanted to collaborate with Disney for that sake.

X-2, well, there was a different director as well, and as has been said before, the characters were intended to look slutty anyway.

No, the intention behind all the costumes was that they wanted to emulate the fascination Japanese have with transforming, "magical" schoolgirls, like in Sailor Moon and Cardcaptors Sakura. It's no more slutty than anything regular seen in anime, it just seems extra slutty because it's the first time a FF has centered around three heroines baring alot of skin.

Anyhow, I'm no art critic, but I stand by the point that attacking Nomura, who has done alot for Final Fantasy, is ungrateful. Let's just see how XIII and Versus XIII turn out.

Yes yes, he's done SO much for FF. Here's a clue: all he's done is design characters. He doesn't direct the games, and SE has other artists. They let him direct AC and that turned out to be a pile of crap. He wasn't such a prominent figure before SE, he was just another character designer. SE knows that he has a legion of fanboys and they use him as their main character designer for that very reason.

Know what happens when he DOES play a central role in directing something? AC happens. The World Ends with You happens (which from what I've heard isn't that bad of a game, but its design is even more generic anime crap with no originality).

 

[Star Beast]

I know i said i wouldn't post anymoe on this thread but that last statement was so untrue. Nomura thought up the story for FFVII, yes thats right the guy everyonr hates created the story for the most popular and successful FF game. Also he directed the KH games and is directing FF versus XIII. He's done more than design characters in final fantasy. I maybe wrong but didn't he dirct Advent Children aswell?

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Nomura didn't think of anything to do with FFVII apart from the characters and Advent Children. He just happens to be the most popular out of all the staff that produced it, and I think and I think Storm Shadow's post "SE knows that he has a legion of fanboys and they use him as their main character designer for that very reason." has been summed up in your post. It was Sakaguchi and Kitase who directed FFVII.

 

[Star Beast]

i never said nomura directed FFVII, i said he came up with the story but if you don't belive me watch the credits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZhfdi_3eBQ

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

He might have a had a part to play in it but he would not have solely come up with the story behind FFVII. There were 4 people working on the story, therefore, if Nomura had ideas, like every other game made they will have been changed time after time after time.
...and directors are included in everything, especially the story...which is why AC failed.

 

[Star Beast]

but i thought the kingdom hearts games were really good as did many other people. Nomura directed those games. But i suppose people only think about the bad things about people.

 

[Soul Saver]

but I thought the kingdom hearts games were really good, as did many other people. Nomura directed those game, but I suppose people only think about the bad things about people.

Yes. I think it's all just complaining about nothing. His designs still look great. He might be copying from his older designs, but think... what if there was a mediocre character designer in FFVII? His designs are part of what made the PS1 FFs great. No ifs, no buts, truth. Perhaps they're getting a little- or more than a little, depends on how you see it- repetitive, but I still like his character designs. He hasn't made the characters for an original flagship FF game since FFX, give him a chance. AC, well, not much room for creativity there, seeing as it is part of the FFVII compilation. Movie directing maybe isn't his thing, but at the same time, the awesome CGI animation was what that film was about.
Don't take a black and white view to this, it doesn't do any good. I will now stop posting here, it's just become a pointless "bitch about how much you don't like Nomura anymore" thread. Give FFXIII and Versus XIII a chance.

KTHXBAI

 

[Star Beast]

LOL i said i would stop posting but i couldn't resist posting again. Also i just had an idea, most people when saying nomuras designs are similar compare FF characters to KH characters. maybe, just maybe nomura purposefully made FF and KH characters similar as a tribute to the FF games or something.

 

[Scarlet]

but i thought the kingdom hearts games were really good as did many other people. Nomura directed those games. But i suppose people only think about the bad things about people.

Why do you have such a hard-on for Nomura?

Anyways, for Final Fantasy VII Nomura was just the character designer and worked on the original scenario concept.

Yes, Nomura directed KH1 and KH2 but that still doesn't mean that he still recycle character designs. (I don't like the character designs in KH.) To be honest, I'm getting sick of his Jrock appearance and the spiky hair is getting old. My god, for his FFXIII character designs, the males look like they're about to drop down their pants and have buttsecks with each other.

 

[Star Beast]

i don't have a hard-on for nomura, i'm just defending him, and if you watched the video you would have read something like this:

Based on the story by: Tetsuya Nomura

 

[Rockman X]

i never said nomura directed FFVII, i said he came up with the story but if you don't belive me watch the credits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZhfdi_3eBQ

Further proof that Nomura fails. I happen to find the story in VII convoluted, the characters underdeveloped, and the motives questionable.

HAI GUISE LETZ BLOW UP DIS HERE REACTOR AND KILL LOTSA PEOPLES TO TEACH SHINRA A LESSON OOLOLOL!

Terrorists.

HAI GUISE SHINRA R GUNNA BLOW UP SHINRA WIF HUGE MATERIA TO SAVE TEH WERLD! LETS GO STEAL IT SO THEY CANT LAWL!

Just plain retarded.

but i thought the kingdom hearts games were really good as did many other people. Nomura directed those games. But i suppose people only think about the bad things about people.

KH games are fun to play. That's it. The story in the first was a bunch of kiddy crap about friendship and hearts and instead of KH2 answering all the questions posed by KH1, it posed MOAR questions so they could draw out the series and make a ton of sequels to reap fans for money.

His designs are part of what made the PS1 FFs great. No ifs, no buts, truth.

Wrong. You fail to understand the concept of an opinion. What you said is an opinion, not truth. I find VII to be great in gameplay, but mediocre in every other aspect. I find VIII to be a pile of fail. The two best PSone games, in my opinion, are Tactics and IX, which he didn't have his grubby little hands in.

Give FFXIII and Versus XIII a chance.

I'd rather not. XIII has Cloud on estrogen and transforming summons. Versus has an emo prince doing anime flips and twirls and combos in the air. Agito has the heart of the cards.

KTHXBAI

Goodbye. Nice hearing you parade your opinions around as fact.

 

[Soul Saver]

You don't seem any better.

Face it, if Nomura hadn't been the character designer for VII, then what?

The PS1 FFs might not all be great in your opinion, either, but I'll warrant that Nomura's designs are part of what made them so successful.

Of course I understand the concept of an opinion. My apologies if I seem quite hostile.

Ok, very last post.

 

[Grand Lethal]

Amano's designs were popular by most pre-VII fans. If Nomura hadn't've designed the VII characters, then I reckon Amano would have. Seeing an Amano design in 3D probably would have made the hardcore (elitist) pre-VII fans have a fangasm, and still would have made the series successful.

I concur with Storm Shadow, I find VII's story to be quite weak, and motives questionable. (Sephiroth = WTF?) If Nomura had a hand in making VII's story, then I he's lost even more points with me.

I dislike Nomura's designs, mainly for one thing. Ask someone what they think of Cloud or Sephiroth's design, and you'll mainly get: "ZOMG HE HAS A HUGE SORD! HE IS AWESUM!" ... Mahoosively-huge swords (or weapons in general) annoy me in the Fantasy genre. I don't find them attractive at all. He tends to go for the Massive Weapons (tm) when he designs characters. Cloud, Sephiroth, Squall, Seifer, Auron, Tidus. Mahoosive weapons.

 

[der Astronom]

When I first saw Cloud, I thought he looked like a Dragonball character.

He's not the first person to design characters with spiky hair.

 

[Rockman X]

You don't seem any better.

Face it, if Nomura hadn't been the character designer for VII, then what?

The PS1 FFs might not all be great in your opinion, either, but I'll warrant that Nomura's designs are part of what made them so successful.

VII did so well because the graphics were revolutionary for the time, it could have been done with any other artist. And it seems you need a reminder that:

the only PSone FF with Nomura designs that was uber popular was VII. He designed characters for VIII, and if you recall, that one was not very popular among fans and doesn't .

When I first saw Cloud, I thought he looked like a Dragonball character.

He's not the first person to design characters with spiky hair.

I lol'd.

That's one of the reasons why I compare Nomura to Akira Toriyama. That and they both copy off their own designs and have no originality.

One of the things I like to do when I look at Nomura's designs is think to myself "would I, or anyone else for that matter, wear this?" About 99% the answer is no. The only outfit I can think of atm that's wearable is Roxas's outfit. And I sure as hell would NOT wear Tidus's outfit. Not only is it just plain ugly and garish, but that whole one arm/leg longer than the other would drive me insane. Hell, it annoys me just looking at it. I need everything EVEN

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

No one complains about the actual character designs on FFVII, its everything after that, all the characters look the same, and he destroyed KH2 compared to the the first KH. You can tell Nomura's work straight away, they all have the overused belts and zippers on them. Belts and zippers do not make up a costume, he just can't design to save his life at the moment.
More belts and zippers! More!!