Part III

PART 1     PART 2     PART 3     PART 4     PART 5     PART 6

PART 7     PART 8     PART 9     PART 10     PART 11     PART 12

Hiroaki

  Social Media Links: Twitter: @SUPER_HIROAKIHIROAKI Personal Blog - Official Page

 
Hiroaki Hashimoto is a graduate from Design Course of Department of Art at Osaka University of Arts. He joined SNK in 1998 under the pen name "HIROAKI". First entering the fighting game spotlight with his stunning character art for The King of Fighters '99, HIROAKI was acclaimed by fans for giving the series a refreshing and distinctive new art style. In the years to come, HIROAKI's art style would become synonymous with KOF, defining a new era and aesthetic visual style.
 
    
                      orochi-iori-capcom-vs-snk-pro-art-by-hiroaki.jpg (133274 bytes)           virtuafighter5-arcadia-cover-art-by-hiroaki.jpg (324302 bytes)
 
 


 
 

                                
 
After becoming famous for his KOF character art, HIROAKI showed his versatility by drawing illustrations for other fighting games, including: Buriki One (lead artist), Capcom Vs. SNK, KOF XI, KOF XII, KOF XIV, NEOGEO Battle Coliseum, SNK Vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash (2/DS), Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Super Street Fighter IV, and more.

HIROAKI was considered by many at SNK to be the "protégé" of Shinkiro. In an interview, he said his biggest pressure for KOF is matching Shinkiro's quality. HIROAKI also drew a notable amount of cover illustrations for Arcadia Magazine, which included covers for various KOF titles, Guilty Gear Isuka, Virtua Fighter 5, and TEKKEN 5.
In 2018, HIROAKI was hired by Bandai Namco to illustrate SoulCalibur VI story artwork.

 
   
mitsurugi-soulcalibur6-story-portrait-artwork-by-hiroaki.png (2666491 bytes)           seong-mina-soulcalibur6-story-portrait-artwork-by-hiroaki.png (2418412 bytes)           hwang-soulcalibur6-story-portrait-artwork-by-hiroaki.png (2455483 bytes)           cervantes-soulcalibur6-story-portait-artwork-by-hiroaki2.png (579893 bytes)
 
 


 
 

hiroaki-uppers-artwork.jpg (150004 bytes)           hiroaki-uppers-artwork2.jpg (167750 bytes)           hiroaki-kof2001-promo-art.jpg (159718 bytes)           hiroaki-kofxiv-artwork.JPG (157571 bytes)


kof2002-be-a-fighter-poster-by-hiroaki.jpg (141248 bytes)           kof2002-kyo-overstruggle-soundtrack-art-by-hiroaki.jpg (158311 bytes)           mature-and-vice-kof2002-arcadia-cover-art-by-hiroaki.jpg (148278 bytes)           ryo-sakazaki-burikione-2020-art-by-hiroaki.jpg (400200 bytes)
 
 
HIROAKI's naturally proportioned characters are complimented by a realistic "oil painting style" of coloring and dark lines. He draws characters in "confident and daring" poses so fans of the characters feel proud to use them. HIROAKI created a variety of covers, posters, and other official promo art for several (non-fighting) games, including: Metal Slug Attack, KOF Sky Stage, God Hand, Spikeout: Battle Street, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, Lord of Arcana, Uppers, and Deadly Premonition 2.

TFG FUN FACT: In 2020, I opened a dialogue with HIROAKI on Twitter. He told me he has been using The Fighters Generation website as artistic reference for many years... "since the beginning," in his words.
He noted the site even helped him find materials when designing character artwork for modern games including Street Fighter V and SoulCalibur 6. As the Webmaster of TFG, I was incredibly honored and humbled to learn this... especially the site's original purpose was to be a dependable resource for artists.
 

(Above) HIROAKI's Sol-Badguy Guilty Gear ISUKA illustration for the cover of Arcadia Magazine issue 43 (December 2003).
 

 
 
 

Edayan
  
akuma-by-edayan-2001-revival.png (932371 bytes)            ryu-by-edayan-2001-revival.png (885563 bytes)                       
 
feilong-turbo-revival-win.jpg (11573 bytes)                        vega-turbo-revival-win.png (108952 bytes)            cammy-x-edayan.jpg (637367 bytes)
 
                                   
 
                                   
 

Edayan, known for his spectacular Rival Schools and Street Fighter series character illustrations, is among the most iconic (and perhaps underappreciated) Capcom artists of all time. Edayan amazingly captured Bengus's Street Fighter Alpha art style when he drew the character artwork for Street Fighter Alpha 2. He drew SFA2's artwork so well in fact, that he even confused many fans into thinking Bengus actually did the artwork for the game!

  
                        streetfighter-ex-capcom-ps1-poster-art-by-edayan.jpg (797219 bytes)            ssf2-by-edayan.jpg (790118 bytes)
 
                        edayan-ibuki-bbhood-art.jpg (54451 bytes)           
 

 
His pen name "Edayan" was a nickname used by his older brother when they were younger. Edayan was hired by Capcom after entering a Darkstalkers drawing contest for Capcom (in the Gamest magazine).
The way Edayan he draws faces and expressions really makes his characters come alive. His characters always seem to be in a "dynamic" pose, even when simply standing upright. He's also a master at making clothing and other minute details stand out.
 

   FOLLOW    ON:                            
  TFG NEWS CHARACTERS GAMES