MM25

THEY HAD EiDTH THE CONVICTION TD
TRUST IN =1'USTICE AND THE METTLE

TD PERSIST AGAINST ALL ODDS. DUR
HERDES CONTINUE DN EVEN NOW, AND
THEIR ACTIONS PROVE TD US THAT
TRUE COURAGE CAN SE FOUND IN ALL
DF DUR HEARTS.
"Mega Man" & "Mega Man 2" Planner A.K.

Illustration: Keiji lnafune
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I can't believe it's been five years clreody sincethe releaseof "R20"... are there plans to publishone of these booksevery five years from now
on or something!? Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Books like this one grant me the rare opportunity to reunite with people I haven't seen in
zyxwvutsrqponmlk
years. I guess I'd better get to work on making the next five years just as great. As for the readers out there, I'll see you all again in five years!
MffldM Ishikawa worked on official art for Mega Man games that came out after the series made the transition to the PlayStation, including titles like "Mega Man 8", "Mega Man & Bass", and
"Mega Mon Battle & Chase", among others. Prior to these games, Ishikawa also created lots of eel art of enemy characters for various guide books, and his art style hos earned him a loyal
following. Currently, Ishikawa does freelance work as a character designer for video games and onime.
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"OBoNTO" 15 A NOD TO A FAN MAD• VIDeo OF A TOUCHIN6 5CeNe WHeRe X 15 ReUNITeD WITH Hl5 THOUGHT TO Be DMD, Be5T FRI.ND Z.RO.
Z.R0'5 LIN• HAD eeeN 51'/ITCHeD OUT 50 IT ReAD5 "I WOK· UP .P,RL</ AND MAD• AN oeeNTO FOR </OU."
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Suetsugu handled many official "Mega Man" illustrations, mostly centered around "Mega Man X4" to "Mega Man X6". Anytime someone zyxw
Haruki Suetsugu mentions X from the "Mega Man X" series after the initial PlayStation release, they are usually referring to Suetsugu's X. His X and Zero,
clearly drawn with love and sincerity, are still considered standards of the "Mega Man X" series today.
007
13,Jl,1,if§,il
Shima Maeda I was given lots Of freedom
Happy 25th anniversary,
with this piece, so I had tons of fun! I'm sorry
Mega Man!!
if the characters don't really look like themselves.
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utsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ
maN"' IHGFEDCBA6 me:aa maN"" X: OFFICli:IL comPLE'TS: WOlii!/CS
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-~.-. -..-_,
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Ma'eda is one of Capcom's former artists. He did the main illustration and character illustrations for "The Misadventures of Tron Bonne". A~ide from the 11 Mega Man" series
of games,Maeda is also known for his work on "Pocket Fighter". He is credited under a different name for his current work.
J 009
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l.€•]11\ni§,\ij Happy 25th anniversary! I am honored to be a part of this celebration. I only drew for the series for four short years, so I believe its success
it
is the result of the hard work put into by Ccpccm's staff and the great mango artists that came after me. 1 hope the series will continue to
f1ourish for a long time to come. As for me, I've turned 61 years old ... (laughs)
012 I me:a,i;iffliQN"" o!i me=a,i:i ffliQN"" X, OFFICliQL comPLETE' WORKS
M:ftfMW zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
Ikehara is the artist behind the "RockmanWorld 1 ", "RockmanWorld 2 "Rockmon","Rockman2", "Rockman4" to "Rockman7",
11, and "Rockman X" mangos that were originally
published in Comic BonBon. He has also created a few "Mega Man" mangoswith original stories. Ikehara is a veteran among mango artists, having once served as an assistant to
Osamu Tezuka. When discussing the history of "Mega Man" mangas,Ikehara is one namethat will always comeup.
013
am O tO l§•],i\qt§11i
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I drew Axl last time, so I decided to go with Mega Man and Bass this time. J also threw in a flrst-generation Zero for fun. I hope you find this to be" zyxw
a fun piece! Now then, will my next opportunity come around with the 30th anniversary? (laughs) I hope to get a coll again when the time comes!!
MfflMW zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
The "RockmanX" through "RockmanX4" mango adaptationswere done by Iwamoto and were originally published in Comic BonBon. lwamoto's art style is considered to
have gone beyond the usual limits of children's mango, and it earned him a strong following. The "Rockman X" seriesof mango was out of print for a long time, but was re-
printed due to popular demand and is still available for purchase today.
015
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It's been 25 wondrous years. From video games to mango, I've walked alongside Mega Man for many years and I've come to see him
as a cherished comrade-in-arms. No doubt other hardcore Mega Man fans out there feel the same way.
·---
-:::,,.
MffldtW Arigo authored "Rockman Remix" and "Mega Man Megamix", often considered to be spin-off mangos, for Comic BonBon bonus issues. Arigo has worked on the "Mega
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSR
Man" series outside of mango as well, taking on the roles of supervisor and editor for the Japanese versions of "Mega Man: Offkial Complete Works" and "Mega Man X:
Official Complete Works". In 2009, Arigo released the sequel to "Mega Man Megamix", entitled "Mega Man Gigamix".
019
13•Jni11iJ1\I Happy 25th anniversary, Mego Man! l am grateful for this opportunity to submit an illustration for such a special book. After much internal debate, I chose
Miho Asada to pair the first-generation zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZ
Mega Man and Roll with the same power duo from Mega Man Battle Network. I hope Mega Man will live on forever!!
022 I zyxwvums:Ga
tsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSmaN=
RQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 6 ms:Ga maN= X, OFFlCll!IL comPLS:TS' WOJi!lCS
Mffldttli zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
Asada was the artist behind "Battle Story MegaMan ~T Warrior" {story by Jun Keijima), a mango series that was originally publishedin all of Shogakukan's grade
school magazines from "Shogaku lchinensei" to "Shogaku Yonensei1'. The younger reoder s were enchanted by the soft touch of Asada's art style. She also drew a
one-off mango entitled "Rockman.EXE Special".
023
ngo
O Ad h •13•]11\01§,\j I drew this while thinking back on all of the great people I met and the good times zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPO
ac I we shared while working on the "Mega Man" zyxwvutsrqponm
Sh IzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
series. I am very happy to have had this opportunity to draw some very memorable characters. As a fan, I look forward to meeting
all of the new "Mega Man" characters that are sure to come. Happy 25th anniversary!
024 I me:a,q mi'IN"" ,!i me=a,q mi'IN"" X: OFFICli'IL comPLE'TE' WORICS
MffldtM zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
Adachi is an animator who used to work for Xebec. While employed at Xebec, Adachi worked on the "MegaMan NT Warrior", "MegaMan NT Warrior Axess", "Rockman.EXE
Stream", and "Rockman.EXE
Beast+" anime series. He also took on the responsibilitiesof art director for the anime movie "Rockman.EXE: Hikari to Yami no Ison". More recently,
Adachi supported "Mega Man" on the anime front with projects like "Mega Man Star Force"and "ShootingStar RockmanTribe". He currently works as a freelancer.
025
••••••••• -=-. -=·
Hayato Kaji
131]11!111§,il
•••••• .-.-.- •••
I rememberMega Man's 20th anniversary like it was just yesterday, and here we are at the 25th anniversary already! I focused on using
lots of bright colors for this piece, and it makes me want to turn these illustrations into toys that I could put on my desk. I came up with this
layout quite awhile back, so I was happy to finally have the opportunity to use it in an official piece. I'd love for my next project to be a
game that everyonecould play! I hope you'll continue to support Mega Man!!
MffldtM Kaji has been a part of the "Mega Man" series since "Mega Man 4" on the NES. He was responsible for some of the early character concepts for "Mega Man Battle
Network", as well as the character designs for Bass, Duo, and some of the characters from "Mega Man X". He also worked on the sprites for Magma Man and Splash
Woman for "Mega Man 9". Kaji has been an integral part of the "Mega Man" series and its success.
YUJ• • Is h .• hara 13·111\i,M,li I feel like it has been too long since we got a new Mega Man game, so I was hoping to give the series a bit of a boost with this
lively illustration. I can't wait for a new Mega Man to once again appear before starry-eyed boys and girls around the world!
Mffldt1i Ishihara has been part of the Mega Man team since "Mega Man Legends". He came up with the base Reaverbot design, and played a central role in the design and sprite
work for "Mega Man Battle Network" and "Mega Man Star Force". Ishihara has been one of the many talented people behind the "Mega Man" series in recent years.
mEGl'I ml'IN"" 6 mEGl'I ffll'IN"" X: OFFIC/l'IL comPLETE WORKS
Ryuji Higurashi Keisuke Mizuno 13•]11!11\J.\I For this collaborative illustration, Iris was drawn by Higurashi, Roll by Kataiwa, and the chibis by zyxw
Mizuno, while I drew Kalinka myself. Higurashi was all, "I'm going to draw Iris and have Bandai submit
Yuri Kataiwa Kenta Saito
it as a D-Arts design!" We all hope his wish will come true. Happy 25th anniversary, Mega Man! (Saito)
ll'.m[tll The Capcom Design Studio has been responsible for countless "Mega Man" designs and illustrations. They draw illustrations for everything from games to merchandise, and also support
books like this one with their artistic talents. See page 426 for details on these four artists, all of whom are integral to the series.
027
MEliA MAI\I'" & MEliA MAl\l"X OFFICIAL COMPLETE WORK§
,t!'J, :CNTlii!ODUCT:CON 002 Wily & Light's Rock Board +Thot's Paradise- 118
Mega Man's Soccer 119
25TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE ART Mega Man Battle & Chase l 20
Hideki Ishikawa 006 Super Adventure Rockman l 25
Haruki Suetsugu 007 Rockman Complete Works l 26
Shima Maeda 008 Rockman (PS) 130
Toru Nakayama 010 Rockman 2: The Secret of Dr. Wily (PS) 132
Shigeta Ikehara 012 Rockman 3: The End of Dr. Wily!? (PS) 134
Yoshihiro Iwamoto 014 Rockman 4: A New Ambition!! (PS) 136
Koji lzuki 016 Rockman 5: Blues' Trap!? (PS) l 38
Hitoshi Arigo 01 8 Rockman 6: The Greatest Battle of All Time!! (PS) 140
Ryo Takamisaki 020 Rockman Battle & Fighters 142
Miho Asada 022 Mega Man & Bass (GBA) 142
Shingo Adachi 024 Rockman Power Battle Fighters (PS2) 143
Haya to Kaji 026 Mega Man: Powered Up 144
Yuji Ishihara 026
COLLABORATION: Ryuji Higurashi, Yuri Kataiwa, ,t!'J, fflS:G-'I ffl-'IN X SS:lii!IS:S 149
Keisuke Mizuno, Kenta Saito 027
Yoshitaka Enomoto 311 Mega Man X l 50
Mega Man X2 l 62
@, fflS:G-'I ffl-'IN SS:lii!IS:S 029 Mega Man X3 174

Mega Man X4 l 84
Mega Man 030 Mega Man X5 192
Mega Man 2 034 Mega Man X6 200
Mega Man 3 040 Mega Man X7 208
Mega Man 4 ~ 046 Mega Man X8 214
Mega Man 5 052 Mega Man Xtreme : 222
Mega Man 6 058 Mega Man Xtreme 2 224
Mega Man 7 064 Mega Man X: Command Mission 226
Mega Man 8 076 Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X 230
Mega Man 9 084
Mega Man l O 090 ,f!, lii!OUGH SICS:TCHS:S 235
Rockman & Forte 096
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge l 00 ,t!'J, G-'ILLS:lii!Y 259
Mega Man II l 02
Mega Man Ill l 03 •f!• -'llii!CHIVS:S 313
Mega Man IV 104
Mega Man V 105 ,t!'J, SPECl-'IL 41 5
Mega Man: The Wily Wars l l3
Mega Man: The Power Battle l 14 Rockman Xever 424
Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters l 14
*Please understand that some of the illustrations in this book
have been cropped, or are not represented in their original
colors as a result of the mediums used and/or the passage
of time. With the assistance of the Copcom Design Studio, a
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM
*The various video game platforms are denoted by the following abbreviations:
portion of these old illustrations was digitally reproduced while
remaining as faithful to the original work as possible.
NES = Nintendo Entertainment System VCW = Wii Virtual Console zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

PS3 = PlayStation 3
*In order to best represent the authenticity of the artwork
included in this book, any and all misprints or other unique
SNES = Super Nintendo Entertainment System VC3 = Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console PSP = PlayStation Portable
oddities have not been edited.
GC = GameCube SG = Sego Genesis PSS = PlayStation Store
WII = Nintendo Wii SS = Sega Saturn 360 = Xbox 360 *Game logos featured are the original Japanese versions. The
GB= Game Boy NGP = NeoGeo Pocket AC= Arcade official English titles are listed in the blue box usually near the
GBC = Game. Boy Color PS = PlayStation PC = Personal Computer logo. Release dates listed are for the original Japanese games.
GBA = Game Boy Advance PS2 = PlayStation 2 IOS = iPhone/iPad *This book is a faithful translation of the original Japanese
version published in December 2012.
Mega Man zyxwvutsrqponmlkj
NES 12/17/1987
VCW 07/29 /2008
PSS 08/12/2009
VC3 07/18/201 2
In the year 200X, industrial robots suddenly began to run amok. The robots were
created by Dr. Light, the leading authority on robotics, but were altered by the evil
genius Dr. Wily. It was Wily's hope that he would be able to use Light's robots to take
over the world. In order to stand against Wily's forces, Dr. Light made the difficult
decision to modify Rock,a robot whom he loved like a true son. Rock was thus reborn
as Mega Man, the combat-ready robot.
"I knew absolutely nothing about what it takes to create a game when I was
thrust into the Mega Man team, in a position where I would be responsiblefor the
characters.In an unfamiliar world surroundedby unknowns,I was finding out all too
quickly what would be expected of me. It was really fun, but just insanely hectic. The
guy who put this whole project in motion was my mentor.He began his career as a
designer,and he was the one who created the original forms of Mega Man, Roll,and
Dr. Light as dot graphics. I then took those images and turned them into illustrations,
giving them motion and making adjustmentsto their designs."{lnafune)
Dlii!. W:CLY
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"By the time I joined in, Cut Man,
Ice Man, Guts Man, and Fire Man
were already taking form. Cut
Man and Ice Man have basically
retained their original designs." aUTS m~N
{lnafune) 17 L N. IZI IZI'+
:cce: m~N
17 L N. IZI IZI !;
e,ome, m~N
DLN.IZIIZl6
"As the new guy, it was my job to create Elec Man and
Bomb Man. l was also allowed to participate when using
dots to give Guts Man and Fire Man motion." (lnafune)
"As the first character I

designed, Elec Man has
plenty of things I really like
as well as things I don't like.
SometimesI think about how
I could have done things
differently, but at the same
time I'm tickled by the thought
that he was my first character.
It's hard to explain how I feel
about him. {laughs)"{lnafune)
Flliii!e: m~N
DLN.IZIIZl7
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8,UN8,Y HE=L:C
FOOT
HOLDE=R
K:CLLE=R
e,ome,
SN:CPE=R ,:JOE= "I came up with the designs, dot graphics, and names of the minor enemy
characters.When they asked me - the new guy - to do all of this, I was blown away
to say the least. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that what I produced
would be used. I mean, that's obviously what I was hoping for when I joined the
company, but I never would have expected to get that kind of responsibility in my
first year. It's pretty unthinkable in today's industry. To be honest, I wanted to put a
lot more details into my characters, but there were some severe visual restrictions
when it came to bringing them to life in the NES' dot matrix. That was my main
dilemma when working on '1 '." (lnafune)
e,ome,ome,ome,
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.................•.....•..............•.•.•.•.•.•....•...............................................................•.•........•.........•.•.•
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:: 032 I zyxwvut
MEGR srqponmlkjihgfM/:INnn
edcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJI
& MEG/:1 HGFEDCBA fflRNnn X: CFFICl/!IL COMPLETE WORKS ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
····························································*··················································································
!!!!!!!!!!!~!!•!!~!~!~!~!!!!!•!~!!!!!!!!~!!!~•!!•!!!!!~~~!~!~!!!!!!~!!~~~!~~!~!!!~~~!~!~!!•~!~!~
"The man who got this whole project on its feet
is a really strict guy, and at the same time he
knows exactly what he wants and is not willing to
settle for anything less. Most of what I know about
making games, 1 learned from him. As hardware,
the NES can be pretty weak, so we often had to
twist our brains to figure out how to do what we
wanted. The Yellow Devil, for example, was such a
, physically large character, and we knew it would
be too boring if all he had was an expressive
background and projectiles as weapons. Thot's
when he would tweak this and that, pulling out
every trick in his hat to bring the game up another
level. I often found myself saying things like,
'Seriously!? You can do that?' and 'So this is how
games are made ... ' while I watched him work."
(lnafune)
Yi::LLOW Di::V:CL
"Mega Man's world and

the characters who live in
it existed so clearly in our
minds, but with the NES's
capacity and expressive
limitations being what they
are, I sometimes think that
the only part that really got
across to the players the
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihg
way it was in our miridswas
"I often heard people say, 'Mega Man can't crouch,' but we actually
the ending. Still, I think I was
had a dot graphic of him crouching while we were working on '1 '.
very fortunate to have had
Our wise leader, however, wanted a system that 'utilizes simple
the opportunity to work on a
control yet offers deep gameplay'. On the NES, with only a split
game like that." (lnafune)
second to see the slight height difference, the player wouldn't
really be able to differentiate between a projectile that could only
be dodged by [urnpinq and one that could only be dodged by
crouching. That was the reason we decided to go with a jumping-
1 2',
only system for 'Mega Man l' and and I think we did a good
[ob refining it." (lnafune)
CWU-IZllP
W:CLY ffliACH:CNi:: #1 W:CLY ffliACH:CNi:: #1

(FORffl 11 (FORm e)
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Mega Man 2
NES 12/24/1988
VCW 08/26/2008
PSS 09/19/2009
VC3 08/08/2012
Total number of boss character
Dr. Wily's ambitions for world domination had been submissions: 8,370
successfully suppressed by Mega Man, the super robot
created by Dr. Light. Peace returned to the world once
j
more, but sadly, it did not last very long. Despite his
devastating loss, Dr. Wily returned with eight new powerful
robots to challenge Mega Man.
D~. W:CLY
W:CLY CIQSTLE=
"I designed Dr. Wily all by myself. I was a,m,ng

for the archetypical image that everyone would
immediately think of when imagining a mad scientist.
Personally,I think he turned out quite well." (lnafune)
11 1
think '2' is the most memorable for me, both in
that it was the most fun and the most stress.I was
actually working on a different project at the
time, but our fearless leader from "l ' approached
me one day to ask me if I was willing to join
them again. Making a sequel wasn't a corporate
decision, it was more like the team [vst kind of
saying 'Let's do lt!' Seeing as how it would be my
first time working on two projects simultaneously,I
was rather intrigued. I asked him what timeframe
they were aiming for, and his reply was, 'Including
the checks?Three months.' I was like, 'Whaaa!?'
(laughs) So yeah, that's how '2' began." (lnafune)
[,
r
(
"In 'Mega Man l ', the basic actions involved shootingand

knocking stuff over, but there were also many traps on
the map that players had to navigate. In 'Mega Man 2',
we kept all of the above, but added many more traps.
We implemented Items 1, 2, and 3 to assistthe players in
l
this respect. We had gotten a lot of feedback for '1' that
stated that there were someareas that were 'too difficult'.
We even had the marketing department asking us to make
things a little more playable. Our leader was especially
unsureabout the use of Energy Tanks.He wasn't sure that
they were really necessary, and even asked me what l
thought about them." (lnafune)
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"I was trying to make the zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLK

art of 'Mega Man 2' a little
more 'anime-ish' . If asked
which package illustration I
had more time to do, though,
I have to admit I hardly
had any time at all to do
'2'. (laughs) Still, I had a lot
of fun doing it. I think I was
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE
able to give it a lot of life."
(lnafune)
"It was so fun to take the boss characters
that kids came up with and tweak their
designs. Now that I think about it, the boss
character submission event was the first time
I really felt like a 'producer' in this project.
It really taught me what we need to think
about when creating games."{lnafune)
FLjQSH MjQN
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"In '2', I think Heat Man

is my favorite. He is such
a 'gimmicky' character.
(laughs) He's like a Zippo
flipping open. None of the
other robots really had a
gimmick like Heat Man."
(lnafune)
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"Working on '2' marked my
second year at this, and I
even got to mentor a 'new
kid', which opened up a
whole new world of stress
for me. Something that would
take me three hours to do
would take three days ... So
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and three days eventually
turned into one day, which
in turn became eight hours,
and so on. Mentoring was
definitely fun in its own way."
(lnafune)
P:CCOP:CCO-KUN
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(SLITS T.c:INK
"When time gets tight, I help out wherever I can. For

the Guts Tank, I not only did the dot graphics, but
also most of the planning. The Guts Tank'smain body
is actually part of the background; I had to tweak
the visuals to make sure Mega Man's footholds didn't
look like they were moving around." (lnafune)
"Thinking back on it now, working late for this project

and even sleeping at the office was lots of fun. There's
nothing better than seeing everything gradually
coming together every day. The three months I spent
on this game showed me how fun making games could
W:CLY ffl.c:ICH:CNe: #e really be, and I only have the best of memoriesabout
(FO!ii!ffl 1) it." (lnafune)
W:CLY ffl.c:ICH:CNe:#e
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. ...
Reformed, Dr. Wily began assisting Dr. Light in the creation
Mega Man 3
NES 09/28 / 1990 of the giant robot "Gamma" to serve the purposes of world
VCW 11 /04/2008 peace. But just as it seemed that Gamma would be completed,
PSS 04/28/2010 disaster struck. Somethingwas happening to the robots that
VC3 09/26/2012 had been harvesting energy sources for Gamma on far away
Total number of boss character planets! Mega Man's newest battle was about to begin!
submissions: 50,000
"Although '2' was a huge success,about a year passed before

we started work on '3' simply because our eternal leader quit his
job. We got a new leader for '3', but he didn't really understand
Mega Man the way his predecessordid ... and that resulted in some
headaches.It was especially hard on me becauseI had learned so
muchwhile working on '1' and '2', which left me with a lot of preset
notionsabout how things shouldbe." (lnafune)
"Again, I was responsible

for taking on anything and
everything that we were running
out of time on. I did the enemy
settings, the specifications, and
even worked on the maps. By the
time I started working on these
things,however,we were already
in trouble as far as deadlines
were concerned, so I got some
extra help and divided up the
work amongstus." (lnafune)
.,.~ ... ... ····~··· ·····~········~*···················································································

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"Starting in '3', we added the sliding
action. That meant the game controls
lost some of their simplicity, but I
was just glad we didn't incorporate
crouching. If an enemy jumped at
you and you were all like 'Oh not',
you could slide under them and get a
shot at them from behind. In this way,
sliding was an action that had a good
balance between being an offensive
and defensive tactic." {lnafune)
"Items l, 2, and 3 had some interesting capabilities, but they

really had no life to them. So, based on the idea that all good
anime heroes had a trusty dog sidekick, we took Mega Man's
helmet and mixed in the color scheme from Items 1, 2, and 3 to
come up with Rush." (lnafune)
11We
wanted people to be unsure
whether Proto Man was a friend or foe.
On the one hand, he'd seemlike a rival
to Mega Man, but at the sametime he'd
seem like a comrade of sorts. There
were so many characters like this in the
classic animes of my generation, and
that's where the idea for this character
came from. (laughs) We gave him a
scarf to add to his 'cool' factor, and
gave him a shield to make him seem
tougher than Mega Man." (lnafune)
i.?USH .::JE=T
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"I focused entirely on Top Man for
an entire week, but lost all of the
data in a big [computer] crash when
someone tripped over the power
cord. I was so devastated, but with
everything so fresh in my mind I was
able to get back to where I was in
about three days. This incident is why
I'll never forget Top Man ... sometimes
I wonder if my first attempt would
have made a better Top Man.
(laughs)" (lnafune)
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was stretched well beyond my job description for '3' to
say the least. At one point, I even found myself having a
discussionwith the Sound Lead, although that certainly did
not mean I had any less illustration work to do. Suffice to say,
I was kept very busy. There are a lot of little things that I'm
13,'
unhappy with when it comesto and if I had the chance I
would definitely redo most of it." (lnafune}
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A new challenge was presented by the ambitious Dr. Cossack
Mega Man 4
who, like Dr. Wily before him, wanted to take over the world.
NES 12/06/1991
vcw 02/09/2010 Outfitted with the new Mega Buster that Dr. Light had secretly
PSS 02/09/2011 been working on, Mega Man set out to return peace to the
VC3 10/17 /2012 eight cities that had been seized by Dr. Cossack.
Total number of boss character
submissions:70,000
"Since both Light and Wily were elderly, we made Cossack more of a
'young scientific genius'. For some reason, that made me think of American
influences,but I really wanted to take it to a completely different country,
so I incorporated a lot of flavor from the north." (lnafune)
'r». Cossack was initially named Dr. Vice, but we decided we wanted to
stay with the musictheme and changed it to CossackInsteod." (Kaii)
l?lo!.COSS~CK:
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"The Charge Shot became a staple
1 4',
attack but we knew
starting with
adding a two-level or three-level
charge would change the whole ftovor
of the game in some respects,and we
were very mindful of that." (lnafune)
"I think I was the one working on the

Charge Shot. I had a lot of trouble
perfecting it. At one point, the shot
would disappear if it was right next to
you. (laughs)"(Kaji)
"Eddie was an idea that came

to us while we were working
on '2'. Instead of just placing
an item to be discovered zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV
by the player, we wanted
a character in a supporting
role that would behave kind
of like a lottery. You never
knew what to expect, and
we wanted the player to
be really happy or really
disappointed depending
on what came out. (laughs)"
(lnafune)
"It was getting pretty stuffy with all of these male characters,so we
decided to add a cute new [female] character as well. This is how
Kalinka came about. It's not like we were trying to give Roll any
competition, but l guessyou can't really help but compare the two.
I had a lot of fun working on '4', and I'm very happy with the two
new character designs."(lnafune)
nWhen creating new characters, lnafune really enjoys starting from

their story or someother detail like that and expanding out." (Kaji)
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you could tell that they really 'got it' as far as
Mega Man was concerned. We hardly had
to make any adjustments at all once we had
selected the winning entries. I remember Skull
Man in particular, as we scrapped a whole level
that was in progress to recreate it specifically
for Skull Man." (Kaji)
"l'm sure a lot of it has to do

with the great initial design
concepts, but I've got to say
that I think the designs and
selections of boss characters
for '4' turned out really well.
I really like these characters."
(lnafune)
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"I was the new guy who came in for '41• zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
! learned a lot under lnafune's wing,
where I got to work on someof the minor
enemy characters. The Shield Attacker
was something that I came up with by
thinking from a gameplay perspective.
Since you can only land attacks from
behind, it kind of forces people to
experiment with the new sliding feature.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but
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good idea. (laughs)" (Kaji)
DR. W:CLY
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...
Two months had passed since the last battle, and Mega
Mega Man 5 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGF
Man was enjoying his well-deserved break from fighting.
NES 12/04/1992
vcw 05/31 /2011 Then one day, Proto Man showed up with a whole army
PSS 08/10/2011 of mysterious robots behind him and began laying
VC3 11 /14/2012 siege to the city. To make matters worse, Proto Man also
Total number of boss kidnapped Dr. Light. Why would he do this!?Amidst many
character submissions: 130,000 unanswered questions,the battle between Proto Man and
Mega Man begins!
"Once again, we had to welcome a new team leader. This meant

that I had to (once again) explain the basic concept of Mega Man
itself. l had to explain the rules of making an action game, and I used
the phrase 'You can't do thot!' quite often. Making an unreasonable
game, for instance,would be an affront to the players. I had many
suchconversationsduring the development of this game, and I think it
...
may have a lower level of difficulty as a result." (lnafune)
. .. . ....•.•...•.•.•.•..............•...•.•..........•.•...•.•.•.•..............•.....•.•.•.•...•..............•..........••.••.•.........•.
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"It's a bird ... that's a helmet.
(laughs) I didn't have a very
hard time with the design. I just
tried to imagine what a cute
bird would look like, and this is
what I gal. I hadn't had much
experience drawing birds, but
I got it approved on my first
shot." (lnafune)
"I knew we had to come up with

something new, so we powered up the
Charge Shot. It felt like everything
had already been 'done' in '4', so all
we really had left to do was introduce
powered up versions of everything in
'5' and '6'." (lnafune)
"We didn't just make the Charge Shot

bigger in '5', but also added some
different colors where we could." (Kaji)
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"'5' was taking awhile to come
together as a game, and I was
called on in the middle of it
all to help out in any way that
I could. I did some of the dot
work for Stone Man.11 {Kojl]
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C:Clii!Clii!:CNG1.19
"I think '51 was pretty fun

to do, but 1 do remember
having a lot of trouble
with the ci'esigns, the
balance, and the colors."
(lnafune)
W:CLY
CjQPSULS :CI:
"They let me work on the

minor enemy characters.
With the NESbeing what
it was, lining them up
was pretty hard. (laughs)
In the end, I remember
that '5' was put together
by the staff that lnafune
assembled, otherwise
known as the Rock
Family." (Kaji)
W:CLY
MjQCH:CNS #5 W:CLY Plii!SSS
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The year is 20XX. The "Global Robot Alliance" was formed to oppose
Dr. Wily's ambitions for world domination. One year later, the very first
Mega Man 6
NES 11 /05/1993 tournamentwas held to determine the greatest peace-defending robot. But
Total number of boss the event was interrupted when Mr. X, who had been a strong supporter of
character submissions: 200,000 the Alliance,stole the robots and moved forward with his own plans to take
over the world. Will Mega Man be able to stop Mr. X before it's too late!?
mlii!. x
"You know who this is, right?

Yeah, I didn't do any of the
design." (lnafune)
.............................•.•••.........•.......................................•...........•................•............................•.
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.. "This was around
the character
the time
when l was working on
'Mega Man X', so I think
illustrations
are closer in density to 'X',
the density of the Super
NES."(lnafune)
"We were always implementing new ideas, and we finally

arrived at the inevitable 'assembling'!(laughs)I really struggled
with these designs... If you think about it, they shouldn't be able
to combine like this. It would have been a little awkward if parts
of Rush, like his neck, were left over after they combined, so what
was I supposed to do? (laughs)" (lnafune)
"At the time, series that made it to their sixth title

were pretty rare, and one of the pleasant perks of
such repeated successes was the fact that some of
the things in the games came to be 'expected' by the
players." (lnafune)
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DWN.121'+6
"We tried taking boss character

submissions from overseas for '6', and the
overall sense of design was so different
from ours that it was pretty interesting
in and of itself. I admit, I was consciously
not thinking about the NES'scapabilities
while doing my illustrations. Sometimes,
I'd stop to think about just how we were
going to express a certain character in
dot graphics, but I would always dismiss
that train of thought, saying, 'We'll figure
something out.' (laughs)" (lnafune)
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fflETALL
POTTON
POWElii! P:ISTON
PEAT
DACHONE LTD. ED.
X Clii!USHElii!
fflETON(;Elii! Z
fflECHAZAUlii!US TANK CS:I:I
"For having hit a lot of

roadblocks, I feel like we got a
lot done for '6.' The theme for
our designs was 'The world is
our stage,' and I really enjoyed
bringing what l felt was the
unique flavor of different
countries into the game.11
(lnafune)
W:ILY
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#6
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·······························································*······································································ zyxwvutsrqpon
..............•..........................•...............................................•................•.•..............•...............•....
·······················································••@••·········································································· 063 ....
••••
"Moving into the Super
NES meant that everything
wos going to be different,
including the way we color
things. I always had lots
to do besides drawing
characters, but I made sure
to set aside plenty of time
to focus on the character
drawings for '7'. This was
the last package illustration
I did, and in some ways it
turned out like a compilation
piece." (lnafune)
Mega Man 7 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfe

SNES 03/24/1995
Total number of boss
character submissions:
220,000
Thanks to Mega Man's

efforts, Dr. Wily had finally
been arrested, and peace
was restored to the world
once again. It was only a
few months later, however,
that an army of Dr. Wily's
combat robots stormed
the prison where he was
being held and proceeded
to conquer the surrounding
area. Mega Man rushes to
the city to find the fugitive
Dr. Wily, but...
"Due to the bad timing of certain

things coming together at the time, we
basically only had three months to make
'7'. Fortunately, the members we had
working on '7' were highly motivated,
and I remember having a lot of fun."
(lnafune)
"We were seriously pressed for time,

but it was like a 'Rock Family' reunion!
We even had people from the '2' team
come back, and despite the lack of
time, they managed to be quite picky
about the littlest details. (laughs)" (Kaii)
...~·························································~····················································································
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"We had a rough design done for Auto, but lnafune made
alterations from the ground up. I recall him being pretty
upset about this character, saying things like, 'Why do we
even need a guy like this, anyway?' I wonder how he feels
about Auto now? (laughs)" (Kaji)
e,:ca
e:i,i,:ce: "I was just saying that if we're
going to do it, we ought to
do it right. I based Auto's
design on the classic robots I
remember seeing while I was
growing up... you know, the
archetypical 'tin man'. I also
made surethat he was missing
one of the screws from his
head. (laughs)" (lnafune)
......•...................................................•.....•...•.•........•...•..............•.•......................•...........•......
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"From the moment we came up with the concepts

for Bass and Treble, I knew they were going to be
interesting characters. I asked Kaji to do the designs,
and I think he did a great job!" (lnafune)
"For Bass, I was also asked to do the dot work. When it

came to animating his motions,however, I kept getting
confused about his head and how it was supposed to
work visually... even though I was the one who designed
him. (laughs)" (Kaji)
DR. W:CLY
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W:CLY DUJii!:CNcS
THe E!,OSS
De:S:CcSN CONTe:ST
IAPPL:CCIAT:CONS
CONCe:PT iAJii!T
"How nostalgic! I drew the scene below, and I still remember

it so well. I also did the eel of Dr. Wily in the top right.
I remember I had to redo it because I forgot that I was
drawing it from the back, and the numbers on his plate
turned out backwards the first time! (laughs)" (Hideki)
······················································································~························································
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"The counter-weakness weapons were

created, in part, to increase the reactions
of the special weapons. One of the major
concepts for '7' was to 'create lots of places
where the player can have fun with the
special weapons'." (Tsuda)
"It was a lot of fun... but also quite rigorous." (Kaji)
"The team leader and about 15 programmers

were basically sealed in a tiny room. When the air
quality assessmentguy came around, he was like,
'Whoa!' {laughs)" {lnafune)
"Yeah, and the people from the character division zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

would swap out constantly, bringing in fresh data
as it became available ... which would then be
handed off to whoever was closest to finishing THUNDE=lii! SOLT
whatever they were working on at the time. The
atmospherewas pretty muchat its climax from the
very beginning, and we just sprinted all the way to
beta." {Tsuda)
f(
"It all started with tnafune sneaking around

to the character division lead and myself,
whispering his idea about a 'hidden boss fight
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZ
mode' into our ears. Then,just a week before
going to beta, it turned into 'Let's do it!!'
(laughs) We were able to work out a deal with
the programmers that it would only be Mega
Man and Bass,and they were able to hammer
it out in just two days. We were told that the
whole thing would be scrapped if it contained
a single bug, so I'm very happy that we were
able to make it work." (Tsuda)
Wl:LC, COI:L
NOI:SE= Clii!USH
"The beta for the overseas version happened at the

same time. I was still pretty young at the time, and
although we had to pull a lot of all-nighters, it didn't
really feel like hard work. I remember it being quite fun,
like a sports team spirit camp or something.Still, there
are so many things about this title that I have regrets
about, and even at the time we all found ourselves
wishing for another month or so to work on it. Of course,
I don't know if l would have survived another month of
that lifestyle ... but it would have totally been worth it.
(laughs)" (Tsuda)
SCOlii!CH WHE=E=L
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"I did the work on Cloud Man and Slash Man." (Kaji)
"I was called in to help, and I did the images for the boss portraits on the stage
select screen." (Yoshikawa)
"It could have been becausewe were so short on time, but I feel like we called
in a lot of people for '7'. We had someone who was working on a Disney zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIH
game do the dot work for Shade Man, and I think that's why his movement is so
visually stunningcompared to the ones we did. (laughs)" (Kaji)
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DWN.IZISS "I put more energy into the illustrations for '7' than I did for
any of the other games. I consciouslydeviated from the usual
Mega Man format in a few ways. I used a larger sketchbook
than I usually did for my rough sketches,and I changed up
the poses for the character illustrations a lot. With Turbo
Man and Freeze Man, for instance, you can see that their
eyes are not focused on us." (lnafune)
"I think the guy who drew Shade Man was

following my artistic style when drawing his
face. (laughs)" (lnafune)
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"I worked on many of the dot graphics and designs for the enemies in '7'." {Kaji)
"There were just so many... It was hard to get the eels done before release. At this
stage, the minor enemy images weren1t CG yet." {Hideki)
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"The Wily Capsule in '7' turned

out as tough as it did because of
lnafune saying, 'Let's make the
very last fight insanely hard!' At
the time, the lead programmer,
lnafune, and myself had pooled our
collective energy into working on
just the Wily Machine. In the end,
we created somethingthat cannot
be defeated without the use of an
Energy Tank. (laughs)" (Tsuda)
W:CLY
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In an area of space far from Earth, a good robot and
Mega Man 8
an evil robot were locked in a heated battle. The clash
PS 12/17/1996
SS 01/17/1997 finally ended when both combatants simultaneously
Total number of boss struck their final blow, and fell to Earth. Dr. Light
character submissions: 110,000 received readings on what appeared to be a meteor
that had crashed into a deserted island, and sent
Mega Man to investigate. Upon arriving on the island,
Mega Man discovered Wily's secret base...
"With new hardware came new

responsibilities. Up to '7', my main
duty was always drawing ... but for
'8', I found myself squarely in the
role of a producer. I even had to
take the train to the studio when
we were putting in the animations.
(laughs) I'd always wanted to go
in the animated direction, ever
since 'l ', so l had a lot of fun with
this opportunity. We brought out
so many of the old enemies... This
is probably one of my favorites."
(lnafune)
"For this title, Kaji was the

main designer, and I was
put in charge of all the
illustrations, including the
package art." (Hideki)
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"I did the design for Duo,
but he started off as a robot
created by Cossack, so there's
still a lot of Russian flavor left
in him. The shape of his head
was supposed to look like a
classic Russian hat, and the
circles on his chest were meant
to look like coat buttons ... but
then he turned out to be a
robot from space. (laughs)"
(Kaji)
111
got the idea for 'Good and
Evil, falling from space' from
one of my favorite movies.
(laughs)" (lnafune)
"Kc]l designed Wily's necktie and skull

buckle. It's all so nostalgic now." {Hideki)
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"This was always the fun part. The submissions we'd get for the boss characters were
absolutely brimming with youthful imagination. I still remember how everyone had
permanent smilespainted on their faces as we looked at each and every one of the
submissionsthat came through. There were some that we came to expect, though,
like 'Dark Mega Man' and bosses with terrifying weapons. Poison was pretty
popular ... like poison weapons that could 'kill Mega Man with just one drop!' Yeah,
we got a lot of those. (laughs)" (Hideki)
CLOWN M~N
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mEGa HGFEDCBA maNTfflX: OFFICl/:IL COMPLETE WORKS :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"I did the dots for Grenade Man and Sword Man. Now that
we were moving into the PlayStation, they wanted us to make
the most of its greater hardware capacity by doing more
variations and such. Easy for them to say when they're not the
ones who have to do the actual work. (laughs)" (Kaji)
Flii!OST m~N
DWN.IZl6e
"I had the honor of working on a few of the illustrations. Ishikawa did most of
them, but someoneelse did Search Man and Grenade Man. I did Clown Man
and Frost Man. I remember doing Clown Man specifically, because that was
when l really started to get the hang of lshikowo's style and habits. I actually
remember him saying, 'You're finally starting to get it.' (laughs)" (Komaki)
Glii!E=N~DE=m~N
DWN.IZl6!ei
"Now that I see the illustrations side by side, I can really see the difference experience
makes. lnafune's and Kaji's lines simply exude life. Our lines seem so stiff compared to
theirs. I guessthere was always a bit of hesitation in the way we approached our work
that we weren't able to shake off. t reckon that kind of self-control and understanding
are skills that you acquire through years of practice." (Hideki)
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did all of the illustrations of the
minor enemy characters. I wasn't
using a Mac yet at the time, and
was instead using a program called
Hyper Paint." (Komaki)
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1
"There are so many different parts to an illustration, and with the duties
all divided up, it's sometimes hard to tell who drew what. I finished up
some of Kaji's illustrations, and I think the illustrations of Proto Man that I
touched up were done by lnafune?" (Komaki)
"I'd say this illustration of Proto Man is one of lnafune's. We basically

divided up the work. I'd draw Mega Man, and lnafune would draw Proto
Man ... it was all pretty chaotic, since we weren't working in the flow of
a modern day design studio. Up until '71, lnafune did all of the official
artwork. From '8' onward, we were so busy that he'd only draw as much
as he had time to." (Kaji)
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"This is the end of the opening animation, right? I
think I remember doing the draft." (Kaji)
"Ko]! was at the center of '8'. In other words, my student was finally out there on his own.
This allowed me to take a very different approach to creating a Mega Man game. 'Seeing
Mega Man from a distance', I guess you could say." {lnafune)
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After an unusually long period of peace, robots once again began
Mega Man 9
running amok in various regions around the world. The public
WII 09 /24/2008
assumedit was Dr. Wily up to his usual antics again until the mad
PS3/360 06/24/2009
*Exclusively through doctor hljocked all the major television networks and announced to
WiiWare, PSN, and XBLA. the world that Dr. Lightwas the true culprit. With Dr. Wlly's scheme
to frame the good doctor in place, Dr. Light's laboratory started
getting flooded with phone calls from outraged citizens, and he
was soon arrested and taken into custody by the police! Now it is
up to Mega Man to clear Dr. Light1s name
and save the world. Take a stand once
again, Mega Man, and put a stop to Dr.
Wily's dark ambitions!
Dliii!. L:CGHT
liii!USH
"'Mega Man 9' marked the

first time in over 20 years of
drawing Mega Man that I truly
felt like I had drawn 'the real
thing'. When lnafune personally
approved the main illustration I
submitted, I knew I could die a
happy man." (Higurashi) zyxwvutsrqpon
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"As far as individual character portraits are

concerned, Roll took me the longest and is my
personal favorite. I think I was able to bring out that
uniquecharm of a 'little sister' as opposed to making
her feel like an idol or heroine." (Higurashi)
"I can't quite remember why l did

a new take on Dr. Wily's logo ...
Maybe we wanted a larger one?"
(Higurashi)
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DLN.12165
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DLN.12166
"A portion of the boss character and special weapon

designswas finished up by Mizuno. l did have a hand
in everything, but I think we managed to make it so
that you can't tell where my work ends and his begins.
What do you think?" (Higurashi)
PLUG M~N
DLN.12166
"Splcsh Woman was especially difficult because she is

the series' flrst female boss. On top of that, she has no
SPL~SH wom~N legs and thin wrists, a physical format I was not used
DLN.12167 to drawing. It took a lot of struggling, but in the end I
managed to make her look like a 'Mega Man' boss... or at
least I think I did." (Higurashi)
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to draw. When you have a design where the
same shape is repeated, it has a tendency to
look boring. Making Hornet Man look cool was
"With regard to coloring Jewel Man, I'm [est a huge challenge." (Higurashi)
glad we didn't decide to go with eel art. He
has way too many highlights!" (Higuroshi)
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"For the special weapon illustrations, I did half

of them with Mega Man facing left and half of
them with him facing right. I think this book's layout
utilizes this quality perfectly. It's like a Mego Man
royal rumble. (laughs)" (Higurashi)
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Ljl:ISE=liii! Tliii!:CDE=NT
11 The
hardest part of drawing the special weapon
illustrations was trying to come up with new poses
and color schemes. No matter what I tried, l felt
like it had been done before ... " (Higurashi)
CONCliii!E=TE= SHOT
"The rule with 'Mega Man 9' was that

we weren't allowed to use 'non-anime zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
colors', so I took colors from scanned
images of the eel art for 'Mega Man 1'
through 'Mega Man 7'. In other words,
it is entirely possible to recreate these
illustrations in eel art format." (Higurashi)
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·~········································································································································
089 •••
...
In the year 20XX, a sudden outbreak of a robot virus
Mega Man 10
known as "Roboenza" spread across the world like wildfire,
WII/PS3 03/09/2010
incapacitating countless robots. Humans had come to rely on
360 03/31/2010
*Exclusively through robots in their daily lives, so it wasn't long before the epidemic
WiiWare, PSN, and XBLA. started having a negative effect on human life as well. Work
quickly began on the development of a cure for Roboenza,
but the lack of robotic assistance quickly halted those efforts
in their tracks. Now, one month after the initial outbreak,
robots driven berserk by the virus have begun attacking cities
and setting up strongholds around the world. As the situation
escalates, Dr. Wily arrives at Dr. Light's lab with news of a
possible cure. Dr. Wily explains that he had started developing
a cure, but that robots driven mad by Roboenza stole the
equipment vital to producing it. Mega Man, knowing what he
must do, takes up arms once again and goes after Dr. Wily's
machine, determined to save Roll, the other infected robots,
and the world at large.
Dlii!. W:CLY
Plii!OTO ffli'IN "As with 'Mega Man 9', I aimed to draw

'the real Mega Man'. In this case, I got my
inspiration from the art of 'Mega Man 5'
and 'Mega Man 6'. I remembered copying
the art from these games when I was still
in elementary school, and it was like I
channeled my younger self while drawing
designs for 'Mega Man l O'. I sound like a
medium or something, don't I? It felt like the
dreams I had as a child were coming true."
(Mizuno)
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"I made a few interesting discoveries while
working on these illustrations. For instance, I
had always been under the impression that
thick forearms and large hands were staples
of the 'Mega Man style', but upon looking back
at the art from the NES days, I realized that
wasn't necessarily always the case. Bass was
probably the hardest character to adapt to
the NES style, and I spent days simply holding
my head in my hands." (Mizuno)
"I was very excited when I was

told we'd be bringing back the
Mega Man Killer series of robots.
The original illustration for Enker
was from the days of 'Mega
Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge' on the
Game Boy, so I once again paid
careful attention to emulating
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and 'Mega Man 6'. I did my best
to ensure that Ballade came out
looking handsome." (Mizuno)
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"The mostdifficult part of drawing Chill Man was making

his face visible behind the reflections on the surface of
the ice around his head, and this is what I came up with.
Did you know that Chill Man can't actually turn his head?
I feel bad for him... " (Mizuno)
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simple, so l added some details. l changed
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some cases added new colors entirely, CH:CLL m"IN
but I always prioritized the base look of DWN.076
the design. One example of the details
I added is the little red triangle on
Commando Man." (Mizuno)
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"Sheep Man has a strange physical form that I had never

worked with. It almost looks like he'd walk on all fours, and
his physical balance was so different and unique that I found
it quite refreshing. His pose looks kind of awkward though,
like it's putting a serious strain on his lower back." (Mizuno)
STloi!:CKe MAN
DWN.IZl78
"Solar Man looks like a gas furnace with a sun coming out
of it. Since one of Strike Man's hands is a glove, his body
is a ball. It's hard to tell if he's the one who's going to be
SOLAR MAN throwing bolls, or if someone is going to throw him... Little
DWN.IZISIZI comical details like that are what makes these character
designs so fun." (Mizuno)
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"The poses and colors for the
special weapons had to be
brand new, which put a lot of
pressure on me. I squeezed
every last bit of creativity
out of my brain in order to
make this happen. Still, I was
very motivated by the simple
fact that the Mega Man
Killers' special weapons were
finally going to be usable
again." (Mizuno)
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"For me personally, this title is one
that I mostly see out of the eyes
of a producer. Since it was like a
spin-off, I asked Arigo to do the
package art, and had mango
artists do the boss characters."
(lnafune)
"I never would have imagined

that I would get the opportunity
to do package art for a Mega
Man game. I was so very happy
and so terribly nervous at the
same time. I remember asking
lnafune things like 'Should I
include all eight bosses in the
image?' and he said, 'You can do
whatever you like,' which really
didn't make it any easier on me.
(laughs)" (Arigo)
Rockman & Forte zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedc

SNES 04/24/1998
After being defeated by Mega

Man yet again, Dr. Wily built
himselfa castle to aid his attempts
at world domination, but soon
found his new home occupied
by a robot calling himself King.
Claiming that the world belongs to
robots, who are superior to humans
in every way, King stated that
he would steal all of the data on
past RobotMasters from the Robot
Museum. Mega Man and Bass
depart to see what they can find
out about the situation.
"When we made the shift in

hardware to the PlayStation and
the SEGA Saturn, there were
many children who couldn't play
1 8'
because they didn't own either
of those consoles. As kids, they
didn't have the ability to go out
and buy consoles.Even though 'X'
had opened its world up on the
SNES,the original Mega Man series
only went to '7' on that console.
That'swhy we decided to bring out
another title for the SNESthat was
18'.
based on Eventhough trying to
bring out a new title on the SNES
was a little backwards at the time,
we didn't want to make a half-
hearted attempt at it. We decided
to reexamine the game from the
ground up and make it something
that our players could really sink
their teeth into." {lnafune)
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"There were a lot of new
people working on the
creation of this game, though
I did manage to get some of
the staff members from the
original Mega Man team to
form the core of this team. I
told them not to compromise,
and to make the game as
hardcore as possible. 'You're
going too easy on them here,'
and 'Isn't there something
more you can dot were two
phrases that I used a lot
during development. (laughs)"
(lnafune)
"At around this time, I started moving away from the traditional
colors of Mega Man, and began experimenting more with colors
and combinations that felt right to me. I wanted to make Bass more
visually distinct from Mega Man through reflections and double "I was told that we would need bust
shading. I also darkened his skin tone a bit. Thinking back on it shots of Roll and Auto for the manual,
now, though, I do wonder if my personal will weighed in a little too and I remember pushing these out as
heavily. (laughs)" (Hideki) quickly as I could." (Hideki)
~UTO
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"The bosses each have characteristics that make them unique from
each other. When creating their images, these characteristics need to
be conveyed as clearly as possible. Ground Man, for example, has
multiple drills jutting out of his body. l also took into consideration
things like his wild personality and his '1'11 get him!' attitude. Comical
characters, on the other hand, need to appear comical, and honorable
guys need to have that characteristic emphasized. Doing this allows
players to easily get a sense of each character's personality just by
seeing them." (Hideki}
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"ln some ways, I feel this title was like one big
party. When the same series goes on for so zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM
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original work and produce something that is P:CRjQTe: MjQN
the 'same old, same old'. I feel like we were lc::GN.IZIIZI'+
able to avoid that pitfall, and I had a lot of
fun doing it." (Hideki)
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"Getting to see the designs of professionals like Arigo, lzuki, and Iwamoto
was both educational and fun. One of the many things l learned was
that people who have a lot of experience under their belts know how to
place accents properly. They don't place them in awkward ways, or simply
add too many, like children often will in their drawings. Drawing a great
piece is about the balance between addition and subtraction. If you keep
adding and adding to your drawing, you'll end up burying any meaningful
accents you put in." (Hideki)
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Thanks to the efforts of Mega Man, the super
robot created by Dr. Light, Dr. Wily's ambitions
did not come to fruition. Peace had returned to
the world, but Dr. Wily had secretly altered Dr.
Light's industrial robots once again. Even after
everything that had happened, Dr. Wily had not
abandoned his desire for world domination. In
order to stop Dr. Wily from realizing his dream,
Mega Man headed to the city.
"This was the first Mega Man to be outsourced.

l was curious about what kind of Mega Man
an outsider would create. The team leader of
'World 1' was a huge Mega Man fan, and I
could see right away that he really 'got it'. ln
some ways, you might say he understood Mega
Man better than some of our own people!
(laughs) I think this was the main reason 'World
t: turned out so well." (lnafune)zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfed
[Editor's note: The creators often identify the GB Mega
Man games as "World 1 ". "World 2 ". etc., referring
to the GB series' original Japanese name "Rockman zyxwvutsrq
World".]
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"I was so happy, I drew a bunch

of illustrations.Theoriginal pieces
from 'l' were so old; I wanted to
provide newer art of Sniper Joe,
for instance."(lnafune)
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"We decided we wanted a

'World-specific' boss. 'Mega
Man Killer' sounds really
cool, right? But somehow
we ended up with a pun.
(laughs) I guess it was the
whole 'music-themed names'
thing that led us to a name
based off of the word 'enka',
but I hope everyone gets a
giggle out of that. (laughs)"
(lnafune) zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
[Editor's note: "Enka" is a music
genre popular in Japan.]
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Mega Man II
GB 12/20/1991
Devastated by his defeat at the hands of Mega

Man, Dr. Wily stole the time machine from the
Time-Space Research Laboratory and headed
to the future. Dr. Wily's new plan involved
kidnapping the future Mega Man and bringing
him back in time to fight the present-day Mega
Man. While working in the Time-Space Research
Laboratory, Dr. Light was made aware of Dr.
Wily's plot thanks to Rush's enhanced sense of
smell. Dr. light immediately sent Mega Man to
search for Dr. Wily.
"We hired a different company to do 'World

2', and that was a total nightmare. They
just didn't understand Mega Man like the
company that did 'World 1 '. This experience
really made me realize just how important it
is to ensure that the people working on Mega
Man are people who really 'get it'. This
aspect is reflected in the game itself, so I'm
sure the players know what I'm talking about
better than anyone." (lnafune)
"Still, I think the main

illustrations for 'World
2' turned out quite well.
(laughs) The 'World' series
was a spin-off, so I could
enjoy more freedom than I
could with the packages for
the NEStitles." (lnafune)
"The game was working out so poorly, and l think

my very low level of motivation showsthrough in my
design art. l mean, I didn't use shadows properly
or anything. I feel that this is somethingthat should
never happen, and 1 would like to offer my sincerest
apologies to our players." (lnafune)
W:CLY
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Mega Man Ill
GB 12/11/1992
A few months after their difficult struggle with

Dr. Wily, some terrible news reached Dr. Light's
laboratory. Something strange was happening
to the supercomputer that was responsible for
managing the details of everyday life. With
outrageous weather patterns and a sudden halt
in the transportation system,panic consumedthe
entire city. To make matters worse, armed robots
showed up and began wreaking havoc in the
streets. In hopesof reclaiming peace, Mega Man
headed out to the urban wasteland.
"For some reason, lnafune was set on

having background landscapes in the main
illustrations for the 'World' series, even
though we had never included backgrounds
for the NES titles. I did several backgrounds
for the 'World' series, but I remember having
a hard time getting my work approved.
(laughs)" (Kaii)
"Learning from our mistakes with 'World 2', we went back to the same company
that did 'World i: for 'World 3' and onward. We refused to hire any other
company, and pushed out titles at a pace of one game per year." (lnafune)
"I decided to look at 'World 3' as

a fresh new start, and I remember
digging into it with renewed zest. Punk
in particular was a favorite of mine,
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and I used my sway as the producer
6 r.:!USH 6 i::i,i,:ci:: to have him included in 'Mega Man
Battle Network' as well. Yeah, he
gets preferential treatment. (laughs)"
(lnafune)
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Dr. Light was attending
Exposition, where scientists from all over the
world gathered to present their newest robots.
Unbeknownst to the others, Dr. Wily also
attended the function and released a special
electrical pulse into the crowd. All of the robots
present went out of control, and proceeded
to scatter into different regions. Mega Man,
who was able to retain his sense of self due to
his Conscience of Justice circuitry, immediately
headed out to make things right.
"It all felt like one continuous flow from

'World 3' to 'World 4'. We took two titles
from the NES series and added new things to
spice them up. We were pretty much hanging
ten by this point." (lnafune)
HUNTE=lii!
"With Enker, Punk, and

Ballade, the 'Mega
Man Killers' had been
established. I'm really
happy with how they all
turned out. When we
decided to include a
second form for Ballade,
I had a lot of fun thinking
up the changes he would
undergo. The horns on his
head would turn up, his
bombs would get bigger,
and his eyes would be
covered by shades... there
were all kinds of ideas
running through my head."
(lnafune)
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With no recent news of Dr. Wily, the world
was slowly forgetting he ever existed. Then a
combat robot called Terra suddenly showedup
and defeated Mega Man in battle. It was only
a few hours later that cities all over the world
were being taken over by a group called the
Mega Man V zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSR
"Stcr drolds'', who claimed to hail from space.
GB 07/22/1994 Fully restored, Mega Man equipped his new
weapon, the Mega Arm, and headed out to
meet his newest adversaries.
"We had basically been combining two NEStitles each time so

far, and at this point we only had '6' left ... so we decided to
create something new and original. Of all the 'World' titles, I
think this one took the most time." (lnafune)
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11
wanted to introduce a new support character that didn't appear
in the NES series, and that's when we came up with Tango. Now that I
think about it, Tango is also a music-themed name... although this Tango
isn't black. (laughs)" (lnafune)
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a rocket punch, I was like, 'A rocket
punch!?' (laughs)" (lnafune)
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come up with?' (laughs)" (lnafune)
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ask me to make a comment about it all now if you want;
I'm not really sure what to say. (laughs)" (lnafune)
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"This was the last title in the 'Wcrfd' series. In the end, I
think we had a lot of fun working on this series." (lnafune)
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SUSTE!ii! lii!OD (.;
WWN.IZIIZll
"We were told that the new theme was going to be the
novel 'Journey to the West'. While drawing the boss
characters, I tried to take the flavor of the theme and
give it that Mega Man twist. I think this kind of blending
can be pretty interestingwhen done right.'' (lnafune)
Tired of having his plans foiled every time by Mega Man, Dr. Wily
Mega Man: The Wily Wars
decided to build himself a time machine. Transporting himself into SG I 0/21 /1994
the past, Dr. Wily restored his defeated robots and started causing
chaos. At this rate, even the peaceful past was going to be tainted
by Dr. Wily's ambitions! In order to stop Dr. Wily, Mega Man was
sent into the past in a time machine hastily crafted by Dr. Light. 11The
bug check phase for this title
was an absolute nightmare. I felt
so bad for the person who was in
charge of the checkingprocedure
that I even jumped in myself to
help out in any way that I could.
It was so bad that I found myself
saying, 'I can't believe we made
it out of there alive.' Questioning
whether or not this nightmare was
'truly necessary', we've made
some changes in our procedures
to hopefully avoid this sort of
situationin the future.'' (lnafune)
"I barely did anything at all for this title. I did the
designsfor the 'Journey to the West' bossesand the
Mega Man in the center of the package art, but
HYPE!ii! STO!ii!M H that's it. Just helping out here and there. We had
WWN.IZIIZl:!I outsourcedthis one as well, but they weren't exactly
powering throughit, so... " {lnafune)
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ego Man: The Power Battle
C10/1995
~ ~~~-~~~~~
Dr. Wily's up to his old tricks again! This time, he has
restored the robots defeated by Mega Man in the
past and sent them in for another battle! "How does it
feel to be reunited with your old friends, Mega Man?
I've powered them up considerably from their original
abilities, so I hope you all have a Jot of fun." Thus began
the greatest battle in history.
"I did the draft of this piece." (Suetsugu)
One day, while Dr. Light was researching an unknown energy

source from space, his laboratory was attacked by Wily mechs.
The unknown energy source and the new parts that were under
development were stolen from the laboratory. To make matters
worse, Roll also went missing ... With the addition of the mysterious
new robot "Duo", a new battle is about to begin!
"I was involved in certain parts of the arcade version. I think this
is one of my drawings ... ? I did drafts, line drawings, and finishing
touches, but the work was divided up between so many people ... it's
hard to remember exactly what I did. Still, it's a real blast from the
past to get to see these pieces now." (Hideki)
·~·~
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"When we were offered the opportunity to
take Mega Man to the arcade, I was like,
'Sure.' With my trusty 'Mega Man fan' team
leader in charge of things, I felt confident
counting on him. I remember how happy
it made me when I saw them redoing the
bosses I drew from the NES era into more
modern and visually attractive graphics."
(lnafune)
1
11
kind of remember doing the character illustrations.
You won't have any trouble finding the ones that
I did ... the Basseswith small heads are all mine.
(laughs) I think I also did an illustration of Dr. Wily."
(Hideki)
"Oh, yeah! I remember struggling

with Proto Man's shield. I wasn't sure
how it was attached to his arm, and
when I asked lnafune about it, he said
something like, 'I don't know... maybe
there's a laser beam or whatever that
shoots out of the shield all "vyrrm"
and wraps around his arm ...' Vague
would be an understatement.(laughs)'1
(Hideki)
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115
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"You can tell from the lines that
some of these are clearly lnafune
pieces, but then some don't seem to
be ... We created some, while others
were started by lnafune and simply
finished up by us. Still others were
[o int efforts. That's how we got
through all of these." (Hideki)
"I think this Duo was done zyxwvutsrq

by Kaji, and finished up
by someone else... ? I could
be wrong. I think we were
working on the console
181
version of at the same
time, so all of my memories
are pretty mixed up."
(Hideki)
DUO
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"I wanted to synchronize the arcade '2'
with the console '8\ so 1 had them put
Duo from '8' in the arcade version first.
This is the kind of producer-like thinking I
remember doing." (lnafune)
Dlii!. L:CaHT
W:CLY ffl~CH:CNe:
11
... Oh! I was the one who
designed the Wily mech.

The one that looks like a
saucer, and chops, and... I
see they didn't include that
one here. (laughs) Yeah,
I didn't work on this one.
I also remember helping
out with the select screen. I
think that's about all I did."
(Suetsugu)
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•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 117 ••
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"The only things I did for this one were the package illustration and the design for the new
character Reggae. I think it's so fun to design mascot characters like Reggae. The package
illustration was pretty fun too, sinceit was the kind of image I don't get to draw very often. As far
as the actual game goes, though, I wos totally honds-off. (laughs)" (lnafune)
Wily & zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPON

Light'sRock Board -Thot's Porodlse-:
FC 01/15/1993
Who will be the one to run across the expansive field and
create their ideal world? The Roulette of Fate will lead them
into a fantastical drama that no one can foresee. Everything
they are about to go through is just a trial on their path to
creating their ideal world. From the use of money, to the
buying and selling of land, to the cards that lead to an
unimaginable fate... They will make the best of whatever
opportunities they can to build their assets and build a
wonderful world. THAT'S PARADISE!!
lii!OLL
"One day, when I had a day

off from work ... 'I'm going to
play Rock Board today! I'll cover
the entire field with hospitals!'
So, after a marathon gaming
day, I cleared all of the stages
in Battle Royale mode, and the
credits started to roll! I wonder if
anyone else knows about this? By
the way ... it took me six hours."
(Higurashi)
*Thoughnot a developer at the time, we decided to get comments from Higurashi regarding
"Rock Board" and "Mega Man's Soccer".
....··············································································································································.
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......................................................................................................................•...............•.•.•...
11 l1 m
pretty sure I saw Guts Man and Heat Man in some
A few months had passed since the
preview screenshots .•• I wonder where they went? I asked
battle with Dr. Cossack. One day,
people about that when I joined the company,and I was soccer fields all over the world
told that they planned to include them in the sequel! With were thrown into chaos! Familiar
the current hardware, it shouldn't be necessary to have enemy robots restored by Dr. Wily
only "3 Mega Mans on one team!" We could make teams were running out into the field and
like the "Liqht Numbers", or the "Stardroids" (okay, maybe ruining soccer games. To deal with
that's not an original name), or something like thot! It's lclike
a drecrmll'' (Higurashi) A this emergency situation, Dr. Light
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ
modified Mega Man and sent him to
make things right. "Go, Mega Man!!
) ~
/1.1
You mustsave soccer,and the dreams
of those who love the sport!"
~YL~ \
~ ~'(
~,n.~~
~~
~
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~·······································································································································
... ,
. ,
"This was something I'd
always wanted to do, so
I supervised this project
with great enthusiasm!
Bringing the unique
'beat your enemies and
take their stuff' aspect
of Mega Man to a cart-
racing game sounds like
it would be a lot of fun,
right? When my son
started playing video
games, this was the one
I played with him the
most. It's still one of my
favorites." (lnafune)
Mega Man Battle & Chase

PS 03/20/1997
Mega Man and the

others are entering
zyxwvutsrqponmlkj
"Bottle & Chase", a car
race for robots, where
you are allowed to do
whatever it tokes to win!
This battle will involve
speed like Mega Man
has never experienced
before!
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::::
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lilU:CCIC ffl-'IN
SON:CC FOlii!fflUL-'I
"We split these illustrations up

between so many people. Komaki did
Roll, and ... er ... oh, man! I'm getting so
confused! (laughs)" (Hideki)
"Ishikawa was the main guy here,

assisted by myself and two other
people. Compared to when we were
working on '8', I think we got a lot
better at matching our overall tempo
to each other." (Komaki)
"I did Roll, Shadow Man, and Guts Man. Ishikawa did Mega Man,
Proto Man, Quick Man, Bass, Duo, and Wily. Ice Man, Spring
Man, and Napalm Man were handled by someoneelse. Ishikawa
:cce: m-=iN suggestedthat we try distorting the perspective in our illustrations,
COOL moe.:cLe: so we all focusedon that as we worked. I didn't realize how hard it
could be to consciouslydistort perspectives." (Komaki)
SH-'IDOW ffl-'IN
SH:CNOB:C m-=isTe:lii!
"Not having enough time has become par

for the course when it comesto the Mega
Man series,and this title was no exception.
ln this title, it's like every character is the
'main character', and their weapons are
pretty interesting. I found it a little scary
when the camera swungaround really fast,
but... the tricks turned out well, and I had a
lot of fun." (Hideki)
GUTS ffl-'IN
W:CLD -'llii!fflS
SPlii!:CNG ffl-'IN
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sass
Tli!E:E!,LE:Dali!ICSTali!
NaPaLm maN
PaTli!:IOT E!,OME!,E:li!
"I'm the one who came up with the

title 'Battle & Chase'. It sounds pretty
cool, right? 'Battle & Chase'! (laughs)"
(lnafune)
Dli!. W:ILY
SICULL macH:INE: xx
DUO
Hali!D cSli!aNDE:Uli!
"I remember this one! l

kept wondering if Duo
would really be okay since
he's so physically big.
(laughs)" (Hideki)
li!:IPOT
PLUM
"I got the designs for
these characters from the
development guys, and turned
them into promotional images.
Doing the finishing touches was
pretty fun too." (Hideki)
,·····~········································································································································
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YE?LLOW
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"I drew Black Joe and Black Yellow Devil. I never really understood
the whole 'Black Yellow' Devil thing, (laughs) but I guess it [ust
means a Yellow Devil that's a little blocks" (Komaki)
TRUCK .:JOE?
"Well, Yellow Devil is Yellow Devil, so we ccn't make him Black
Devil... that's why he's Black Yellow Devil!" (lnafune)
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. ...
• •• 4
"This Guts Man was done for the overseas versions after we found
out his original pose was not acceptable over there. Up to this point,
my process involved line drawings, tracing paper, and my Rotring, so
having to redraw this was kind of a pain. (laughs)" (Komaki)
GUTS ffl~N "Ishikawaand l did the imagesyou see here." (Komaki)

W:CLD ~R!fflS "Which ones did Komaki do? Uh ... hmm... I can't remember... " (Hideki)
(FOR! OIJE=R!SE=~S "All of these,except Mega Man and the overseasGuts Man, were done by Ishikawa.
IJE=R!S:CONS) (laughs)" (Komaki)
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WDli!ICS :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"To be honest, I feel I owe the players an apology for this one. There was a phase
when the company was basically selling Mega Man to the lowest bidder, and I really
feel like this title is the worst of the worst. The one who was responsible for the whole
project quit rather suddenly, and it was pretty much dropped into my lap. By that
time, though, it was at a stage where I couldn't really make any big changes to it. The
ultimate unspoken rule about making a game that is geared toward children is that
you simply cannot kill anyone, but here you have military helicopters falling out of the
sky and people dying in droves. If it had been up to me, I would have at least made it
so they all 'got away safely' via parachutes or something. Then, as if that wasn't bad
enough, Roll dies ... and to top it all off, the whole world is destroyed! I was like, 'Did
they really need to go that far!?' I will never let them do something like this ever again.
If we, as developers, start getting confused about what 'safe for children' means, we'd
not only be betraying our players, but I'd feel like I was betraying every single creator
Super Adventure Rockman zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUT
PS 06/25/1998 SS 09/23/1998
that ever put time into this series." (lnafune)
In the year 20XX,the Lanfront Ruins were discovered in the Amazon rainforest.Dr.
"All I heard was, 'We don't have a package illustration!' as they dropped this bomb
Wily headed out to explore the ruins and met the supercomputer "Ra Moon"there.
on me. I remember I was wondering what the actual story of the game was as I drew
After finding out about Ra Moon's unique abilities,Dr. Wily piecedtogetheranother
this. I'm really sorry ... I didn't have enough time, and I knew they'd crop it anyway, so I
plan to take over the world using a special electromagnetic pulse. In order to save
didn't draw Rush's legs all the way. (laughs)" (Hideki)
Earthfrom this new threat, Mega Man and his friends settheir sights on the sourceof
the pulse, the "Temple of Moon"at the center of the ruins.
, ...•.....•...............•..........................•...•....•.•..............................•.•...•.•....•...•..........•............•....•..•
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liii!OCIC:M~N COMPLETE WOliii!k:S (PL~YST~T:CON)
"I drew Rush based on Roll, so I

think they pretty much click into
place when they're next to each
other. I drew Roll's hair this way
because I thought, 'I wonder if
Roll'shair would get tousled when
she runs.' But I may have made the
wrong decision. I'm worried that
people could think this is just how
her hair looks all the time... though
I think she looks pretty cute like
this, too." {Higurashi)
•••@••········································································································································
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"I flnd it difflcult to look at a lot of my old drawings ... but not
the ones I actually enjoyed doing! The drawings I did for the
PlayStation versions, for example, always bring a smile to myzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
face even if I think I didn't do a very good job. Evenin unused
pieces like this Light, Rock, and Roll one, I really like the facial
expressions. Back then, taking a day off of work was something
I never considered, and I remember commutingto the offices on
my days off." (Higurashi)
.. ......
···············································································································································
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"I like the colorless Cossack the most. Out
of the entire series, '4' is my absolute
favorite. I loved everythingabout it,
including the game, the music, and the
subtitle 'A New Ambition!!' It all made
me so excited l Not to mention the new
character, Cossack. All of it. Just ... all of it!
I couldn't tell you how many times l cleared
that game." (Higurashi)
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:::: 128 I zyxwvut srqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJI

MEG/;I M"1Nnn H& ~·········································································
GFEDCBAfflEG"1 M"1Nnn X: OFFlt:l"1L COMPLETE WOlii!ICS ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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4
······································~····!~···~~~!~·~~·~·~·~·~~~~···················!~.!~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!•••
DR. W:CLY
"You can almost see how muchfun I had drawing these minor
enemy characters! To make it easier to fit them into the
manuals,I mostly chose to draw characters that would easily
fit into squares. Bubukan and Shigaraky were the only ones
I chose based solely on personal preference! Shlqoroky's
so cute! I can't stand it! I wish 1 had a little Shigaraky doll!"
(Higurashi)
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129
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Rockman
PS 08/05/1999
"Initially, we had decided that I would do the main illustrations for ail of the odd-numbered titles, and Ishikawa would do the main
illustrations for all the even-numbered titles, but due to scheduling issues I ended up doing the illustrations for 1, 3, and 6. The main
illustration for '1' was supposed to be Mega Man as he infiltrated Wily's manufacturing plant. Since Guts Man gets mass produced
toward the end of the game, I thought maybe they had a room like this in the factory." (Higurashi}
CUT M~N
e,ome, m~N
"I drew all of the boss characters for the zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU

PlayStation versions, and I still like them
now. I remember trying so hard with them.
I like Ice Man in particular, since I think
he turned out quite cute ... though I did
struggle quite a bit with the perspective
angles on his Ice Slasher. (laughs) I based
the look of Fire Man's Fire Storm on the
way it looked when Mega Man used it,
since there were no illustrations of the
special weapons for the PlayStation
versions." (Higurashi)
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••••
"I noticed a certain lack of illustrationsthat sort of radiate from the center,and
that's why I decided to do this one in that style. Of the entire series,'21 was
Rockman 2: The Secret of Dr. Wily my favorite. I just loved the Metal Blade. It gave you so muchfreedom with its
PS 09/02/1999 blades shootingout in eight directionslike, 'gyrrrn gyrrrn!1 Youcould jump,and
if there were enemiesstandingwhere you were planning on landing, it wouldn't
matter becauseyou'd just be like, 'gyrrrn!' (laughs)"(Hideki)
.....
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:::: 132 zyxwvut
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e,ue,e,Le: MAN
lilU:I:CIC MAN
Clii!ASH MAN
"I had to draw all eight boss characters in one

zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZY
week ... it was crazy. Metal Man's eyes are
actually red, but they somehowturned out green.
(laughs) You can see Quick Man's back in my
illustration, and the reason I felt comfortable
drawing his back was because I had seen the
Character Files [later in this book], which showed
every side of him. I remember going out of my
mind when I saw these files soon after joining the
company. I was, after all, just a fan like anyone
else. (laughs)" (Higurashi)
HE=AT MAN
WOOD MAN
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133 ••
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Ot
Rockman 3: The End of Dr. Wily!? "l think Proto Man and Rush are the main attractions of '3', and
PS 09/14/1999 the green glow you see in Proto Man's eye is somethingI took
from Break Man's image." (Higurashi)
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HGFEDCBA mRNTmX: OFFICIRL COMPLETE wo,e,cs :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: •••••• ::::::::::::::::::::
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••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"In the Gemini Man illustration, the
two are slightly different colors. I
knew that'd make it totally obvious
that one of them is a hologram, but
I did it anyway. (laughs) Unlike the
illustrations for the NES version, these
PlayStation version illustrations mostly
show the boss characters actually
wielding their weapons or using
their attacks. Since I was drawing
characters that had already been
done before, I figured it'd be pretty
pointless if I just drew them in the
exact same way. Top Man may be
the one exception since I'd have
had lo draw a bunch of faces if I
had drawn him spinning. (laughs)"
(Higurashi)
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"Since this was the title where Cossackmade his first appearance, I wanted
him to be at the center of this illustration, and added everyone else around
him. The reason I didn't flnish drawing Dive Man1s head and neck is because
Rockman 4: A New Ambition!! zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
that part was going to get cropped out anyway. Well... that, and I ran out of
PS l 0/28/1999
time. Higurashiwas kind enoughto swap places with me for the predetermined
illustration assignments.l'd also like to mention [ust how awesome Higurashi's
illustrationsare. I remember feeling a wave of nostalgia every time I looked at
one of his drawings." (Hideki)
TO~D M~N
....
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·····································································-··········································································
"l remember having such a hard
time getting Ishikawa to approve
my work between 't ' and '3', but
from '4' onward, I got better and
usually got approved on my first
attempts. That, coupled with the
fact that '4' just happens to be my
favorite title, meant that I had a lot
of fun working on it. As you can see
here, I drew Pharaoh Man flying.
Do you remember how he would
surround himself in an aura and
make zombies rain from the sky?
That's the image of Pharaoh Man
that I have in my mind." (Higurashi)
\ zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTS
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••••
"I'm happy to say, I didn't have to draw all of the bosscharactersfor
'5'. (laughs) Scheduling had a lot to do with it, but I also wanted to
try a change of pace for the package illustration.There were fewer
Rockman 5: Blues' Trap!?
characters,and a lower resolution,so I thought it would be worthwhile
PS 11 /25/1999
to focuson visibility.With '5' being 'Blues'Trap!?',I planned it out so that
people's eyes would naturally be drawn to Proto Man." (Hideki) zyxwvutsrqponmlk
[Editor's note: Proto Mon is known as Blues in Japan.]
GRAV:CTY
MAN
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•.
"l'm not sure how to explain it,
but they wanted me to do the
drawings based on the theme of
each character. For Gravity Man,
I remember being like, 'How am
I supposed to visually express
gravity!?' (laughs) Stone Man
was a little easier, as I just drew
stones lifting up off the ground
and coming together. I also tried
adding little details, like the sparks
at the tips of Charge Man's feet.
I struggled a bit with ideas for
Crystal Man, but ended up going
1forming
with a a Crystal Eye'
tmcqe." (Higurashi)
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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.................•.•............•...•...•...•.•..........................•.•.•................•..•..........................•...........139zyxwvutsrqp
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••••
. ...
"They were granting me more and more responsibility and
autonomy,so I felt like I was doing whatever I wanted. As you can
see, I basically ripped off the NES package illustration for this
Rockman 6: The Greatest one. (laughs) I really wanted to include a Metall too, but didn't
Battle of All Time!! have enough space. The Earth itself is looking a little rough, and
PS 12/09 /1999 I probably would redo it if I had the chance. Considering my
skills at the time, though, I'd say I did pretty well with this one."
(Higurashi)
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I fflEG"1 ffl#QNTrn IHGFEDCBA 6 MEGlf:1 ffllQNTm X:: OFFICl~L COMPLETE WOli!ICS ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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KN:CaHT fflQN
PLQNT fflQN
"Blizzard Man is my favorite boss

in '6'. I drew him while looking at
some pictures of people skiing. zyxwvuts
Since I couldn't really show
Wind Man's weapon, 1 drew him
floating off the ground a bit to
express his 'wind' theme. I really
like Musha Gundam and Knight
Gundam, so drawing Yamato
Man and KnightMan was a total
joy. I used to be a loyal 'BonBon'
reader. (laughs)" (Higurashi)
YQfflQTO fflQN
Rockman Bottle & Fighters
NGP 07/06/2000
"When the arcade version came out, I couldn't

afford the PCB [printed circuit board]. I was pretty
upset about it, and decided that if I couldn't collect
everything, that I didn't want any of my other
collectibles either! So I took all of my Mega Man stuff,
except for my game cartridges {still a lot of stuff).
and got rid of it. What a waste!!" {Higurashi)
Mego Mon & Bass

GBA 08/10/2002
"SomehowMega Man & Bass,which was difficult enough to begin with, seemseven
trickier in widescreen format. As far as the illustration goes, I think Mega Man's
facial expression looks pretty good. Overall, I find the illustration a little dull, and I
wouldn't mind redrawing it ... but I [usrcan't get over how muchdifficulty I had with the
widescreenformot." (Higurashi)
te, zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
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...................................................................................................•.......•...................................
Rockman Power Battle Fighters
PS2 08/05/2004
"I had been wishing and waiting for

these arcade games to be brought to a
console!I was so psychedabout this, and
as a result,I ended up with an illustration
that I am really happy with. I drew the
rough draft in about 15 minutes,and got
immediate approval from lnafune.I spent
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfed
four days finishing it up. I was actually
planning on spending another day on it
to make the space background a little
cooler, but I had some more work come
in and I didn't have the time. Too bad ... !"
(Higurashi)
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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143 •••• ....
•..•
ln the not-too-distant future, humansand robots live in harmony.
One day, Dr. Light created a peace-loving robot and named
him "Rock". The good professor's laboratory was suddenly
Mega Man: Powered Up attacked by the evil genius Dr. Wily, and all of Dr. Light's robots
PSP 03/02/2006 were abducted. After much hesitation and thought, Dr. Light
11Go,
reconfigured Rockinto a combat robot. Rock... No, wait ...
Starting today, you shall be knownas Mega Man!" Dlii!. L:C'3HT
.....
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1
11 1Mega
"I have no idea why it didn't sell
have to say, Man: Powered Up' is the greatest! With
its massive volume and fun construction mode, its replay value is very well! ln my mind, the 'Mega
immeasurable. The staff that worked on it had so much invested in Man: Powered Up' series was set to
Mega Man, too. I promise I didn't tell them to make such an intense have multiple sequels! (laughs) I truly
game; they did that all by themselves.(laughs)" (lnafune) believe that this is definitely one
game that any self-respectlnq Mega
1Mega
"My participation in the Man: Man fan must have! You there ... it's
Powered Up' project was at the concept not too late to get your copy, you
level. I guess you could say I was the know! (laughs)" (lnafune)
general supervisor." (Yoshikawa)
YELLOW
DEIJ:CL
The
11
conceptfor these designswas 'toys'. We wanted cute
designsgeared toward little kids ... the kinds of characters
that you'd see hanging off of keychains and such. Not
only that, I made sure to tell the designers not to skimpon
any of the original Mega Man details. We wanted their
proportions and movementsto be accurately reflected in
thesedesignsas well." {Yoshikawa)
They
11
let us do someof the finishingtoucheson the early
Mega Mans." (Higurashi)
"That they did." (Komaki)
CWU-IZllP
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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zyxwvutsrqpon
145 ••••
• •••
. ...
•••••••••••••• ! ! ! ! •! ·~!.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
··················································································································································
! !! ! ! ! !! !! !• !• ! ••••••• !! !! ! •:! !! !:!•• !!_!t! :t~! ·········!.
! ! !!! ~ !·~! !.~.~ ~ !~:!!•• ! •! ~~ !• •• ~·•••••••••••• ! ! !!•!!!!.. . . _!•• ·-·· ••
"Development was progressing
parallel to 'Mega Man: Maverick
Hunter X', so I basically left it all up
to the staff beyond the initial concept.
They were all Mega Man lovers, so
everythingwent pretty smoothly.They
seemed to be having a lot of fun
workingon this one." (Yoshikawa)
"I did the line drawings for the Ice Man and
Elec Man pieces." (Higurashi)
"I think I remember those... (laughs)I colored

Ice Man." (Komaki)
"Come to think of it, I may have colored

Fire Man too. (laughs)" (Higurashi)
e,ome, m~N
0
"I was the one they put in charge of all the illustration-
related work. Being a newbie, I got a lot of advice
from my predecessors while drawing these. I added
the rosy cheeks on Mega Man as a little streak of
mischief when doing the finishing touches. 1 remember
being a little surprised when they went ahead with it.
(laughs) I was trying so hard to convey how fun this
world is." (Mizuno)
"Mizuno and I both worked on 'Mega Man: Maverick

Hunter X' too. We're like a set." (Komaki)
"We got the initial designs for Time

Man and Oil Man from lnafune, and
refined them ourselves. I worked on
the 'Breath of Hre' series from the
very beginning, and I think Oil Man1s
face is pretty reminiscent of Karn.
(laughs)" (Yoshikawa)
1 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
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•••1
zyxwvutsrq
147
....
ME:GR MRN X SE:Fi!IE:5 CIRTR
RIPOT
In "Bottle & Chose", Ripot provides live coverage of the races
DR. LIGHT ("Dr. Right" in Japan)

Dr. Light's full name is Thomas Light. He is t
created Mega Man, and is the leading mind in t
robotics. After graduating at the top of his doss in
engineering from the Robot Institute of Technology,
devoted his life to the research and development o
that aid in world peace.
ROLL
Roll is a domestic helper robot created by Dr. Light, and
is considered to be Mega Man's little sister. She is a kind-
hearted girl who is proficient at cooking and cleaning. Roll is
constantly praying for Mega Man's safety.
RUSH DR. CAIN MAC

Rush is a support robot that Dr. light created to aid Mega As the leading authority on robotics in the 22 C century, Dr.
11Replotd"1
Mon. Among other forms, Rush can transform into the Rush Coin successfully developed the robot that is
Coil, Rush Jet, and Rush Marine, according to Mega Man's more human-like than any other rob-otin t,J,story. Following
transportation needs. Later on, Rush was also modified to be that, he founded the Maverick , o'nters QntJ spent his days
able to physically merge with Mega Man.
::::t:: their early ope/. ~ DYNAMO
EDDIE
Eddie is an item storage robot created by Dr. Light. Due to Feeling responsiblii~ the Repllfarce War, 'the former
a sudden attack by Dr. Wily, Eddie was forced to mobilize commander of tl}e' Maverick Hunters stepped down from
before he was perfected. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
his post and wg( replaced by Slgnas. Though Signal It not
particularly s erior in his combat capabilities, his CPU It the
TANGO most comple>< among all the Replolds.
Tango was created by Dr. Light to be o pet cat robot.
Modified with attack capabilities, Tango will physically ram DOUGL I
The Mp~erick Hunters' genius mechanic who works on
GATE
Gate earned fame V,nd prestige os the leading scientist in the
developmentof ~ids. His research was ahead of its time and
enemies to aid Mega Mon.
evelfy ing from their weapons and vehicles to the buffd~ rarely understood,f,pwever, which resulted in his leading a rather
AUTO ("Righfof" in Japan) the,y are housed in. Douglas Is the one responsible for secluded life, One~tJay, Gate's fate was changed forever when
Auto is on assistant robot that works ot Dr. Light's laboratory. v loping the power-up parts that X and his friends use. he found o certa object lying amongst the remains of the Eurasia
Being o bit absentminded, Auto misplaced one of the bolts colony.
from his head while he was out running an errand. He rides his
truck to get around. !SOC
!soc is a sq ntific Reploid who organized an investigation unit to
DR. WILY try and I01ve the mystery behind the Nightmare phenomenon.
Dr. Wily's full name is Albert W. Wily. A former schoolm'? e
of Dr. Llqht's, Dr. Wily was never quite able to match Dr. Light ALIA
in skill, and eventually developed a desire to toke over the Formerr1 a member of a Reploid englnee research team, TFie leader of the investigation unit under lsoc's command.
world. Dr. Wily's hobbies include ping pong. Alia was'selected to be the chief navlga for the Maverick It is rumored that his abilities surpass even those of X and
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG
his friends, but the reasons behind High Max's creation are
Hunters. She has mastered every progra i' ing language, and
REGGAE Is a veritable fountain of knowledge. shrouded in mystery.
Reggae was created by Dr. Wily to relieve some of the
constant loneliness he felt. Reggae Is a bird robot, and does PALLETTE AXL
not hove any combat abilities. One of the navigators that pports the Hunter team. Having escaped the vigilante group Red Alert, Axl is a
Pallette's strength Iles In her ast knowledge of the various prototype new generation Reploid who found his place among
TREBLE ("Gospel" in Japan) areas the team wffl be ~ng into. She joined the navigator the Maverick Hunters. Axl has a unique ability that allows him
Treble is a wolf robot that travels with Bass and offers support team after Afta, but at the some time as Layer. to mimic the external and internal characteristics of anyone he
as needed. It is rumored that Treble's combat abilities are encounters.
superior to those of the Wily Numbers'. Treble is able to turn
into a flight booster and merge with Boss. RED
The leader of the vigilante group Red Alert. He leads his band of
DR. COSSACK wandering bounty hunters as they methodically destroy Mavericks.
Dr. Cossack's full name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Cossoc
When his daughter Kalinka was taken hostage by Dr. Wily, DOUBLE ZAIN
Dr. Cossack had no choice but to send his robots into battle One of the Maverick Hunters1 newest recruits at the time the A Shadow Hunter who became one of Sigma's followers after being
against Mego Mon. After the bottle was over, Dr. Cossack Repliforce War broke out. Double can be a little hasty and defeated in battle. Zain's favored weapon is his greatsword.
devoted himself to helping Dr. Light in the pursuit of peace. clumsy, but does what he con to aid X.
GEEMEL
Dr. Ccsscck's hobbies include watching ballet performances.
GENERAL This Shadow Hunter is very talkative and wields a giant shuriken.
KALINKA As the leader of Repliforce, General has won the trust
and respect of his soldiers. His sudden decision to declare BERKANA
Kalinka is Dr. Cossack's daughter. Dr. Wily took her hostage
Repliforce an independent notion put him in direct opposition Berkana is a member of the Reploid research and development
and used her to manipulate Dr. Cossack. Kalinka enjoys
to X and his allies. team at loguz Island, but none of the Reploids she hos
listening to classical music.
developed in the past have been publicly revealed. She is a
BEAT COLONEL very mysterious individual.
Beat is a bird robot created by Dr. Cossack to aid Mega Man A young commander within Repliforce, a military organization
comprised entirely of Reploids. Not only is Colonel a capable GARETH
in the battle for world peace. Beat follows the signal sent by the
soldier, he also has a gentler side that shines through in the A knight Reploid who boasts high attack power. He stops the
Beat Plates to find Mego Mon and swoop in to attack enemies.
way he cares for his followers and his little sister. Maverick Hunters in their tracks by coupling his powerful javelin
MR. X attacks with his objective decision-making skills.
Everything about Mr. X is a mystery, except for the fact that IRIS
Colonel's little sister. During the RepliforceWar, Iris is saved by MIDDY
he Is the owner of the X Foundation. He provided flnonciol
Zero, who she had developed feelings for during the Erasure Techno's twin brother. Middy leads X into the cyberworld inside
support for the Global Robot Alliance, and was the one
Incident.Iris does everything she con to stop the fighting between Hunter Bose'smother computer.
who suggested a contest to determine the most powerful
peace-supporting robot. He was later discovered to be Dr. her brother and Zero. TECHNO
Wily in disguise when he stole the strongest robots from the Brainwashed by Sigma, Techno went Maverick and hacked into
tournamentin on attempt to toke over the world. SIGMA
As far as intelligence and battle prowess ore concerned, the mother computer at Hunter Base according to Siqmc's orders.
CHEST Sigma easily stands above all other Reploids. Thoughhe was LUMINE
Chest acts as a robot host in "Bottle & Chose", providing once the commander of the Maverick Hunters' 17th Elite Unit,
A new generation Reploid with unusual abilities. After being
explanations of each course. he suddenly led the Reploids into a rebellion, his goal being
abducted by Vile, Lumine makes plans to build a new world for all
nothing less than the annihilation of the humanrace.
of the new generation Reploids. Lumine confronts X as an enemy.
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Mega Man X
SNES 12/17/1993
PC 05/24/1996
vcw 04/05/2011
IOS 01/12/2012
The year is 21 XX.

Sigma, who had been
praised as the greatest
Maverick Hunter,
suddenly declared his
intention to annihilate the
human race. Following
Sigma1s orders, Reploids
in various regions began
rebelling. In order to
put an end to Sigma's
ambitions, the Maverick
Hunter X and his
comrade Zero step out
into the field of battle.
"Now that we were into the Super

NES era, we began talks about the
possibility of a new Mega Man.
We did a lot of brainstorming,
trying to come up with stories and
content. The nature of a creator is to
constantly want to make something
new, something different. However,
we did understand that we couldn't
completely go against everything that
had came before." (lnafune)
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"I designed X, but I remember having a very hard
time coming up with the initial design ... The Super
NES allowed me to use a broader range of colors,
and that turned out to be quite a challenge, as I
was not used to so much freedom." {Kaji)
"Once we have something solid to work with, the

rest of it kind of flows smoothly. It's that first step
that is really the hardest." (lnafune)
"Attaching different parts for various results

meant 1 had to draw a bunch of illustrations
like these. (laughs) I was fortunate to have Kell
helping me, as we were able to divide the
work up between us." {lnafune)
"We were working on this at a

time when RPGs were exploding
onto the market. The whole idea of
experience points and additional
powers according to your character's
level was becoming mainstream. Then
there was Mega Man, which was
still a more classic representation of
the action game genre. I started to
feel that Mega Man was not shining as brightly in this light. That's
why we wanted to bring in more power-up s. As far as weapons
were concerned, Mega Man always had the "get new weapons by
defeating enemies" system going, so we wanted to add another
form of powering up. This train of thought led us to armor parts that
enhance your character." {lnafune)
"Yeah, I remember we were like, 'But what's the head piece armor
part going to do? Give him the ability to perform a headbutt move?'
(laughs)"(Kaji)
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"Usoollv, I would be the one doing the main characters, and Kaji would
take care of the sub characters. This time, however, we decided to
change things up a bit. I asked Ko]l to do Mega Man, and I made the
sub character, Zero, my project.l'rn sure I've said this in many different
places in more than a few different ways, but I really wanted Zero to
be a playable character.I wanted to offer a 'different Mega Man', and
possiblya more hardcore game.11 (lnafune)
111
wanted to make the character's personality a little more hardcore too, and I knew that
if I was working from the design of the traditional Mega Man, I'd be stuck in that whole
'nice guy' image. The whole time I was designing Zero, I was seeing him as the 'new Mega
Man'. But I didn't bring that up when I went to submitour deslqnsto my boss.I brought out
the X that Kaji designed and said, 'Here's the new Mega Man!' My boss had a very positive
reaction to X, and when I brought out the design for Zero, I simply said,' ... and this is the sub
character.' I figured that would ensurea lesscritical analysis of Zero and, as a result, I got
an immediate OK in the form of, 'Red, huh?Hmm... yeah, that's nice.' (laughs)" (lnafune)
.....
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"After joining the company, I learned a lot from working on 'Xl ', especially
about dot images and how they are done. I was responsible for the designs
and dots of the minor enemies as well as the bosses. I didn't have much time
under my belt in the company yet, so they asked me to join in with designs
and ideas on an assistive level once the in-game world was pretty much
solidified." (Yoshikawa)
"Everyone had their eye on Yoshikawa from the very beginning. They could
see his natural talent, and knew he would be the one to watch. (laughs)" (Kaji)
"For the X series, we wanted_ to make the whole world a more hardcore environment. The way we made
Wily, there was a side to him that you couldn't really hate. Sigma, however, we created to be a kind of
'absolute evil' type character. His story goes along the lines of 'he was manufactured to be pure good, but
somehow turned out this way', which lends a certain 'unforeseen error' feel to his very existence." (lnafune)
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.:3LIACIIAL EfflPEROR
CHILL PEN.:3UIN
1
11
worked on the bosses too, and when we were trying to decide
who would work on which designs, i wanted to find and call dibs
on the character design that seemedmost likely to become the
most popular bass. (laughs)" (lnafune)
SLIAZIN.:3 OIL TIANIC:

FLiAme: mi,:immoTH
iARfflORED WIARRIOR
iARfflORED iARffliADILLO
NO&Le:miAN OF THE sic:::1e:s "lnafune did Eagle and Penguin. Koji designed Mandrill, Octopus,
STORm e:iAaLe: and Chameleon. Mammoth, Armadillo, and Kuwanger were
Tazaki's.Evenas I watched them work, I could really see each of
their distinct ftavors coming out in their illustrations." (Yoshikawa)
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"We were very careful to ensure that when all

eight bosses stood together, their silhouettes would liJUICt::-FISTED t::INa OF Ll(3HTNIN(3
be identifiable. We also paid attention to how we SPi,!:!Ji!t::ffli,!:INDJ.i!ILL
colored them, using red, green, and other colors to
make them all distinct." (Kaji)
Flo!l(3HTENIN(3 FOJ.i!EST'S STJ.i!lt::E

STINa CHi,!:lfflELEON
"We were all responsible for doing the dots of the characters we designed. When
working on Octopus, I was designing each part of him as its own animation and
placing them together. 1 was under the impressionthat this would eat up less resources,
but I was surprised to find out that my methodscould actually eat up as many,if not
ae:NEJ.i!i,!:ILOF THE DEEP SEi,!:1 more resources... (laughs) So I scrapped that." (Kaji)
Li,!:IUNCH OCTOPUS
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. ...
"With the SNES giving us more options, I got very excited about all the things I could
do. One of the bright ideas that came up was, 'Wouldn't it be fun if the player could
get on the penguin ice sculptures?1 So we made it possible for the player to do that,
which in turn made it possible for the player to get to areas in the game that we
didn't want them to go. (laughs) Fixing that little detail was harder than we expected,
but we still had a lot of fun working on this game." (lnafune)
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"The visual effect of Chameleon fading away was an idea that came from one of
the programmers
. I remember how everyone on our team was amazed by what the
programmers were capable of. Excited about all of the crazy things we could do now,
things we couldn't have done with the NES,we kept popping out ideas that we thought were
outrageous ... and the programmers just kept making them all come to life!" (Kaji)
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e,ome.e:e:N
The
11
characters you see here are
ones that I designed. They were
basically all ideas that went straight
to paper." (Yoshikawa)
8,IQTTON 8'0Ne:
We
11
wanted to add a certain flair
of luxury to the game now that
lii!IQY8'1T
we had moved to the Super NES.
This took the form of 'mounts' for
both the player as well as enemy
characters. I think this addition
lit right into the world of Mega
Man." (lnafune)
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"I did Cruiziler, Anglerge, and
Mega Tortoise." (Yoshikawa)
"We drew quite a lot,

didn't we?" (Kaji)
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SLIDE C.:INNON
SINE F.:ILLEJi!
e,osPIDEJi!
"I did D-REXand Wolf Sigma. I designed the hands to be detached and floating for
character display reasons on the Super NES. (laughs)" (Yoshikawa)
"I think Capcom has a lot of last bosseswith very mobile hands. (laughs)" (Kaji)
·······························································®·················································································
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....
Mega Man X2
SNES I 2/16/1994
vcw 12/27 /2011
Six months have passed zyxwvutsrqpo

since the battle against
Sigma. The transformation
of Reploids into Mavericks
and their ensuing rebellion
only showed signs of getting
worse. Amidst the chaos, a
"manufactured Maverick11
was discovered, bearing a
chip with Sigma's symbol
zyxwvutsrqponmlkj
engraved upon it. Even as X
confirmed the presence of
Sigma's shadow over these
mysterious circumstances,
the Maverick rebellion's new
ringleaders, the "X-Hunters",
appeared before him.
17~. C-'UN
"I was leaning more toward the planning

and producing side of things at this
point, trying to bring more advanced
thinking to the project. Although computer
viruses weren't as common at the time, l
suggested that we could move the story
in different directions without the need to
actually, physically present a villain if a
bad virus were to get out of control. I was
just letting my imagination run loose, of
course, but considering how things have
turned out, I sometimesthink I was seeing
into our future. (laughs)" (lnafune)
"The first project I worked on
1X21•
ofter joining Capcom was
The thing that I remember the
most is the 'CX4', Capcom's
DSP chip. Inserting this chip into
Super NES cartridges allows for
rotations, enlarging, shrinking,
and other fast graphical
processing. There was a time
when they were holding weekly x
meetings to discuss how to
use the CX4 to its maximum
potentlol." (Tsuda)
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIH
"With various limitations, the
CX4 was our greatest adversary
to date ... and yet we were told
to use it in as many ways as we
could. We even used it in the
letter 'X' of the title." (Tsuge)
"The 'water jump' feature
was initially an idea for a
new action that was being
experimented with, to be
brought in with a new armor
part ... but it somehow ended
1 X21
up in the game. After was
released, I got in big trouble
from lnafune about th o t."
(Tsuda)
"We had a lot of team members from 'X r: working

1X2'1
on but a lot of the people in the planning
department were pretty new and inexperienced.
The character and software people were constantly
waiting on stuff from the planning department,
and their boredom eventually resulted in a 'Puyo
Puyo' epidemic within the studio. It seemed like
there was always a Puyo tournament going on. The
project leader was particularly good at Puyo, and
could often be found relieving stress by mercilessly
committing mass Puyo murder, victimizing various
team members. The whole studio knew that if the
mighty project leader ever fell in battle, though,
we'd all hear an angry
voice screaming, 'vvhcr
are the planning guys
doing!? I want to see
some specs! Now!!' Yeah,
the planning guys always
suffered the consequence
of a serious Puyo loss."
(Tsuge)
1X21,
"While we were working on the 'X1' mango
ran in Comic BonBon, and I recall the whole
studio was buzzing with conversationsabout the zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJI
bold changes they had made." (Tsuge)
The
11
person in charge of the background musiccame to us saying, '! finished the musicfor the last boss.' So a
few of us went in with the project leader to listen to the new music,and we all agreed that, although it was
really good, it just didn't sound like 'last boss' kind of music.That's when the software guy quietly suggested
that we make it the ending theme. It was true that the music had more of an 'ending' feel to it, so the
arrangement was changed up a bit and it really did end up being the ending theme for the qome," (Tsuge)
lo!IDE i'llo!fflOlo!
"lo!i'!e.e,1T"
nzero died in 'X l ', but lnafune just came in one day zyxwvutsrqpo
saying, 'Don't you think it'd be a shame to let Zero
stay dead?' So we brought him back to life. It was that
simple. Not only did we bring Zero back to life for no
other reason than because we could, we brought him
back in pieces. I don't know what I was thinking, to tell
you the truth." (Tsuda)
lo!IDE CHi'ISElo!
"CHEIJi'IL"
"I get a lot of people asking me if Serges is Wily. I
always give them the same answer: 'He might be ...
he might not be.' (laughs) I think this is one of those
things that is best left without an official comment.
As creators, one of the fun things we get to do is
plant seeds of imagination in our players and let
them come to their own conclusions." {lnafune}
IJIOLS:N
"When figuring out the limits of the CX4, a

female X-Hunter was removed from what were
called the 'Four Guardians' at the time. Violen zyxwvut
also lost his second form. We [ust didn't have the
resourcesto make that all happen." (Tsuda)
HE~T lc:::NUClc:::LECH~MPION
FL~mE ST~a
LITTLE FOliii!EST DEMON

Wlliii!ESPONGE
1
11
was totally hands-off with the
design aspect of 'X2'. I left that
up to Tazaki, who had worked
on '5', '7\ and 'X l' as well. I
limited my involvement to that
of a supervisor. Oh, except
Zero... I worked on him. (laughs)"
(lnafune)
SHliii!EDDEliii! OF THE DEEP "The musicfor Stag's stage was quite popular among the team
E!,UE!,E!,LE Cliii!~E!, members,and when they found out that I wanted to cut it, I was
verbally thrashed. As an interesting coincidence, 'X-Men1 for
the Super NESwas also being developed at the same time as
'X2', and I heard that the main planner on that team tried to cut
the musicfor Psylocke'sstage, which was a team favorite, and
was similarly scolded by their team. I guess we planners stick
together and make the same mistakes.. .'1 (Tsuge)
"Whl!e working on 'X2', I was approached by

lnafune saying, 'I heard you're a fan of Mega
Man ...2' I responded with, 'Oh, totally!' That may
be why I was included in the '7' project afterward.
At the time, there were very few people coming
into the company who were led there by their love
for the Mega Man series,so I guessthat made me
a rarity in lnafune's eyes. He treated me pretty
favorably, leaving little freebies like an eraser
figurine of an 'X l ' boss,and even a trading card on
my desk. (laughs)" (Tsuda)
CJii!YST-=iL e,-=iLL m-=ia1c1-=iN
CJii!YST-=iL SN-=ilL
"If the player hits Snail with a specific weapon, his shell falls off. Snail
will try to rush back into his shell, but that's not where it ends ... One
of the software guys said, 'Trust me, it'd be funnier this way.' Before I
knew it, they made it so that X could body check the shell with a dash
and send it flying. So we ended up with the most pathetic boss ever
who will keep running around chasing his shell after it gets knocked
off his back. I had tears streaming down my face." (Tsuge)
SWIFT Jii!UNNE=Jii! OF THE= s-=iNDS

OVE=Jii!DJii!IVE= OSTJii!ICH
F-=iLLE=N -=iNGE=L
FJii!Offl THE= :ISL-=iND
OF DJii!E=-=ims CJii!lfflSON-=iss.caSSIN
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111
got the order from lnafune to come up with the names for the boss
characters. In 'Xl ', the bosses were pretty common animals like the
eagle and penguin, but in 'X2' they were a little more unique and
the English names were less common in Japan. I really got stuck on
the centipede. I didn't think that kids in Japan would know the word
'centipede'. After I puzzled over it for a while, Tsuda said, 'What if
we call him Hyakulegger, since he has a hundred legs?' It was settled
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgf
in that instant when lnafune exclaimed 'That's it!' I think Hyakulegger's
naming was a real stroke of genius on Tsuda'spart." (Tsuge)
"We had initially planned to take public submissions for boss characters in
'X2', but when we got to the development stage, we discussed it and decided
against it. With Mega Man, we wanted the players to feel a certain familiarity
with the characters, but it was our intention for the X series to have a world with
a more hardcore feel to it. We didn't want the bosses in this world to be cute
products of kids' imaginations; we needed them to be solid characters refined
by professionals." (Tsuge)
"At the time, Capcom usually didn't include credits in their games,
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED
but since 'X l I and 'X2' were slated to have public boss character
submissions, and part of the appeal was that the people who
sent in the characters that we used would have their names in the
credits, 'X 11 had credits as an exception. Since we no longer needed
the credits in the game once we decided not to accept public
submissions, 'X2' didn't have any credits." (Tsuge)
ISIIIQNT
me:CHIIQNILOID CF-121
"Since it was a physical replica of
Tsuda,everyone lovingly called it
the 'Tsuda Robot', which became
its unoffkial nickname." (Tsuge)
• fl. ••
ffli!QISNIIQ
lilUIIQli!TZ
MORISUN
P~RTIL~STER
P~R~LOID R-5
CHOP
REISISTER
"lnafune really took the director's position for 'X2'. He had someone
else take care of the management of 'X2', and seemedto have a lot zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU
of other stuff on his plate as well." (Tsuda)
Mega Man X3 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedc
SNES 12/01/1995
PS/SS 04/26/1996
PC 03/28/1997
Dr. Doppler, a brilliant Reploid

scientist, discovered that the
"Sigma Virus" was what was
causing Reploids to become
Mavericks. By engineering a cure,
Dr. Doppler was successful in
neutralizing the Maverick rebellion.
A few months later, though,
the Mavericks that had been
neutralized suddenly commenced
their own rebellion under Dr.
Doppler's guidance. In order to
reveal the truth of the situation
and to regain peace, X heads into
battle onceagain.
"By the time we got to 'X3', I was really

getting into the groove of being more
of a producer than anything else. I
was getting toys and trading cards
made. I was still experiencing a little
psychological turmoil over the fact that
we were letting 'outsiders' handle the
creation of the games. Of course, we
were still doing all of the design work
within Capcom." (lnafune)
x
"I did the line drawing for
the main illustration. I also
had a hand in some of the
ideas for the animations
that were brought into the zyxwvut
PlayStation and Saturn
versions of 'X3', both of
which came out after the
SNESversion." (Kaji)
"The only illustrations I did for 'X3'

were X, the new Zero, Vile MK-11,and
Sigma. I was especially possessive
of Zero. I just kept saying, 'He's my
character,' and didn't let anyone else
touch him. (laughs)" (lnafune)
"Being more of a producer for 'X3'
meant spending more time trying to
figure out how the game would translate
into other products. I supervised the
designing of the Third Armor, and took
the designs to the toy company myself."
(lnafune)
lii!IDS: -=ilii!MOlii! "CHIMS:lii!jl:I"
lii!IDS: -=ilii!MOlii! "Flii!OG"
E!rlT
MjQC
"Er... I might have done these ... but I might not

have... ? We'd split the work up between a few of
us, so it's hard to remember." (Kaji)
"They let me help out, too. I designed Doppler

and O lnary." (Yoshikawa)
Dlii!. DOPPLelii!
GODl<:jQfii!MjQCHINe
0 :CNjQfii!Y
FLYINa SH~DOW NIN.::J~
&L~ST HOlii!Ne:T
"I think I designed Hornet... " (Kaji}
"The first thing I worked on after joining Capcom was 'X3'. They let me
do illustrations of the minor enemy characters as well as three of the
boss characters. Hornet was the first one I did, but I got stuck early on
when I couldn't decide on what kind of pose to draw him in. At the time, I
had to get approval from Kaji, lnafune, and one of the other guys in the
design studio. Without all three approvals, I couldn't go ahead with any
SILlJe:lii! SNOWM~N
design. I recall struggling through several weeks of trying to get my stuff &LIZZ~lii!D &UFF~LO
approved." (Komaki}
STe:e:L lii!e:lJe:Nae:lii!
(:;lii!~lJITY e,e:e:TLe:
!
also did the illustrations for Beetle and Rhino.At the time, we were still applying
SU&Te:lii!lii!~Ne:~N &~lii!&~lii!l~N color to eels, and it took forever to dry. This one time, I stayed late at work to finish
TUNNe:L lii!HINO off a piece, and just when I thought I was finally done, I noticed some color on the
back of my hand. I looked at the eel and was like, 'Agh!! I peeled the color off!'
and had to start all over again. That was really awful." (Komaki}
"I designed Catfish and Tiger. The Catfish design came together pretty easily, and
I'm quite happy with it turned out. With Tiger, I'm particularly happy with the
how
crystal bubbles on his body. I wanted those to look like cat eyes." (Yoshikawa)
PROTE=CTOR OF THE= .::JUNISLE=

NE=ON TlcSE=R
RE=SCUE= POWE=R PLjQNT
IJOLT Cjl:ITFISH
DE=STROYE=R OF THE= SE=IJE=NSE=jl:IS

CRUSH Cri!jl:IWFISH
"ltou from the Legends series designed Crawfish. I think
lnafune ended up drawing the actual illustration, though I
doubt he remembers that." (KaF)
"Someone else was drawing it at first, but they just

couldn't get an approval on the rough draft, so lnafune
had to step in and do it himself." (Komaki)
PRE=SIDE=NT OF
THE= Wjl:ITE=RDri!jl:IISONS
TOXIC SE=jl:IHORSE=
"lnofune was the one checking my work on Seahorse. He really twisted my arm on that one, and kept saying, 'Make him longer!' zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfe
Personally, I always thought of seahorses as cute little creatures that are tucked into a compact, little twisty shape, but lnafune [usr kept
saying, 1Longer!Longer!' (laughs) I guess inafune wanted Seahorse to be longer to balance out with the other boss characters, because
he kept pushing me and saying, 'I know you can go longer!' (laughs)" (Yoshikawa)
Mi'IOH THE= ali'!NT
Ci'ITE=Jii!ICILLE=Jii!
HE=i'ID aUNNE=Jii!
CUSTOME=Jii!
"At the time, we weren't just the -design deportment ... they called us
'Total Design'. We'd get the concept art from the development team, zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTS
and we'd decide the characters' poses and do their illustrations. Man,
it's been so long since I've seen these minor characters." (Komaki)
:CCE= DE= VOUX

WOlii!m
SSSICSlii! Iii!
"The minor enemiesthat were included in

the instruction manual were all done by
me. We all divided up the work for the
ones in the guidebook. Going through
these illustrations now, ! keep saying to
myself, 'Did I do this one? Is this one of
mine?' Thesewere split up between three
of us." (Komaki)
SHUlii!IICE=IN
lJOL T ICUlii!jQcSE=IL
VILS MK-:C:C
"By this time, I was letting other people do most of the
illustrations, but I do remember doing Vile myself." (lnafune)
"They sent Kaiser Sigma around to me toward

the end. The only instructions I received were
to make him 'messy'. (laughs)" (Yoshikawa)
"You did Wolf Sigma for 'X 1 ', right? They put
"They let me do this illustration soon after the Brown Bear was devised. you in charge of all the messyones! (laughs)"
All I remember about it is that it was very difficult." (Komaki) (Kaji)
·r·e·······························································~··················································································t
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183 •••1
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re•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••e•••••••e•••••••••••••••••••·~-·~·••••!•••oee••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••1
Mega Man X4
PS/SS 08/01/1997
PC 12/03/1998
Many Reploids have

banded together
and established their
own army, called
"Repllforce''. Though they
initially cooperated with
the Maverick Hunters,
their leader General
suddenly declared that
Repliforce was to be
its own, independent
nation. The Maverick
Hunter Command Center
subsequently declared
all of Repliforce to be
Mavericks, and sent X
out to deal
zyxwvutsrqponmlkj
"Fr c di tl o n cll y , main
illustrations for Mega
Man games had lots of
characters, were high in
saturation, and were just
generally pretty bald.
Since we had moved into
new hardware for 'X41, l
wanted the main illustration
for it to have a real sense
of grandeur. To that end,
I cut back on the number
of characters present and
touched up the background
to make it look like it was
among other
x
"For 'X4' I really focused my attention on my
responsibilities as a producer. I left the game
design up to Tazaki and the others who had done
such a great job with 'Xl' and 'X2'. Though I did
make sure to tell them not to mess around with
Zero. (laughs)" (lnafune)
COLONe:L
"I didn't draw any illustrations for 'X4', but I did

involve myself in the story-mokinq side of things.My
degree of involvement was probably only slightly
less than it was for 'X 1 '. For Repliforce, we tried to
leave some moral leeway in their story. We didn't
want them to be an 'absolute evil' type of presence
in the game like Sigma was. The messagewe were
trying to get acrosswith them was that when it comes
to good and evil, things aren't always as black and
white as we'd like them to be." (lnafune)
"I had noticed that the boss character illustrations for Mega
Man had always been straight up fighting poses. It was as if
someone had said, 'Okay, here we go ... say cheese!' (laughs)
So for 'X4', I wanted to show them being themselves more
than anything. I had Walrus punching the ground with his fist,
and Spider in a pretty spider-like stance." (Suetsugu)
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Flii!OST W~Llii!US
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••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
·····························································••@•~··················································································
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"Since the story in 'X4' was pretty heavy on its own, I wanted to
drop the saturation of the shadowsin the illustrations by a large
margin. I took too long coming up with the various posesfor the
boss characters, though, so I had to get some of the other people
from the design team to help me color them. That's why a lot of the
boss characters have more shadows than I would have liked..• but I
guess I shouldn't complain. (laughs)" (Suetsugu)
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••••i z
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjih
•••• , i
The
11
illustration of Zero launching an attack with the
saber [above] is one of my personal favorites. To be
honest,his physical proportions are a little off, but I
think it still conveys Zero's cool factor really well. In
fact, I wish we had done more to transfer someof that
coolnessto X in his illustrations." (Suetsugu)
"For 'X4', I didn't do character ,designs like I did for zyxwvutsr
'XS' and beyond. The illustrations I did for 'X41 were
for promotional purposes. Even just drawing the
armors stretched me to my limits, and all I had to do
for those was look at the design drafts they gave me
and make them look as cool as I could," (Suetsugu)
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•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••@•••••••••••••••*••••••••@••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
1 11
feel so bad for Iris... With the
story being as heavy as it is, her
expressionsare always shadowed
by sorrow. in the illustrations.That's
why it was important to me that
we give her reasonsto laugh and
smile when we brought her back
for 'Xtreme 21• We also had her on
a date for the CD illustration. We
just felt so bad for her in 'X4', we
wanted to do what we could for
her." (Suetsugu)
liii!IDE= ~liii!MOliii! "liii!~IDE=N"
liii!IDE= ~liii!MOliii! "E=~liLE="

SE=GIA SiATUlii!N VE=lii!SION
PIACKIAGE= ILLUSTlii!iATION
"I really like the Zero-only package art for the SEGA Saturn version. Usually,not
having the main character on the package would be unheard of, but we had a lot
of hardcore fans on the Saturn, so I figured it'd be all right. (laughs)" (lnafune)
SPE=CIIAL LlffllTE=D PIACK (LlffllTE=D E=DITION)

PIACKIAGE= ILLUSTlii!iATION SiACKGlii!OUND
"Someoneelse drew the SEGA Saturn package, but they drew it from looking
at my drawings, so most people probably wouldn't be able to pick out the
difference. I had the other main illustration as well as the package art for
the limited edition on my plate, so I was just like, 'I can't handle any morel'
(laughs)" (Suetsugu)
"Instead of using the main illustration to introduce
Mega Man X5 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJI

the characters, I decided to show the Enigma and
PS 11 /30/2000 the wasteland in the background to sort of give a
PC 05/24/2002 summary of this title's stor y," (Suetsugu)
Several months had passed since

the Great Repliforce War. One
day, the grand space colony
Eurasia suddenly went out of
control and began falling toward
Earth. The only way to save Earth
now would be to destroy Eurasia
with the Enigma,a powerful beam
cannon from an age long past.
With only 16 hoursleft to find the
parts necessaryto get the Enigma
online, X and Zero deploy in full
force.
1
11
had very little to do with zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
'XS'. I just told the team to
'finish off the series with this
title', and left it at that. That's
why the game itself has a real
feel of finality to it." (lnafune)
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SIGN~S
"I just wanted to make Signas
look as proud and important
as possible, so I gave him a
lot of parts. I only realized
how much trouble I had
gotten myself into later, when
I found out that he actually
needed to sit down in one
of the scenes.(laughs)"
(Suetsugu)
"There are many Lifesavers, and

DOUGL~S
they feel less 'human' than the
"In order to make him seem like someone others, so 1 tried to convey this by
who works in the field, I added little bumps reducing the amount of fleshy body
to his footwear, like the kind you would see parts on them." (Suetsugu)
on treads or tires. Also, we couldn't let an
engineer be more handsomethan the 'reel'
heroes, so I gave him a rounded nose.
DYN~mo
"Since Dynamo uses both a sword and a gun, I
modeled him after mounted cavalry and other zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ
Western movie sources. His buster is shaped like the
cylinder of a revolver, his color is navy blue, he has
yellow lines going up either side of his legs, and he
has a buckle on his belt. Also, since he is able to use
both kinds of weapons, I gave him some features
from both X and Zero as well." (Suetsugu)
11••••••$••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••o•••••••••••••••••••••••*•••@*@@S$@&@e$0@0@@0@••••••~••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••~
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193
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• $0@0@@@@$@@•••••*••••••@@@®@6@@$0@0@@&@$$••••@••••··············································1 ••••1
••••1
[Editor's note: When Mega Man XS was released in North
America, its Maverick bosses were given alternate names based
on Guns N' Roses band members. In this book, the bosses are
listed by their original, canonically accurate names first, and
their alternate American names in parentheses.]
WILD :CRON CLAW

Cliii!SSCSNT cSRIZZLY (cSRIZZLY SLASH)
"I drew Grizzly to look like a constructionforeman;
the kind of guy you'd want to call 'Boss'! He has
heavy machineryon one hand, and has a neck like a
log from working out." (Suetsugu)
SUPSR MAcSNSTIC TRAP

IJOL T KRAKSN (SlilUID ADLSR)
"I tried to convey a real senseof speed while
designing Kraken, especially around the linesof
his back." (Suetsugu)
SPARK OF :CNTSLLlcSSNCS
SHININcS FIRSFLY (:CZZY cSLOW)
"I was told that Firefly would be a sort of professor-
like character, so that could only mean two things:
glassesand distinguishedfacial hair! The red stripe I
put along the top of his head is supposedto be a sort zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
of bald look." (Suetsugu)
cSUARDIAN OF THS cSRSAT SSA

TIDAL WHALS (DUFF MCWHALSN)
~lliii! FOliii!CE Pliii!INCE
5Plliii!~L PEG~5U5 (THE SICIUEliii!)
Tliii!UE Cliii!lffl50N :CLLUSIONIST

SPIICE liii!05Eliii!ED (~XLE THE liii!ED)
111
designed Rosered so that
when he stands straight with his
hands over his head, he looks like
three potted flower blossoms."
(Suetsugu)
.:JU1iii!~551C:CNFEliii!NO
SUliii!N DINOliii!EX
(ffl~TTliii!EX)
FOliii!GOTTEN W~liii!liii!IOliii!
OF SH~DOW
D~liii!IC NECliii!OS~T
(D~liii!IC DIZZY)
"I shamelessly went for the
Count Dracula look here.
His right eye is a monocle,
and he has a haughty air
about him." (Suetsugu)
"Whale, Pegasus,and Dinorex were designed by Higurashi. They are

simple yet refined, without a lot of unnecessary parts. Maybe it's just
because l've been working on robots for so long, but my designs always
seem to end up more cumbersome.(laughs)" (Suetsugu)
····························································*······$·-~·····························$··········································••••t
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•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••4:••••••••••@•••••••41•~•••••••••••••••••e•••!••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••t
"When Higurashi first designed this character, it was called the
'Metal Devil', and was silver all over. In the end, though, we made
him black to emphasize the lights around his eye." (Suetsugu)
FOUlii!TH IAlii!MOlii!
FIALCON iCllii!MOlii!
"The FalconArmor was designed by Higurashi.
As the name suggests,the chest piece is shaped
like a beak, there are wings coming out of the
back, and the arm is curved into talons. He's
in a flying pose here, with his chest stuck out."
(Suetsugu)
"With a solid chest piece and a design based around straight lines, I wanted to
bring out a tough and powerful feeling in this illustration. It all started to feel a little
cumbersome,so I designed the head piece based on Sanagiman from lnazuman.
(laughs) Personally,I felt that the Falcon Armor was going to be the main attraction of zyxwvu
'XS', so I mostly designed the Gaea Armor to be like a side attraction." (Suetsugu)
[Editor's note: "lnozuman" is a superhero from Japanese mango and anime. "Sanagiman"
is his alternate, mutant form.]
nThe one thing that ! always thought was really well
established sincethe beginning of the X series was
the relationship between X and Zero. Of course, this
is just my own personal interpretation, but I always
saw X as the kind of guy who takes a lot of hits and
falls early on, but learns from eyery experience and
movesforward to better himself every time. In the
end, it's guys like him that win. Thisis the character
that the player can relate to. Zero sees this
admirable trait in X, and that is why they are able
to share a deep and mutual respect for each other
despite the fact that one is B class and the other is
Special A class. By allowing my imagination to
fly with this idea, l am able to invest more
emotion into every illustration. Sometimes,
once I'd made sure everyone had gone
home for the night, 1 would yell,
'Man, you guys are the best!'
and get all misty-eyed as
I finished up my work."
(Suetsugu)
,,m,e CHiQSelii! "iQDION"
"The Reploids that appear in the ending are X's

followers, so I made their body designs very simple. zyxwvutsr
As I was drawing them, 1 wondered if X looked like
this when he was at their level. My simple designs
became quite popular among the staff, where the
most commoncommentwas, 'I love how they look like
cheap knock-offs!' (laughs)" (Suetsugu)
"For the recollection scenes in the opening, l just let every
ounceof my Mega Man love go! Eventhough the game
can only provide pixelated representations, I like to
believe that all of the characters and awesome scenes
came to vibrant life in the minds of our players. The best
I could do was try and do justiceto the believable world
and lovable people that our players were carrying in
their hearts. I had somefans come up to me and tell me
that they actually recorded the opening and watched
it over and over again ... I can't express how much that zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgf
made it all worth my while." (Suetsugu)
:Clii!IS
(lii!ECOLLECTION)
Who
1
"A pretty common question I hear is,
is the heroine of the X series, Iris or Alia?'
Personally, I think Alia takes on more of a 'big
sister' role, since she does spend most of the
game navigating the player around. On the
other hand, Iris could be the heroine of the
series, but she dies in 'X4', so... " (Suetsugu)
....••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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"I didn't want the main illustration to get too messy, so I left some people
out, like Gate and lsoc. I wanted to focus more on the main point of this
game, which was: 'Hey, I got Zero's saber!' (laughs)" (Suetsugu)
Thanks to Zero's selfless

sacrifice, Earth was saved
from the imminent crash of the
Eurasia colony. Three weeks
later, the Reploids were well
into the reconstruction of the
damaged land when Mavericks
-- who had all been assumed
to be destroyed -- showed up
without warning. Hoping to get
to the bottom of this puzzling
occurrence, X steps out into the
field with Zero's saber in hand.
1
11
had honestly planned for 'X5' to be
the last title in the series, but somehow
I found myself with 'X6'. I feel like I
owe the fans an apology, but I have
to admit that the series was starting
to go in a direction that was out of
my control. I plan to re-examine the
situation and be more careful with how
I handle the Mega Man name from
now on." (lnofune)
"In 'X6', we get to see a bit of
Alia's past. We put her hair down
to give the sense that the scene is
from the past ... but then she shows
up in 'X81 with her hair down, so...
"Gate represents a merging

scientistsand combatants. He was
one of my personal favorites, so
I was very disappointed when I
found out that he wouldn't be in
any sequels. That might be why
l included him in the illustration
for the soundtrack CD. (laughs)"
(Suetsugu)
:csoc
1
11
was thinking about a
certain scientist while
designing this character. The
horizontal piece on his head
is supposed to be hair. I
also gave him a beard and
something that looks like a
necktie." (Suetsugu)
HIGH Mi'IX
"The instructions I received for High Max
were, 'Big and stronql' So I made him tall and
emphasized his chest piece. He was designed
to be fully combat ready." (Suetsugu)
"The concepts for the boss characters were relatively simple, so
I was able to take a similarly simple approach to their overall
designs. For example, Commander Yammark has touches of a
helicopter and its pilot in him, and Metal Shark Player's legs were
made to look like the open jaws of a shark." (Suetsugu)
etLIZZi'Ui!D WOLF,i:iN(.i
1X61•
"We had such a tight schedule for I had just received my
instructionsfor the designs and was like, 'Hmm... looks like we'll
have some interesting bosses... ' when someonefrom marketing
dropped by and said, 'Oh, hey Suetsugu ... do you have anything
for us yet?' From that point on, everything I did involved tears.
....i••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••e•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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SHIELD SHELDON
:CNFINITY Ml.:JINION
"I guess it's because we had made it to

the sixth title in the series, but we got into
some pretty unusual themes for our boss
characters, like scarabs and water fleas.
From a designer's perspective, it seemed
like a fun idea." {Suetsugu)
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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••••
SIGMi'I "I was told that Sigma shouldn't
be fully restored for this one, so
I [ust went with that. He looks like
a mess. (laughs)" (Suetsugu)
Gi'ITE? (COME!,i'IT moi,e)

"Gold seems like such an obvious color, zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
but it hadn't been used very often up to
this point. I wanted the hom-Hke pieces on
his helmet to flick up when he got angry.
I used the diamond from his forehead as
an accent by placing it on other parts of
his body as well." (Suetsugu)
"l designed the buster part to look like a
bow, but when it opens up it looks like a zyxwvuts
hilt for the blade. Also, crystals and other
core parts are generally placed to act as
centerpieces, but I decided to spread them
toward the edges and emphasize how pretty
they ere." (Suetsugu)
SH.i:IDOW .i:llii!MOlii!
"I put a chainmail chestpieceon this armor to make it scream,
'I'm a nln]ol!' (laughs) With every inch of this armor, I tried to
stress that its main purpose is stealth combat." (Suetsugu)
NIGHTffljQ~S:
"The design concept for the zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM
Nightmare was, obviously, DNA. I
can't imagine what a pain in the
neck it must have been to do the
dot work for this guy. 11d like to
offer my sincerestapologies to the
fellas who were responsible for the
~S:PLOli,s graphics. (laughs)" (Suetsugu)
"Among the Reploids who
were begging for help, you
can see that one of them
is a recolor of Middy from
'Xtreme'. (laughs) He was
snuckin there as a kind of
joke." (Suetsugu)
We're not exactly in a line of work that gets a lot of fan mail, and I'll be
11
the first to admit that we feel a little under-appreciated sometimes. {laughs)

I did, however,see someX fan art in a magazine while I was overseas. 'Kids
on the opposite side of the Earth are trying to draw like me!' I remember
basking in the warm, fuzzy feeling that gave me." (Suetsugu)
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207 ••••
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Mega Man X7 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedc
PS2 07 /17 /2003
X made the decision to leave

the Maverick Hunters in pursuit
of a peaceful solution to the
fighting. It wasn't long before
the paramilitary organization
11Red
Alert", who was known for
its unlawful tactics, moved in to
replace the weakened Maverick
Hunters. One day, while rushing
to an incident, Zero ran into Axl,
who claimed to have deserted
Red Alert in hopes of joining the
Maverick Hunters.
x
The
11
only design work I did
for 'X7' was to give advice on
Axl. I said, 'If we're bringing
in a new character, just make
sure you give him a distinct
silhouette.' Over the years,
I came to realize that when
you draw robot characters, it's
mighty easy for them to fall
into similar shapes. That's why I
was very careful about X and
Zero's silhouettes when I was
designing them. Axl ended up
with protrusionson his head and
a gun in his hand to make him
unique." (lnafune)
"SinceAxl wasn't supposedto have come

from the typical 'good guy' mold, I gave
him a nice big scar on his face and went
with a lot of black in his coloring to give
him an overall dark feel. I wanted his
hair and the details of his face to exude
youth to emphasize the fact that he was
born after X and Zero." (Yoshikawa)
1
11
had the Grim Reaper in mind when I
designed Red. I gave him bags under his
eyes and a sharp scythe to give him an
evil look. The white lines I put in here and
there are supposedto look like bones,and
although it may not be the most original
idea, I made the center of his torso look
like a face, with the pointed shoulder
pieces being sharp horns." (Yoshikawa)
··············································•·0········· ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~!~!!!~~~~-- •*•·················· ....
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
PUlii!E WILD CHILD
U~NISHING GUNG~lii!OO
Clii!~ZY W~lii!lii!IOlii!
CLO~ICED IN FL~me:s
FL~me: HYEN~lii!D
111
)hought we would need to focus on making zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYX
'polygon-friendly bosses' for 'X7', but it wasn't
working out as well as I expected. Personally,
I always thought it'd be best to stick to the
traditional design concept of the X series,
especially the 'xi: flavor." (Yoshikawa)
D~NCING ~SS~SSIN
TOlii!N~DO TONION
CH~lii!GING M~N
lii!IDE e,o~lii!SICI
PUliii!SUe:liii! Fliii!Offl
THe: SLUe: Se:i'!
SPLi'ISH Wi'lliii!FLY
ice:e:Pe:liii! OF THe:
e:Le:CT!iii!ONIC Li'ISY!iii!INTH
SNIPe: i'INTe:i'!TOliii!
"I was in charge of Stonekong's STliii!ONGi'lliii!ffl OF THe:

design. I was going for the De:e:Pe:ST Gliii!e:e:N
sort of sophisticated design SOLDle:liii! STONe:ICONG
reminiscent of 'X i: and the
robot animes from the '80s,
the kind of thing the kids love.
I was kind of hoping that my
design would influencethe other
designers to an extent, but I
came into 'X7' a little late in
the game, so it was too late for
that." (Yoshikawa)
By
11
the time I joined in, 'X7' was already
well underway. I was mainly responsible
for designing the central characters and
supervising the modeling. Since the project
was already on its feet, I chose to lead the
design aspect in a direction that basically
took after Suetsugu's art from 'X6'.11
{Yoshikawa)
1
11
drew the package illustration for 'X71, but the character portraits were
divided up between a small group of people, including Suetsugu.Based on the
concept art from the design team, I made sure to maintain overall continuity,so I
don't think most people would be able to pick out any differences in the pieces zyxwvutsrqp
done by different people." {Yoshikawa)
"I'm such a big fan of the entire X series, l had a lot of "My personal opinion was that 30 is simply a graphic style, and that
thoughts about 'X7' as I was heading into it. Since we just because a game is going 3D like 'X7' was, it doesn't mean we
were going into 3D, I wanted to re-examine the overall 'have to' make it a 3D game. I think the team figured that out while
concept. I was hoping the entire team would be willing doing 'X7', because by the time we did 'X8', the graphics were still 3D
to rethink the game like they did when they first did 'X 1 ', but the game itself had returned to the traditional gameplay of the
but it had already progressed into 3D with such ideas 2D Mega Man era." (lnafune)
left behind." (Yoshikawa)
Mega Man XS zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
PS2/PC 03/10/2005
The Maverick War's destruction of the Earth

showed no signs of ceasing, so the humanrace x
began looking to space for their survival.
Immigration to the moon soon becamea reality
with the completion of the orbital elevator
11Jakob11• 11new
The generation Reploids", who
were able to transform into any other Reploid
by altering their DNA, were sent up to the
moon to set up a central base. Unfortunately,
these Reploids had copied Sigma's DNA, and
a rebellion broke out. ln order to investigate
the situation, X and his team headed up into
space.
"I was mainly assisting with 'X7', but I got
a more main role in 'XS'. As far as the
coloring went, I didn't want to put too
much of my individuality in there, but I
did want to express some new concepts
through the art, and that's why the arms
and legs turned out thinner than the
traditional designs." (Yoshikawa)
11 1
redesigned the concept of the
characters and mechs for 'XS' by
considering what they would be
like as toys. For instance,I wanted
to think about how the kinds of toys
that come in blister packs would zyxwvu
feel in the hand, and what kind of
mobility they would have. I even
took the construction of the joints
into consideration, thinking about
Dlii!. Ll'3HT the revolver joints of Revoltech
figures and standard double joints.
It was my hope that such trains of
thought would lead to designs that
would make an easy transition into
polygons." (Yoshikawa)
·································*················································®·································································
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215 •••
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•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••@•••••••••••••*••••••••••••••••$••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
IASSIASSIN SE=NT FROM
WITHIN THE= IARTIFICIIAL MIND
OPTIC SUNFLOWE=R
MIANIPULIATOR OF
SPIACE= IAND TIME=
GRIAVITY IANTONION
"I designed all eight bosses for 'XS'. That may

very well be an X series first. When we first
1X81,
started talking about I asked if it would be
okay for me to go ahead with my own ideas,
even if it meant that I'd be moving away from
what was generally expected. My request was
approved, and I felt like a dog off his leash!
(laughs)" (Yoshikawa)
SHIARP E!,LIADE= HIDDE=N

IN THE= SHIADOWS
DIARIC MIANTIS
HIGH VOL TIAGE= CIASTIAWIAY

GIGIAE!,OLT MIAN-0-WIAR
PERffli'IFROST
Ci'IRETi'IICER
i'!Vi'!Li'INCHE YETI
FL.cim1Na cocic::scome,
SURN ROOSTER
11For
the boss designs, I
followed in the footsteps of
the 'X l ' imagery that I love
so much. Without forgetting
about the polygon and figurine
aspects, l made sure to apply
everything I had learned from
lnafune and Kaji. In the end,
I put every ounce of myself
into these designs, and I am
very pleased with how they
turned out. I like all of the
'XS' boss characters equally!"
(Yoshikawa)
Fi'ILLEN ali'!NT OF THE FOREST

e,.cime,oo Pi'INDi'lfflONIUm
LUMINE:
"Sf n ce Lumine was one of the 'n e w
generation Reploids', I wanted him to have
a look that was distinct from the traditional
humanoid characters. I removed the helmet
to provide a more human-like appearance,
and his final form was based on an angel."
(Yoshikawa)
"I followed up on the plain yet powerful image of

Sigma from 'Xl '. The one thing that I did put a lot of
thought into was his chin. Up until this point, Sigma's
chin was shaped differently depending on who
drew him. I basically took this opportunity to decide
once and for all what his chin should officially look
like! (laughs) His final form is based on a demon, in
contrast to Lumlne'sangel look." (Yoshikawa)
UILE: zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
U
"I let the military geek in me out for this
design. The unique emblem he bears is zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
supposed to identify him as someone
who does not affiliate himself with any
organizations. Vile V is a one-man army,
and is proud of it! (laughs)" (Yoshikawa)
"X is straight-edged, powerful,
and will meet his enemies head
on. Refined, beautiful strokes of
the blade are more Zero's speed,
while Axl prefers to shoot in every
direction first and ask questions later.
These are the unique traits of the
main heroes that I tried to portray in
my illustrations." (Yoshikawa)
"The X series is considered to be a 'guy's story',
but everyone loves female characters. I wanted to
give them the traits they would need to be loved by
everyone when they became commercial goods."
(Yoshikawa)
"Pallette is one of those absentminded types, so I

focused on pastel colors for her. Layer has more
of a divine air about her, so I went with the rich
and royal purple. As far as Alia is concerned,
she brought sex appeal to a man's world, but by
changing her hairstyle in 'X8', I was trying to add
some cuteness to her character." (Yoshikawa)
TITLe SCReeN ILLUSTRjl:ITION
"I didn't involve myself very much with 'X8'. As a personal

policy, I'd rather be totally uninvolved than make any holf-
hearted input. If I did try to voice my opinion on something, I'd
probably end up taking full control of everything. So when the
team asked me if it'd be okay to go modern with the designs
for 'X81 by making the legs thinner and such, I just said, 'Feel
free to do whatever you want.' I wanted them to be free to do
whatever they thought would be best for the game." (lnafune)
ffljl:IIN ILLUSTRQTION BtQCICc3ROUND

"Whenever I do a main illustration, I'm always
trying to figure out how to fit as much of the
story into one scene as possible. You can
see Sigma in the background, but Lumine's zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcb
silhouette is stacked on top of him in the
completed version [earlier in this section] to
indicate that there is still a greater evil behind
him." (Yoshikawa)
ILLUSTRjQTION FOR fflQc3QZINe COIJeR
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221zyxwvutsrq
, ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• $0@00&0••••••••••••0••··~·························~····~,·~~!~~~~~~~~?~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"lnsteod of coloring X in the main
illustration like he was done on
a eel, I used Painter. J was trying
to give the whole image a sense
of summary as well as luxury.
The only thing I might have done
differently with this piece would
have been to use crisper colors."
(Suetsugu)
Mega Man Xtreme

GB 10/20/2000
The mother computer at

Hunter Base, the Maverick
Hunters' headquarters, has
been hacked by an unknown
source. All of its data was
overwritten in an instant,
and the resulting fake data
has sent the whole world
spiraling into chaos. The
command center sends
X out to face the c s -v e t
unidentified enemy, who has
resurrected Maverick data x
from the past.
TeCHNO
"Middy and Techno are twins, so their
helmets were shaped so that if you turn
one of them by 90 degrees, it will look
like the other. Even with their tines, you can
see that Middy has softer, rounder lines to
reflect his gentle personality, while Techno
has sharper, pointed angles. I also brought
in my personal interpretation of the X
series in that the fleshy portions of bad
guys are colored black! I mean, Zero's got
that black coloration because he's part of
the 'Wily Numbers', right!?" (Suetsugu)
"These designs were pretty simple. I just

went straight off of the instructions I got
to make 'armor' characters. Zain is heavy
plate, and Geemel is light plate. I did think
they were a little too complex considering
the Game Boy's graphical capacity, so I
was totally blown away when I saw them
come to life on that little screen! I can't
say enough nice things about the masterful
skills of the people who work the dots."
(Suetsugu)
223
"Sf nce the packages for
Game Boy games are so
small, I clidn't think it would
be sucha good idea to do an
illustration with lots of gritty
little details. Instead, I went
for bold close-upsof the main
characters' faces to give it
greater visibility. I wanted to
conveythe main attractions of
this title, which were that you
could play as X and Zero, and
that they would be joined by
Iris." (Suetsugu)
Mega Man Xtreme 2 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

GBC 07/19/2001
When a Reploid's programming was

suddenly deleted one day without
reason or warning, panic began to
ensue. The phenomenon soonspread,
and these terrifying incidents -- that
left numerous Reploids as lifeless
hunks of metal, never to move again
-- have come to be identified as
"Erasures". One day, the Erasure
phenomenon swept over a large
crowd of Reploids, leaving the
Maverick Hunter Command Center
with little choice but to send X and
Zero out to find the source of this
plague.
"I was so happy that I got to draw Iris again!
Since she had died in 'X4', and this title was
supposed to be a prequel set in an earlier
timeframe, I adjusted her design appropriately
to reflect the shift in time. I thought perhaps
she hadn't yet begun wearing her beret when
she was still in training, and I also gave her
uniform a touch of a schoolgirl look to give her
an overall more youthful appearance. Another
little detail I incorporated into her design was
to make her a little less 'physically developed'
than she was in 'X4'. (laughs)" (Suetsugu)
"Berkana the witch and

Gareth the knight are the
two original villain characters
for this title, and they share
a 'medlevcl' theme with Zain
and Geemel from 'Xtreme l '."
(Suetsugu)
The
11
order details for Gareth were to make a 'knight and his lion'.
Unfortunately,Goreth's lion does not make an appearance in the
game itself. If the player could just assumethat the lion loyally follows
Gareth everywhere,but not in any way that is visually confirmable
within the game, that would be great. (laughs)" (Suetsugu)
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....
"I have always believed that X is an
action game, and belongs squarely
in that genre. So when I was told to
'make a Mega Man X RPG', I just
said, 'No.' I totally left this title up to
the others. I didn't want to touch it
at all." (lnafune)
"I was talking to our planner, and

I brought up the question, 'What
should I do with the package art?'
His reply was, 'Just make it totally
RPG.' Uh ... I have no idea what
that means!! So I twisted my brain
around that, and when I presented
it to him, he said, 'Nice! That's so
RPG11 I was just like ... seriously!?"
(Higurashi)
Mego Mon X: Command Mission

PS2/GC 07 /29 /2004
Reploid engineering ushered in

a whole new era thanks to the
discovery of a new material called
"Force Metal11• An artificial island
called Giga City was built to
harvest Force Metal. But during the
island's construction, a group calling
themselves the Rebellion rose up
from the crowd. The government
labeled the Rebellion's leader,
Epsilon, a Maverick and sent the
Maverick Huntersto deal with him.
"In the opening of 'X l ', we were presented with endless potential and
unfathomable dangers. The two main characters were X, who embraced and
embodied the limitless nature of these aspects, and Zero, who seemed to be
there to nullify all of this potential, as his name suggests. In this illustration, I
wanted to emphasize that these two are not your classic archetypical heroes,
x but rather are of the darker hero archetype. In the end, I think I was successful
in both expressingmyself as well as leaving it open enough for the players to
infusetheir own interpretations." (Higurashi)
CINN-=imoN
"I wanted to bring out the

'childish fun' I felt from Axl
1X71
in his appearance, and
I think I managed to do that.
On a slightly unrelated note,
I wonder if I was the only one
who was thrown off by the
intonation of Marino's name
in the game ... ? It just didn't
sound like I thought it would."
(Higurashi)
"Out of all the design concepts I

received, Nana was absolutely
the cutest. I could see that the zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG
designer put a lot of thought into
her in particular. I kept that in
mind while doing the illustrations,
and I hope it shows." (Higurashi)
SILlJe:R HORN
WILD .:J;i:!NGO
"RPGs have never been a personal

favorite of mine. 1 tend to quit before I
play them through to the end. With this
title, however, I found the combat system
to be really well-paced, and I had fun
playing it all the way to the end. I think
that really says a lot about the planner's
professional obtllties." (Higurashi)
zyxwvutsrqponm
"lnitiotlv, lncentas only had four fingers on each hand, but
I got a sudden phone call saying, 'We want you to put five
fingers on each hand!' I couldn't believe it. Did they know
how many handsthis guy has!?"(Higurashi)
e.OTOS
"I was in charge of the early design concepts for
'Maverick Hunter X'. What that means is that I needed
to consider things like the size of X1s hand. It usually
tends to be on the bigger side, but we needed to reel
it in a bit for it to flt into the polygons nicely. Not only
was it my job to suggest an appropriate size for his
hand, but I also established general rules like having
his head the same size as the thickness of his legs.
Also, as you can no doubt see, we followed in the
1X81
footsteps of the design as far as Sigma's chin is
concerned. (laughs)" (Yoshikawa)
Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X

PSP 12/15/2005
Sigma, who was considered to be the

greatest of the Maverick Hunters, took the N-'IUIG-'ITOJii!
world by surprise one day when he sent out
an order to all Reploids. "Reploids of the
world, unite! Toke up your weapons! The
time has come for an evolution!!" Triggered
by this message,a massive rebellion broke
out all over the world. X, a Maverick Hunter, zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
headed to the battlefield with his good
friend Zero in order to put a stop to Sigma
and his rebellion.
"After preparing the concept art, I left the
rest of the actual designing to the newer staff
members. I wanted the bosses to feel really
unique, so I asked them to refine the designs
ever so slightly. That's how Mandrill got a
drill as a hand." (Yoshikawa)
LjQUNCH
OCTOPUS
"I was sucha big Vile fan, as well as a Mega Man
X fan, so to think that Vile was stepping up to battle
was very exciting for me. The fact that the bosses
were all getting a sort of design overhaul allowed
for a very fresh feeling when drawing them, which
made it very enjoyable." (Mizuno)
jQJii!MOlii!e:D
jQJii!MjQDILLO
"One of the younger staff members absolutely loves
toys, and I often saw little figurines lining his desk.
So every time he submitted a design, I would turn
around and ask him, 'If your design were turned into
a toy, would you want that toy?' If the particular
design in question wasn't too fun, he'd say, 'Well, no ...
I guess not.' Of course, my reply to that was always,
'Then come up with a design·that people will actually
want, please.' (laughs)" (Yoshikowa)
SP-=ilii:!K
m-=iNDlii:!ILL
CHILL
Pe:NGUIN
11The
original 'xr: has always been a personal favorite
of mine, so I was very happy to be a part of this
project. lt's such a simple yet deep game, and the
designsreally reflect that on the mos_t basic levels.Out
of the entire series,'X1' did the best job of showcasing zyxwvut
this fact." (Yoshikawa)
"l brought in the Vile Mode to address the question
'What would it be like to see combat through the
eyes of the enemy?' I also wanted the fans to get
the chanceto see everything in a new light. It would
have been too obviousand boring if the new option
was ta play as Zero, right? (laughs)" (lnafune)
"By the time I joined the development team, the planner" (my mentor) had already hammered out some basic dot images for Mega Man." (lnafune)
lnafune added any missing patterns, and moved on to create the main visuals for the character. We believe these sketches were part of his process
to solidify the image of Mega Man.
While doing the dot work, his

sketchbook was always sitting
next to his computer.
"These are sketches l did while

trying to figure out what Elec
Man would look like. You can
see the transition from an early
model to something that looks
more like the final character
design." (lnafune)
It was always necessary to keep the limits of

the NES's capabilities in mind while designing
characters. lnafune had to suppress a lot of his
desire for more detail while he pushed out the
dots and added sketches to his book.
"I guess I could have enjoyed more freedom

with my designs if I had simply ignored the
limitations I was presented with ... but in some
ways, working within certain limitations can
actually lead to really interesting designs."
(lnafune)
Dlii!. Llc3HT
Dlii!. Llc3HT?
···-~~-· -····-···-········ zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgf.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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. ..
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................•.•.•..•.••••.....•......
•....•.•................................. ,
According to lnafune, the on-screen graphics were "quite limited", and keeping these
limitations in mind while designing characters for the NES proved quite challenging .
Here we can see the early form of ~ " " .... " .
....... '""
"
¢
"' "
""'""'" . zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPON
11 Mega
Springer from Man 211• A lot of
the characters who were sketched out but
not used in the first game were reused
later on as base concepts for characters
in future titles.
A Fire Man with flaming shoulders, and a
Sniper Joe with more details in his design.
"l'd draw sketches in my book, try to create a

dot image, then go back and forth between
the two to figure out exactly what I could and
could not make happen. I'd be like, 'Hmm...
I don't think this is possible,' or 'Oh! I can
totally make that work!' That's how my process
worked." (lnafune)
"I had so much trouble getting Bomb Man "This is an early Bomb Man. I actually made an animation
opproved." (lnafune) for him and everything. He'd run up to you, throw the bomb,
and then cover his ears. (laughs)" (lnafune)
By struggling through the constant rejection
of his submissions, lnafune eventually settled
-$" ••
l,." ••
" ••
o; ••
" t...... "
" "'· -"
" " " ·- "
" ..
.
on the Bomb Man below.
"Mass Production Bomb Man? What the ... I

don't remember drawing this at all. (laughs)
This was probably a design for some minor
character to go along with Sniper Joe ...
maybe. (laughs)" (lnafune)
"The initial plan was to have eight

boss characters, but that number was
reduced to six due to resource issues."
(lnafune)
While lnafune was working on character designs,he also had to

come up with designs for the backgrounds. The sketchbelow is of
Wily's base. Note what appears to be a Wily UFO parked on
the very top of the building.
The logo design was also done by lnafune. We can see
fro_m these sketches zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
that there were a number of ideas
being tossed around before they settled on "Rockman".
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTS
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"Although the boss characters were open
to public submissions, we couldn't wait
until after the submissions had arrived
and we had selected the winners to start
development. If we had gone that route,
we never would have made our deadlines.
Instead, we had to plan out the various
stages and have a loose idea of what kind
of boss we would want for each stage."
(lnafune)
"We selected the motifs

we were most interested
in from out of the many
submissions. I really enjoyed
working off of our players'
ideas, cleaning them up
and redesigning them as
necessary." (lnafune)
...................................
....................................
..............
lnafune took designs from the selected entries and deaned them up a bit before he and his team made their final selections.
............................
.... ., .
WORK ON THE: ST~Ge E:NE:MIE:S w~s FIROGRE:SSING eve:N

&E:FORE: THE: e,oss CH~R~CTE:R sue.MISSIONS WE:Re IN.
"This guy who's kicking something ... I think

he was intended for Air Man's stage."
(lnafune)
We believe this sketch is the original design

for Fly Boy. The words "change shape" can
be seennext to the sketch.
This looks like it was an idea for a boss character based on the
early plans for a stage. It looks like he is using his magnet to
manipulate screwsas a way to attack the player ... is this correct?
"I have no idea. (laughs) It was such a long time ago." (lnafune)
A sketch of Wily Machine #2.
"The guy behind "l ' and '2', my mentor,was so hardcore. I learned so many
valuable lessonsfrom him... things like how to make a character seembigger {
than the NES'slimitations technically allow, the unwritten laws of making a
game, and what is absolutely not acceptable according to those laws. By
working with him, I really learned how deep you need to get in order to
make a great game. I learned even more while working on '2'." (lnafune)
........................
. .. . .. . . '" .
e •'" • •" • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
These were the rough

sketchesfor the new support
character being brought in
with "Mega Man 3".
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In the end, the dog

character was chosen to
be in the game, who they
"This is something I did while working on Gamma." (lnafune) named Rush. The bird
character was carried over
11Mega
to Man 5", and
became the base concept
for Beat.
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Starting with "Mega Man 3", lnafune was not only doing
the character designs and the backgrounds, he was also
heavily involved in the planning aspects of the game.
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"With '2', we were pretty tight on time, so I pitched in with

For "Mega Man 3", the designs were further refined.
the planning as well. The Guts Tank, for instance, was all
These are a few of the sketches for Mega Man and Rush.
me. For '3', I was involved in the planning from the very
beginning. I had to consider things like how to make the
giant snake in Snake Man's stage wriggle properly, and I
also had to redo certain characters and stages. I learned so
12',
much from my experience with and I put that knowledge
to good use." (lnafune)
One of Rush's forms that didn't end up making the final cut. It
seems like they were thinking about having this drill burrow
through the stage map to make a path for the player. The giant
drill coming out of Rush's mouth has a pretty strong impact.
Enemy designs, and one
of the designs for an
event scene. We spotted
Yudon from "Mega Man 511
among these sketches.
Iii
Roll's first close-up, from the

"Mega Man 3" ending .
.................................
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . zyxwvutsrqp
....................................
Throughmultiple stages of trial and error, Proto

Man comes to life.
"We initially were going to have him with hair,

but that just made it look like Mega Man was
being mean to a human being, so... (laughs)"
(lnafune)
The result of these designs was a Proto Man with

an open-face helmet, who was used for both
television commercials and the manual.
These sketches of Mega
Man and Dr. Wily were
for the boss character
submission ads.
. .
• •.::::::::::: "This is the 'Tha_nk_ yo~
~ • +" • ..... " • •".,. for all the submlssfons!
": !: ! ! !;!:!;; Wily." (lnafune)
Then came the processof sifting through the submissions that came in from all over the country.
"There's so many... I can't remember which ones were from submissions,

and which ones were the ones I did while planning out the stages." (lnafune)
"I think it's so fun when we find ...... ~a

...... .....
sketches that I don't recognize. :: .. ·~· D ·: zyxwvutsrqpo
(laughs) But... they're all mine. ::~~~::.) .r. - • zyxwvutsrqpo
That's for sure. (laughs)" (lnafune)
.........
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There were even more boss

character submissions for "Mega
11 Mega
We can see that some of these sketches look very close Man 3" than there were for
to the final designs. The designs that were not used in the Man 2". From the sheer volume of zyxwv
games are still just as fun os tthose that were. How far sketches that lnafune made based
along in production did they swap out the chosen bosses on the submissions, it is clear that the
with the placeholders? competition between the "Mega Man
3" submissions was also more intense.
Designs for Wily Machine #3
A Mega Man and Rush sketch for the

"Rockman 3" box thumbnail.
11We didn't end up using either of these."
(lnafune}
They traded in the acid drops for the stakes to perform vertical attacks, and gradually went from
just one cannon to two cannons. These changes were made to give the player more opportunities
to use the new "sliding" feature that was introduced in "Mega Man 3".
"vvhor the heck is this!?Berettan... (laughs)

There's no way we could get away with
somethinglike this now." (lnafune)
Some ideas for the package art for Rockman World ["Mega Man: Dr. Wil/s Revenge"
in North America] on the Game Boy. At this stage, the general setup closely resembles
that of the NES versions, but is quite different from the final product.
"Since this title was sort of a spin-off,

I wanted to make the package look
really different from what you saw with
the main titles. I basically went with
something that looked like we were
seeing him in the middle of a heated
battle, which included the backs of
certain characters and visible wounds
all around." (lnafune}
The stages of progression for the original
boss that they came up with for the Game
Boy version: the Mega Man Killer, Enker.
The different transformation stages of the second

Mego Mon Killer, Punk.
"I really got into these designs, except for 'World

2' ['Mega Man II' in America]. (laughs) I especially
liked Punk, and when it was decided that he'd
make on appearance in 'Bottle Network', I insisted
on redesigning him myself. (laughs)" (lnafune)
These sketches were for the

Stardroids in Mega Man V.
"With all of the 'World 5'

['Mega Man V' in America]
boss characters being new
originals, I remember I had a lot
of reservations while designing
them. I did wonder what it would
be like if we took the whole
game out into space, but I guess
that's an idea for another spin-
off." (lnafune)
"Oh, are we already into Tango?

(laughs) When we discussed
bringing in a new support
character, I got the request to
make it a cat. I had no problem
with that, as I'm quite the cat lover
myself. I had a lot of fun designing
sub characters based on animals."
(lnafune)
A rough sketch of the Wily Machine

for the first Game Boy version.
"These were probably from

when I was doing random
sketches for the move to Super
NES." (lnafune)
/
"Mega Man" was chosen to become an anime, not as a traditional television

series or an OVA, but rather as an anime that would be used to introduce
PL-eA-Se: -S'flCK "fHI,: "1121'5" 1"0 Japanese culture to other countries. These are the sketches I did for that project.
"fHI,: W6'I,: OF "fHI,: e;ye:_ (lnafune)
Rough sketches for the ever-expanding

Super NES "Mega Mon" titles.
"We had decided to make the world a

more 'hardcore' place for the Super NES,
and the classic Mega Man was [ust too
much of a 'good guy' for that. One of the
things I did to try and give this character
more of an 'edge' was stand his collar
up." (lnafune)
:: : : : : : : : : : : :: : :: : : : :: : : : : : :: : :: : :: : : : : :: : : :: :: : : :: :: : : : : :% : "~~~z;cfi"i,";;~/
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Perhaps this was an idea for another support character

11X11
•
. . f>
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like Eddie and Beat? There is an on his hat ...
"Who's this guy!? I don't remember drawing this. (laughs)"
.
/?~w :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ., " .
(lnafune) "These are supposed to be sketches of
Vile ... but there's a huge 'Z' on his forehead.
I'm kind of shocked. (laughs)" (lnafune)
•••• ll. fl • ~ .
• lit if ••••••••••••
"When I was thinking up new boss characters for

the new series, I thought about merging animals
and machines. This is an example of that."
"These are sketches of Mega (lnafune}
Man, but you can see a bit of
Zero in him here." (lnafune)
The tall guy, short guy, and chubby guy make up a team of
Various sketches for the
three that appears repeatedly among lnofune's sketches.
new Mega Man really 11X2".
They are the basis for Sigma and the X-Hunters of
give us a peek into the
designing process.
"They started off as a team of three villains, but they ended
up blending into one character ... namely, Sigma." (lnafune)
Even the earliest sketches of

Zero clearly bear his name.
With the upgrade in hardware that the Super NES represented,

large warships like this one became a reality. This sketch is an
early rendition of what became the Death Rogumer.
When "Mega Man" moved into the
Super NES with new projects, work
also bounced back into the first-
generation "Mega Man" series.
These sketches are prize toy designs

for UFO Catcher-type arcade games.
The cover illustration for one of the Capcom Fan Club bulletins. Mega
Man appears together 1111 characters and a
with some "Street Fighter
These sketchesof cute, miniature versions of Mega Man
Red Arremer. [Editor's note: "Red Arremer" is an enemy from another
and Proto Man serve no particular purpose.
Capcom game series, "Ghosts 'n Goblins".]
"Every now and then, I'd have some spare time between
tasks at work. These bouts of free time often led to my
experimenting with different styles and ideas." (lnafune)
........................................
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ••••••*II•"'
It looks like lnafune was gradually refining the
design for the new Mega Man.
"I was going for a harder, wilder feel." (lnafune)
With a clear focus in mind, lnafune's sketches

quickly took shape.
There was already an early concept for a

female operator at this point.
lnafune even had a design

Zero was already pretty close to his final design, and the started for Dr. Cain, who
three bad guys we saw earlier had been mushedtogether was just a name in the
to become Sigma.
"Mega Man X l " opening
and manual at the time.
Upon closer inspection, we can see the letter

"W" incorporated into the cobra crest.
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been part of the
plan." (lnafune)
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"I wonder who drew these?" (lnafune)

There aren't any particular notes on the sketches of X, but there are many detailed notes
scattered all around the sketches of Zero. Many commercial goods were made based on
the "Mega Man X11 series,including trading cards and toy models. The art for such items
was usually contracted out to companies outside of Capcom. These sketches may have
been submitted by an external designer.
"It would be bad if their

silhouettes were identical, right? I
was very careful a bout that point
while drawing them up." (lnafune)
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We can clearly see the attention

and passion that lnafune put
into everything he did related to
Zero, even in the earliest of rough
sketches.
"We can see a few orbs floating around Zero
in this sketch.
. "' '" .
"J think this was for 'X2'? I was thinking about
implementing weapons like these." (lnafune) .......... ,,
..............
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.....................
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When making the shift to "X2", Zero got shoulder armor,
an upgrade to his buster, and a beam saber on his back.
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A sketch of X's armor.
"Usually, moving on to a new title

means new designs for everything ...
"This was another sketch I did for 'X2'. I probably drew this
but even when I was convinced to let
when I was suggesting that we have a giant 'MechaniKong' type
someoneelse draw Zero, I absolutely
character that would grab at things with his big hands, making
refused to let them change anything.
loud mechanical noises."(lnafune)
(laughs)At least, not until 'Mega Man
Zero'." (lnafune)
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These designs of what X and Zero look like under their
helmets were done for Bondol's line of Mega Man X toys.
"As you can see, they weren't just bald under there. (laughs)"
(lnafune)
Even after the 'X' series found its groove, the
first-generation 'Mega Man' series was still very
popular and enjoyed many more sequels.
This sketch was done for· "Mega Man 711•
"Sometimes,the line between the designsfor the

first-generation 'Mega Man' series and the 'X'
series gets a little blurry. (laughs)" (lnafune)
"Baroque" and "Crush" are the designs that

Bassand Treble were based off of.
"Since Proto Man was kind of straddling the

fence, I wanted to bring in a full-time rival for
Mega Man. I wanted a guy who was extremely
competitive, and absolutely hated to lose."
(lnafune)
As lnafune mentioned, it was sometimes difficult to keep the designs for the "Mega
Man" series and the "X" series distinct. This is a sketch of Auto that was done for the
"Mega Man" series, and we can see how lnafune was trying different things to keep
the two series separate as far as designing was concerned.
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"Auto's pretty ... complex, isn't

he? It got to the point where I
wasn't even sure what made him The rough draft of the package art for "Rockman's
so amazing. (laughs) Sometimes, Soccer". Guts Man was initially slated to join the
I can't believe that I actually cast for this title, but when he was pulled out of the
drew hlm." (lnafune) final game, he was replaced with Proto Man in the
illustration.
Could this be an illustration

that was done shortly before
or after "Mega Man's Soccer"?
Perhapsthere were plans for a
Mega Man baseball game?
1
11
have no idea when I drew
"I think this was one of the candidates for this, not to mentionwhat I drew
Shade Man ... I think?" (lnafune) it for. (laughs)" (lnafune)
These sketches were done around the release of the
arcade game. lnafune seemed to make minor touch-ups
to the familiar characters as he drew them, almost as
if he was exploring what they would be like if he was
drawing them for the first time again.
"They were able to do so much more with the details in

the graphics. It made me really happy with regard to the
designing aspect of it all." (lnafune)
"vvood Man was so easy to make because once we had

the main body, all we had to do was make his leaves
spin. That's the main reason we decided to reuse him in
the SEGA Saturn version of '8'. (laughs)" (lnafune)
Wood Man was used in the overseas versions of the

game as well.
This is the Elec Man that was

included in the Grand Rockman
Exposition in the Capcom Secret
File celebrating Mega Man's l 0th
anniversary.
Sketches of Proto Man that were done during the development stages of "Mega Man 8".
"I thought it'd be really funny if Proto Man had this crazy head
of hair when he took his helmet off. (laughs)" (lnafune)
"I don't remember this one ... " (lnafune)
The shape of the legs is more reminiscent of

"Mega Man Legends" than the first-generation
"Mega Man" or "X".
"I believe these were for the 10th anniversary ... I think I was going to release some redesigned
versions of the characters to commemorate the occasion, but none of these ever saw the light of
day. (laughs) I don't think I got around to drawing any of the other bosses." (lnafune)
A few minor details were added, but the balance used to preserve the original "Mega Man"_
f1avor is remarkable. These lines make Elec Man and the other bosses look quite attractive.
"'""""'"" """""""""'"
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41 """""""'"""""'"""""'"""'" .
11 These
are some sketches I did in my spare time. I was wondering
how I would depict an American 'Mega Man'. (laughs) I tried
to make Roll more obvious in her role as a domestic helper,
and I also tried to consider what would make these characters
appealing to our English-speaking players. (laughs)" (lnafune)
fHe. i,.ye,s, E,,SPUIAU..Y fH!,.

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-SHOUW Be.
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AN!7 MOJZe. WKe. CHIWJ2W'S
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(fHl-5 WIU.. MAKe. Hl-5 t..eG!-5
t.a?K '5HOJ2fei2.)
"Who's this supposed to be? I don't remembe.r
drawing him. From the look of his face, I'd guess
he was meant to be an ally, not an enemy. He has
a harness on his torso. This must have been some
random sketch I did while trying to come up with
ideas for new allies ... maybe. (laughs)" (lnafune)
These are some of the instructional notes that were handed over
when a different set of individuals was poised to take over
responsibility for the copyrighted art. Starting with "Mega Man 8",
lnafune began focusing more on his duties as a producer.
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1IZITH i'INN::CVE=i:ii!Si'l~Y
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1IZITH .c!NN::CIJE=Jii!Si'li.!Y
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"I drew two different versions zyxwvu

of the 10th
anniversary piece. l made the second so that
it could be used for promotional purposes
for 'Legends'. In the 'Legends' version, we can
see Mega Man getting smooched by Kalinka,
and Roll is looking quite unhappy about it."
(Hideki)
"CLUE, "'' C~PCOm" POSTE:R
"t!RiAND ROCKffliQN
SXPOS:CT:ION'96"
"e:iRi'IND lii!OCICMi'IN
SXPOS:tT:CON '96"
"This is supposed to be
a drawing from Roll's
diary, so I did it all with
colored pencils. The theme
was 'Summer Holidays',
so I wanted to draw
something that people
would relate to easily."
(Hideki)
"'31ii!1'1ND lii!OCKffl!QN EXPOS::ITI:ON zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV

'96"
\
.(;
"Once I started doing art using the PC, I learned that I could use
these things called 'layers'. I got overzealous and made about 50 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCB
layers, which was great until it took 20 minutes to save my work.
{laughs) I mode so many layers because I kept thinking that I might
want to go back and alter parts of the layout. Now, though, I often
just rip through it all in one layer. (laughs)" (Hideki)
FiQN CLUB SULLS:T:IN
PHOTO ST:ICKS:lii!
15TH !l!:INN:CVElii!SiQlii!Y
:ILLUSTJciQT:ION
"I did this piece for the Capcom Fan Club. It was the
first time I got to draw Zero, so that was very exciting
for me. I also worked on the PSP version of 'Legends'
and did a wallpaper for 'ZX', so I guess you could
say I had a hand in every series! (laughs)" (Higurashi)
1STH jQNN:IVEloi!Sjt::Uii!Y
::CLLUSTr.!jQT:ION
llZITH ~NN::CIJE=lii!S;!:!lii!Y
BIOOIC coue:lii!
"I'm not the one who actually did this
one, but at the time my priority was
collecting as much knowledge as I could
about working with CG and polygons.
This piece was just a part of that
learning curve." (Hideki)
liil!OCIC:ffljQN 6zyxwvutsrqponmlkjih
(PS VERS:ION)
CD LjQSEL
HZITH dQNN::ClJElii!St'lfii!Y "Since this basically marked zyxwvutsrq
:CLLUST!ii!~T:CON the end of the PlayStation
versions, I put a lot of energy
into making this label. Since
@>e3llzml~ he is in Power Mega Man

form, Rush does not appear
alongside him." (Higurashi)
1IZITH IQNN:IVS:lii:!S~lii!Y
T-SH::Clii!T
FiAN CLUB, l!tULLST:CN FiAN CLUB, B,ULLE?T:CN
FiAN CLUB, SULLE?T:CN summelii! POSTCi'llii!D
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TE?LE=PHONE? CiAliii!D
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(FiAN CLUB, '3:CFT)
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"I was told I could do whatever I wanted with this piece, so I went with a sort of 'parallel universe'idea. If Mega Man has girls on zyxwvu
his side, why couldn't Dr. Wily have girls on his side too, right? I also altered Dr. Wily slightly, as you can see in the upper left. l
actually think he looks like someonewho could get in bigger trouble than the Dr. Wily from the actual games. (laughs)"(Hideki)
PS VEl>i!S:CON :CNSTliii!UCTl:ON ffliANUiQL :ILLUST!o!IQT:ION
"I started wondering what Rock and Roll would wear casually.
I tried dressing them in modern clothes as well as futuristic
clothes, but it just didn't seem to fit within their world. I just
happened to be really into '50s fashion at the time, and that's
how they ended up dressed like this in the drawings on the next
page. (laughs)" (Hideki)
"These illustrations of Roll were sort zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

of personal scribblings ... No, wait ...
I should call it practice. (laughs)"
(Hideki)
u
~
"EUS:RYTH:INB CtAPCOM
CIQMPIA::Cc::IN"
::CLLUSTR~T:ION
"CLU& ,, CiAPCOM" COVE=llii!
"SinceI had been drawing 'Mega Man' characters for so long, I felt a ton of pressure when I was
trying to draw 'Street Fighter' characters. (laughs) But I was really happy that I got another chance
to draw the 'Legends' characters, who I had drawn for the PSP package art." (Higurashi)
"ffl~lil!VSL IJS. Ci'IPCOM" Mi'l::CN :CLLUSTRiAT:CON
CLU& ,:, CiAPCOM "Ci::iNNON SP:CICE="

MEG~ ffltCIN
"I colored Mega Man
a bit differently so that
there didn't seem to be as
much of a gap between
the weights of the textures
for the character I drew
and the characters Kinu
Nishimura drew." {Hideki)
"MiARIJE=L VS. CiAPCOM"

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"MEaiA m N" KOTOe.UK:IYiA
PL~ST:IC MODEL K:IT
"We received a request from Kotobukiya for a rear view of the Mega Man 8 version of Roll, and I had to
rush to balance her proportions with those of the Mega Man that had already been done. I thought it'd be
fun if you could swap out some of her parts to turn her into the first-generation Roll, so I drew up the drafts
with interchangeable parts in mind. I was excited that she turned out looking so cute! I got three samples of
the finished product, but I bought an additional three out of my own pocket." (Higurashi)
ROCKMiAN etlZIIZI-P:IE=CE? .:J:IGSjQW PUZZLE= "lii!OLL! ROLL! ROLL!" / ROLL MUG
"This looks a bit ... you know... but I swear that when I drew it, I meant for it to turn out very innocent, with a warm and
playful feel to it. Even now, that's still how I view it! Either way, this illustration received some great feedback, so I'm sure
the Rolls are pleased about that as well." (Kataiwa)
Rie!IZI TFi!:CE!,UTe: j!:11,i!T:
YOSH:CH:Clii!O l:Wj!:IMOTO
lii!OCICM~N m~N~~s
An overview of a few of the Mega Man
mangos that ran in Kodansha's "Comic
BonBon", complete with the authors'
comments.
"Ikehara gave me these two autographed

illustrations when I went to visit him at his
workplace. He drew them up right in front
of my eyes." (Ariga)
Shigeta Ikehara zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXW

"I drew Mega Man so much. I initially got
started drawing game guide mangos, but they
gradually gave me more and more freedom
with the content until I ended up doing a whole
original story. Hmm... Arigo, I don't see the cover
that I like here ... ? (laughs)" (Ikehara)
"You mean 'Blues Reborn', right? Yeah, I wanted
to include that one too since I had a small hand
in it, but... (sweats)" (Ariga)
"Oh well. Thanks for calling me in on this project

anyway. (laughs)" (Ikehara)
~OCICM~N X m~NG~S
Yoshihiro Iwamoto
"This was my first series, and I remember the
brainstorming sessions I had with my editor about what
art style to go with, among other things. The cover for
volume 3 of my 'Rockman X3' mango was only included
here because Arigo insisted on it. {laughs) Not only am
I terrible at drawing women,the whole cover is so out
of place and confusing ... Still, the back cover of that
volume has got to be one of my fcvorltes. They were
just letting me do whatever I wanted." (Iwamoto)
Shigeto Ikehara
"MEGA MANX COLLECTION"

FUICIC~N.COffl These Rockman mangas were out of print for a long time before they were
resurrected. This section contains some of the new cover art exclusive to the reprints.
ROCKMAN X3 VOL. 1
ROCKMAN X ROCKMAN X3 VOL. 2 ROCKMAN X4
"I wasn't expecting these mangos to be reprinted, so I was very pleasantly surprised. I
was keeping up with everything from the momentFukkan.comopened up the polls, and I
jumped on it as soon as I heard they were trying to get ahold of me. (laughs)" (Iwamoto)
WE=DGE= HOLDINGS
"l am grateful to have my old mango reprinted. This'Rockman7' mango was the last Mega Man
mango I ever did. I drew up new art for the cover and also edited the contenta bit, so it might be
fun to compare the older version with the newer one if you have both. (laughs)" (Ikehara)
"I was exceptionally pleased to put

this book out. Thecontentis a pretty
intense mix of stuff, so I designed
the cover layout with a lively vibe
to conveythe jumble of fun waiting
within. Thiscover for Maniax is my
way of paying homage to Comic
BonBon,which I consider my main,
go-to mango magazine." (Arigo)
., ROCKMAN 7 VOL. 1 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

ROCKMAN 7 VOL. 2
ROCKMAN MEGAMIX VOL. 1 ROCKMAN MEGAMIX VOL. 2
ROCKMAN GIGAMIX VOL. 1 ROCKMAN GIGAMIX VOL. 2
"Duo disappearing into magma and Proto

Man\ mysterious 'qrove' left this story in
what felt like a massive cliffhanger, so I
was very happy to have the opportunity
to bring it all together and offer some
closure. I know it was o long wait, Mega
ROCKMAN 8 Man! I wish l could do the same for
'Rockman & Forte'!" (lzuki)
ROCKMAN GIGAMIX VOL. 3
"The series technically zyxwvuts

came to a conclusion
BONUS BOOKMARKS with Gigamix, but I do
still feel like I've left
a few things undone.
If I get the chance,
I would absolutely
like to explore those
avenues." (Arigo)
BONUS POSTCARD BONUS POSTCARD
BONUS POSTCARD
Mega Man has always made a strong impression, and that remained true even when the
box art for his early games was redesigned to appeal to North American and European
audiences. Despite appearances, it's still Mega Man, so he still reports back to Dr. Light
after battle ... or at least he should.
"MEGA MAN 2"
"MEGA MAN 5"

Original package art
"MEGA MAN V"
"MEGA MAN II" (Asian version)
"MEGA MAN Ill" zyxwvutsrqpon

Original package art
"MEGA MAN"
(European version)
"MEGA MAN 2" zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

(European version)
"MEGA MAN 3"

(European version)
"MEGA MAN ANNIVERSARY

COLLECTION" "MEGA MAN 3" poster
"MEGA MAN" (European version) original package art
"MEGA MAN 2° (European version) original package art
times as large as the main illustration from
"Mega Man 9". It is truly unfortunate that
we are not able to display this piece in a
larger format for you. We'll refrain from
commenting on Dr. Light, but we can't help
wondering if the masked figure is Dr. Wily.
"MEGA MAN 1 O" main illustration

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11 Mega
Illustrationfor the Man" cartoon
This section covers the comics and books published by Dreamwave
me:G~ m~N we:sTe:~N P~D.:IECTS Productions, Archie Comics, and UDON Entertainment.
OREAMWAVE PRODUCTIONS
ISSUE I ISSUE 2 ISSUE 3

Mega Man hides his identity and enrolls in school. School life turns out to be more difficult than Mega Man had Mega Man is on cloud nine after attending a dance
Meanwhile, numerouscrimes involving robots are anticipated when he experiences bullying for the first time. Oddly party with his classmate Chelsea, but his fun is cut
being committed in town. enough, the uncle of one of the bullies looks very familiar. short when Dr. Light is suddenly abducted.
ISSUE 4 ISSUE 1 TRADE PAPERBACK

Mega Man heads out to rescueDr. Light with help Alternate cover. Collects issues 1 w4.
from Proto Man. Unfortunately, Dr. Wily has a secret
weapon in the form of a giant robot!
ARCHIE COMICS
MEGAMAN#l MEGA MAN #1 - ALTERNATE COVER MEGAMAN#2 MEGA MAN #2 -ALTERNATE COVER
MEGA MAN #3 MEGA MAN #3 - ALTERNATE COVER MEGAMAN#4 MEGA MAN #4 - ALTERNATE COVER
MEGAMAN#S MEGA MAN #5 - ALTERNATE COVER MEGA MAN #6 MEGA MAN #6 - ALTERNATE COVER
MEGAMAN#7 MEGA MAN #8 MEGAMAN#9 MEGA MAN #9 - ALTERNATE COVER
MEGAMAN#ll MEGAMAN#12 MEGAMAN#13

MEGA MAN #13 - ALTERNATE COVER MEGA MAN #14 MEGA MAN #15 MEGA MAN #16
MEGA MAN #17 MEGA MAN #17 -ALTERNATE COVER MEGA MAN #18 MEGA MAN #18 - ALTERNATE COVER
MEGA MAN #19 MEGA MAN #20 MEGA MAN #20 - ALTERNATE COVER MEGA MAN #21
These comics were published by Archie Comics,

and this gallery shows the covers for every issue
up to #21. The comlcs were written by Ian Flynn.
MEGA MAN #21 - ALTERNATE COVER
UDON ENTERTAINMENT
"The illustration on the left was included zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXW

in 'Mega Man Tribute'. For this book,
UDON accepted submissionsfrom all
Mega Man fans, including professionals
and amateurs alike. The book itself was
then put together by an editor who ls
himself a hardcore Mega Man fan, so
'Mega Man Tribute' was truly a labor
of love for all involved. I was fortunate
enough to be asked to contribute an
illustration, a foreword, and the cover
art for the limited edition." (Arigo)
ffl-'IN -'IW.e:IRD
.e:ISl-'lt.Hi!.e:IPH zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA eam WINNER zyxwvutsrqponm
Vo FAN IHd,dJ,il I've loved the "Mega Man" series since I was in elementary school. "World 2" on the Game Boy was the first "Mega Man" game I
ever played, and soon after that I started drawing Mega Man mangas for fun. I recalled the overwhelming emotion I felt while
playing my first Mega Man game over 20 years ago and infused it into this illustration. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXW
11111:tmdM Vofan is an illustrator from Taiwan who is best known in Japan for drawing the cover art for the light novel "Bakemonogatari".
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nThis was my flrst high volume illustration, and 1 remember having a lot of trouble with it. I thought back
on all 20 years of Mega Man and basked in the nostalgia while drawing this. 1 personally selected
each and every character included in this illustration. I hope everyone likes it." {Mizuno)
"Unlike the first 20th anniversary Hlustrcrtlon, I went with more of a 'hero' concept for this one. I tried to focus on Mega Man's 'cool foctor', Initially,
this image was distributed online as a desktop wallpaper, and I started to think that would be the end of zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZY
it. That'swhy I was so touched when I
saw that thev made it a huge feature in the event hall during the 20th anniversary event." (Mizuno)
OFF:r:c:r:~L wee.s:r:Te :r:m~ae:

FOR i!:llJTH ~NN:CUSlii!S~lii!Y
"I was so nervous when they asked me to draw such a big illustration so soon after zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED
! joined the
company. I struggled with bringing out the Mega Man flavor, but it was an amazing opportunity to
draw all the characters I had been wanting to draw, so I had a lot of fun." (Kataiwa)
C:::FIRCICIFl!iif!i!iif!i
This section contains art from the "Mega Man" Carddass trading cards sold by Bandai. We included all of the art for the "Rockman X Mega
Mission" series, and focused solely on the Carddass-exclusive illustrations for the other series.
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MISSION
No. 02 Doppler's Dark Ambitions
No. 01 Mega Man X & Zero No. 03 Limited No. 04 Wire Sponge L
No. 05 X vs. Wire Sponge L No. 07 Zero Commences Investigation No. 09 X vs. Boomer Kuwanger l
No. 06 Mega Man X (Clear Buster) No. 08 Boomer Kuwanger l
No. 11 X vs. Flame Mammoth l No. 13 X vs. Bubble Crab L
No. 10 Flame Mammoth L No. 12 Bubble Crab L No. 14 Curtiss
No. 15 Mega Man X vs. Curtiss No. 16 Schmitt of the Shadows No. 17 Zero's Report
No. 18 Dr. Doppler No. 19 Flame Stag L
No. 20 X vs. Flame Stag l No. 22 Zero vs. Sting Chameleon L No. 24 X vs. Storm Eagle L
No. 21 Sting Chameleon L No. 23 Storm Eagle L
No. 26 Zero vs. Wheel Gator L No. 28 X (Clear Hyper Buster) vs. Schmitt No. 29 Zero vs. Schmitt
No. 25 Wheel Gator l No. 2.7 Schmitt
[Editor's note: In this section, "L" and "HL" stand for "Limited" and "Hyper Limited", respectively. These are terms that are used exclusively
in Rockman X Mega Mission's story and generally deal with a semi-organic, partially sentient substance created by Dr. Doppler that brings
about powerful, dangerous transformations in anything it infects, including X and many of the Mavericks from "X7 ", "X2", and "X3".]
No. 30 Zero Down No. 32 Mega Man X vs. Schmitt No. 34 Mega Man X vs. iX
No. 31 Mega Man X (Clear Hyper Buster) No. 33 iX
No. 36 More Power!? Mega Man X No. 37 The End of iX No. 38 Enter Dr. Doppler
No. 35 Mega Man X (Clear Armor) No. 39 Mother Limited
No. 40 X vs. Mother Limited No. 41 X & Zero vs. Mother Limited No. 42 A New Enemy Appears No. 44 L Resurrected
No. 43 Mega Man X & Zero
No. 46 X vs. Overdrive Ostrich L No. 48 X vs. Gravity Beetle L
No. 45 Overdrive Ostrich L No. 47 Gravity Beetle l No. 49 Crush Crawfish L
No. 50 X vs. Crush Crawfish L No. 52 X vs. Chill Penguin L No. 53 X Defeated
No. 51 Chill Penguin L zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcb

No. 54 Zero (Neo Buster)
No. SS Zero Mobilized!! No. 57 Zero vs. Magna Centipede L No. 58 Power Up Capsule Appears!
No. 56 Magna Centipede l No. 59 Zero (Energy Armor)

No. 65 Zero vs. Spark Mandril! L No. 68 Zero vs. Bloodione
No. 66 Zero {Neo Armor} No. 67 Bloodione zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihg

No. 69 Luxione
No. 70 Zero vs. Luxione No. 71 Tackione's Secret Weapon?! No. 73 Zero vs. Mega Man X (Replicapture) No. 74 Best Friends Collide!
No. 72 Mega Man X {Replicapture)
No. 76 Tackione vs. the Damaged Duo No. 77 Mega Man X vs. Tackione No. 79 Tackione Final Form
vs. the Two Heroes
No. 75 Tackione No. 78 Tackione Final Form
No. 80 From Zero to X, Infinite Energy No. 83 Burst! Giga Crush!! No. 84 The Calm Before the Storm?
A Moment of Respite
No. 81 Mega Man X (Giga Armor)
No. 86 City-Wide Mayhem! Vanishing Hunters No. 87 New Allies?
No. 85 Mega Man X No. 88 Rot Armor No. 89 Blau Launcher
No. 92 Revolt! Masquerades
No. 90 Grun Metamo No. 91 Braun E!eci No. 93 Berserk Mavericks No. 94 Zero
No. 95 Zero vs. Mavericks No. 97 Mega Man X vs. No. 99 Mega Man X vs. launch Octopus HL
Armored Armadillo HL
No. 96 Armored Armadillo HL No. 98 Launch Octopus Hl

No. 101 Mega Man X vs. Morph Moth HL No. 103 Mega Man X vs. Volt Catfish HL No. 104 X and Zero Struggling!
No. 100 Morph Moth HL No. 102 Volt Catfish HL
No. 106 Return iX vs. Hyper Limited Quartet No. 107 Mega Man X vs. Return iX No. 108 Return lX is Shot!!
No. 105 Return iX

No. 109 Enemice HL
No. 110 Fusion?! Return iX No. 113 Hyper Limited Quadruple Fusion!!
No. 111 Mega Man X {iX Armor) No. 112 Zero (iX Armor) No. 114 Mix Forte
No. 115 Hunter Duo vs. Mix Forte No. 116 Mega Man X vs. Enemice HL No. 117 Zero vs. Enemtce HL No. 118 This is the Sigma Chip!!
No. 119 Sigma Limited
No. 120 The Nightmare Returns, No. 121 Zero Defeated!! No. 123 Mega Man X vs. Sigma Limited No. 124 Double X Buster!!
and its Name is Sigma?!
No. 122 Mega Man X (All iX Armor)
"'RockmanX Mega Mission' was originally produced prior to the Super NES version of 'Mega Man X3',
which meant we didn't have any reference materials on hand. Just when we had given up all hope, Capcom
sent us an illustration of Dr. Doppler. The momentI saw that image, I was struck by inspiration and Limited
was born. This idea was popular with the other staff members,which made me quite happy. This project was
a great experience for me because I got to work on the story, art, layout, and production as well. I'd like
to throw out a great big thank you to all of the 'Mega Man X' fans who supported 'Mega Mission'. I'd also
like to take this opportunity to mention that we do have a proposal, card list, and design drafts for 'Mega
Mission4', and I can only hope that we will one day have the chance to use these materials."
No. 125 The Nightmare's Conclusion, No. 126 Foreshadowing a Return?! "RockmanX Mega Mission" Carddass Series Planner
and the End of Sigma?! iX Lives On SHINICHI TAKEHIRO
5 Dust Man, Pharaoh Man,

Toad Man, Ring Man
6 Dive Man, Skull Man, Bright Man, Drill Man 32 Kabatoncue 33 Moby
43 Mega Man & Proto Man
44 Mega Man 1 Enemies 45 Mecha Dragon 47 Mega Man vs. Enker 48 Mega Man vs. Quint
46 Holograph Mega Mans
87 Mega Man vs. Wily Machine 5
85 Mega Man & Proto Man 86 Super Mega Buster 88 Gravity Man, Stone Man, Wave Man, Gyro Man 89 Crystal Man, Star Man, Napalm Man, Charge Man
130 Mega Man vs. Ballade
127 Mega Man 128 Yamato Man, Wind Man, Knight Man, Plant Man 129 Centaur Man, Blizzard Man, 131 Mega Man vs. Wily Machine 6
Flame Man, Tomahawk Man
156 Mega Man vs. Flame Man 157 Mega Man vs. Knight Man
154 Mega Man vs. Blizzard Man 155 Mega Man vs. Centaur Man 158 Mega Man vs. Plant Man
159 Mega Man vs. Tomahawk Man 160 Mega Man vs. Wind Man 168 Mega Man & Proto Man
161 Mega Man vs. Yamato Man 169 Mega Arm
172 Mega Man vs. Sunstar
170 Mercury, Venus, Mars, Neptune 171 Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto 173 Terra & Sunstar zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgf
194 Mega Man vs. Neptune
195 Mega Man vs. Mars 196 Mega Man vs. Venus 198 Mega Man vs. Uranus 199 Mega Man vs. Saturn
197 Mega Man vs. Mercury
200 Mega Man vs. Jupiter 201 Mega Man vs. Pluto 202 Mega Man vs. Tena 203 Enker, Quint, Punk, Ballade 208 Rush Space
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210 Mega Man Family
1 Mega Man 2 Cloud Man, Junk Man, Turbo Man, Slash Man 38urstMan,ShadeMan,SpringMan,FreezeMan 4 Mega Man vs. Bass
27 Mega Man vs. Junk Man 28 Mega Man vs. Turbo Man
5 Mega Man vs. Wily Machine 7 25 Mega Man vs. Spring Man 26 Mega Man vs. Cloud Man
29 Mega Man vs. Freeze Man 31 Mega Man vs. Burst Man
30 Mega Man vs. Slash Man 32 Mega Man vs. Shade Man
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No. 1 Mega Man X No. 2 Reploid No. 3 Reploid No. 6 X vs. Sigma
No. 25 X zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
vs. Chill Penguin No. 29 X vs. Boomer Kuwanger
No. 31 X vs. Storm Eagle No. 33 Shotgun Ice No. 34 Electric Spark
No. 30 X vs. Sting Chameleon No. 32 X vs. flame Mammoth
No. 36 Homing Torpedo No. 38 Chameleon Sting No. 39 Storm Tornado
No. 35 Rolling Shield No. 37 Boomerang Cutter
No. 40 Fire Wave No. 43 Mega Man X
No. 41 Sigma No. 42 X & Zero No. 45 Reploid
No. 46 Reploid No. 47 X vs. Sigma No. 49 Bubble Splash No. 50 Spin Wheel No. 51 Sonic Slicer
No. 52 Speed Burner No. 53 Strike Chain No. 54 Crystal Hunter No. 56 Magnet Mine
No. 55 Silk Shot
No. 67 X vs. Bubble Crab No. 68 X vs. Wheel Gator
No. 69 X vs. Overdrive Ostrich No. 70 X vs. Flame Stag No. 71 X vs. Wire Sponge
No. 72 X vs. Crystal Snail No. 74 X vs. Magna Centipede
No. 73 X vs. Morph Moth No. 75 X vs. Agile No. 76 X vs. Serges
No. 77 X vs. Violen
No. 83 Sigma & Zero zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC

No. 84 X & Zero No. 85 Mega Man X No. 86 Zero
No. 91 Parasitic Bomb No. 92 Frost Shield
No. 87 Reploid No. 88 Reploid No. 89 X vs. Sigma
No. 97 Tornado Fang
No. 93 Gravity Well No. 94 Acid Burst No. 95 Triad Thunder No. 96 Spinning Blade
No. 110 X vs. Blizzard Buffalo No. 112 X vs. Toxic Seahorse
No. 98 Ray Splasher No. 109 X vs. Blast Hornet No. 111 X vs. Gravity Beetle
No. 113 X vs. Volt Catfish No. 114 X vs. Crush Crawfish No. 125 X vs. Godkarmachine O !nary
No. 115 X vs. Tunnel Rhino No. 116 X vs. Neon Tiger
elZJTH i::INNllJERSi::IRY
commEmoRi::1T1vE
SHI KISHI
Capcom: Hayato Kaji Keiji lnafune Capcom: Ryuji Higuroshi Capcom: Keisuke Mizuno Capcom: Keiji Ueda
Tatsuya Yoshikawa Shinsuke Komaki Capcom: Mr. Famous & Legendary Master Shin Toru Nakayama
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Shigeta Ikehara Hitoshi Ariga Hitoshi Arigo Hitoshi Arigo Yoshihiro Iwamoto Koji lzuki
Ryo Takamisaki Miho Asada Sankichi Hinodeya Masaya ltagaki Takumi Kawano Shin Ogino (Shin Sasaki)
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Yusuke Murata
rm,mJ The fact that my boss character submissions were accepted was a huge morale booster in my career as a mango artist. Mega Man taught me the joys of the character design
process and taking a character from its original concept through to the final design, and I poured every bit of gratitude and love that I have for him into this illustration.
llmmll Murata
is a mango artist who sent in submissions for the "Mega Man 4" and "Mega Man 5" boss character design contests. His submissions were Dust Man and Crystal
Man. He was also the artist behind "Eyeshield 21" (story by Riichiro Inagaki), which was published in Shueisha1s "Weekly Shonen Jump" magazine. "Eyeshield 21" was
so popular that it actually generated more interest in American football among its readers.
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submitted the idea for Bright Man during the "Mega Man 4" boss character contest, and it was selected as a winner. He currently works as a freelance zyxwvu
illustrator, mango artist, and courtroom artist.
t
"My job for 'R20' began with separating a mountoiu of Mega Man illustrations into 'include'
and 'discard' piles. As I went through the seemingly endless stack, I noticed many images I
recalled seeing in guide books and magazines, but l also saw some stuff that had never been
released to the public, or other rare pieces like the rough drafts drawn during the development
stages of various Mega Man games. The book's initial layout involved a lot of interview pages,
and if we had made the book according to that original plan, I would have had to give up on
including a lot of those illustrations. The more I went through
them, however, the less willing I was to !et so many rare and
wonderful pieces remain buried. I started making requests
to cut interview pages, rearrange interviews to fit around
certain images, confirm the use of certain illustrations, digitally
remaster a few pieces, and even alter the general
older
layout. ! realized what I was doing, I had stepped
By the time
beyond the boundaries of a supervisor and entered the realm
of an editor." (Arigo)
20 years 0901 tucked away in a corner of a very

smell development studio in Osako, Mego Man was
bo,n fr~m a few' dot graphic blueprints. In the world
of Vlde:C) 9ames,i where countless titles fade away os
qui,ckl)I -ok, they are creat~d, I believe that a series,
th'ot ltianages to stay olive for 20 years owes its' 1
success to the Support of Its players. In this ertbcck..
we gC't the chance to share with you some of the
work we ,did for the "Mega Man" series. We'Ve
pt.it a Jot (jf ,?_~rselves into the series over the years,
a,nd }f this drtbOok 'c~:m convey even a portion of
our passion to you, l couldn't ask for anything rhore .
.h 1~of? e I will get to ccntlnue to fue) 1this passion for
'1!
0
1anotFier decade or two 'vet, end' I c,e,!t,ai.nly will try

my best to make thpt Hcppen. You'veccme a long
wo.y, Mega Mon! I 19ok forward to working with you
some:fore I~. the future, buddyll
Executive Producer
KEIJI INAFUNE
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"It goes without saying, of course, that I could never have
put together a book of this caliber on my own. I'm sure my
supervision and editing seemed a bit demanding at times,
so it is only right that I take this opportunity to thank all of
the staff members involved in the book's production, as well
as the other people who helped bring the book to fruition.
On top of that, I am grateful for and delighted about this
25th anniversary book, which serves as a sort of cdd-on
edition to the previous book." (Arigo)
OLN.001 MEGA MAN
DLN.002 ROLL
DLN.003
CUT MAN
OLN.004 GUTS MAN
'·
DLN.005 ICE MAN
DLN.007
FIREMAN
THOMAS LIGHT
EDDIE
BEAT
'-----5
RUSH
RUSH COIL
RUSH JET
RUSH MARINE
NEW RUSH COIL
POWER MEGA MAN
JET MEGA MAN
NES MEGA MAN -

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ALBERT W. WILY
SNIPER JOE
2-----1
METAll 1
2
BATTON
PIPI
MONKING
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5
6
REGGAE
2
3
4----n
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DWN.010 AIR MAN
DWN.011 BUBBLE MAN
DWN.012
QUICKMAN __
DWN.014 FLASH MAN
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DWN.015 HEAT MAN
DWN.016 WOOD MAN
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, NE5 MEGA MAN 2 321

DWN.017
NEEDLEMAN
DWN.018
MAGNETMAN 1
DWN.020 HARD MAN

DWN.023 SPARK MAN
1---
DWN.025
BRIGHTMAN
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DWN.026 TOAD MAN
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DWN.029 RING MAN
DWN.031 DIVE MAN
DWN.032 SKULL MAN

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DWN.035 STONE MAN 6
DWtUl37 STAR MAN
DWN.038 CHARGE MAN
2
3
DWN.039 NAPALM MAN
DWN.040 mmmu MAN

327
DARKMAN1
DARKMAN2
DARKMAN3
MKN.001 ENKER
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MKN.002 PUNK
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4
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DWN.041 BLIZZARD MAN
DWN.044 KNIGHT MAN

DWN.041 WIND MAN
DWN.048 YAMATO MAN
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"Rockman3" manual.
This illustration wasn't officially

used, but is thought to have
been drawn sometime around
"Rockmon 3".
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for, but not used in, "Mega Man:
Dr. Wily's Revenge".
I:LLUSTlcoQTION FOR THE' llZITH i:INNIIJE'lcSi:llcY .:::JldSi:IWPUZZLE'

This is a mango that was done by Keiji lnafune for the booklet "Rockman Character
Collection", which was never available for retail purchase. The booklet was a special gift
presented to everyone who participated in the boss character submissions for "Mega Man 4".
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!INITIAL FORM!
The boss character submission contest for "Mega

Man 8" was run a little differently from the
•
other ones. Capcom provided the basic forms
seen above, and the public sent in ideas based
on these forms. This method resulted in Sword
Man, Clown Man, and Search Man. Tengu Man
and Astro Man, to the right, were designed by
Capcom first and published in magazines.
UNUSE.'D
CHA!i:!ACTE.'li:!
The white robot is Duo, and the black robot is the zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfe
evil robot, in their original forms before they crash
to Earth. The robot with the giant "8" on its chest
was never used in any of the games.
MEG;:! m;::iNa.
MINI CHl,':lli!l,':ICTE'li!S
Illustrations done for the labels of the
PlayStation and SEGA Saturn versions.
ILLUSTli!l,':ITION FOli!
TE'LE'PHONE' Ct,':ili!D
(FAN CLUe. GIFT}
An early design for a main illustration. This one was rejected zyxwvu
because lnafune said they should make the boss characters
submitted by their users bigger so that they draw more attention.
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11 ffll=G-'I ffl-'IN 811 :CNSTlii!UCTION-'IL COMICS
YOU C~N DE'STf'i!ClY IT
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TR</ UGIN611-l!:
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• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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"The whole point was to resurrect the 'original' Mega Man in full
NES style glory, and since I am one of those people who grew up
playing Mega Man on the NES, drawing these lines was a truly
nostalgic
require
experience. I've worked on a lot of video
sprites during my time at Inti,
games that
but there is a unique sort of
method when it comes to NES style sprites, and I'm sure that made
this project quite challenging for the folks who were in charge of
that part." (Inti Creates - Yoshitaka Hatakeyama)
''The illustrations of Mega Man that you see here

were practice runs for me. At the time, I was having
a lot of difficulty grasping the Mega Man 'vibe'."
(Hatakeyama)
"The NES era Mega Man anly had

three patterns to his running motion,
but we created six to give him a
more fluid run in 'Mega Man 9'. In the
end, however, it simply did not look
\ight and we reverted to the original
three patterns. The backgrounds also
started off much more detailed and
really looked quite impressive, but we
were later asked to simplify it all and
b cslcolly had to redraw everything. I
think everyone on both the character
team and the background team had
a hard time holding themselves back
when it came to adding detail to every
aspect of the game." (Hatakeyama)
"While working on 'Mega Man 9', I spent a lot of

time waiting for approvals after submitting my
design drafts for the boss characters. The images
of Roll that you see here are probably just some
doodles that I sketched out during those waiting
periods." (Hatakeyama)
"Fake Man became a boss character because he was in a cutscene
and we decided to go ahead and use him as the boss of an added
stage. The fact that he is a police robot was already laid out, but
we spent a lot of time -flguring out whether we wanted to go with a
Western style police of-fleer or a Japanese style one." (Hatakevama)
me:G~ m~N 9~
11 The
boss characters started off as names and special weapons, around which we shaped a UFO theme, however, things progressed pretty smoothly. Honey Woman was going to
the designs. The names you see on this page are the initial names that were being tossed be the first female boss, but then lnafune's Splash Woman design was brought forward
around. Magma Man's design came together relatively quickly, and he kept his name too. and we decided to change things up. I suppose a mermaid character is much easier to
My personal favorite is Galaxy Man, thoughI did struggle quite a bit with how I would view as a female than a bee character." (Hatakeyama)
go about incorporating the concept of 'space' into a character design. Once I settled on
HONEY WOMAN
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SPECIAL WEAPON: LASER TRIDENT SPECIAL WEAPON: PLASMA BALL
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FIRE MAN El.EC i'IAIII
"The blue storyboards were created as part of a plan to

have the sprites act out this scene. We decided it looked a bit
bland and switched to a cutscene using illustrations. The yellow
storyboards on the left were also created for this cutscene, but
were dropped due to the fact that Mega Man didn't stand
out enough. An interesting bit of trivia is that I was just messing
around when I made the news anchor look like Chun-Li, but they
went ahead and put her in the game looking like that and I
thought I'd be in trouble for sure. (laughs)" (Hatakeyama)
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"I was a bit surprised at the sheer volume of images we needed for the cutscenes. I had a lot of fun drawing zyxwvutsrqponml
Dr. Wily because he has such a wide range of facial expressions." (Inti Creates - Yuta Watanabe)
me:G~m~N uz,.
"In his initial design, Blade Man had a large blade coming out of his helmet looking like a cockscomb,
but we changed his head it didn't look interesting enough. One thing I noticed while
design because
working on all of the bosses is that it is very difficult to design unique, new boss characters for the
Mega Man series since there have already been so many. In Blade Man's case, we didn't want him
to be too similar to Sword Man, so we made each hand a saber instead of just giving him the one
sword hand like Sword Man." (Watanabe)
PUMP Mjl:IN
"The planner told me that Pump Man should use his

own lever to pump out water, so my first challenge
was to figure out how he would draw in water and
how he would expel it. Once those details were
decided, the rest of the design came together
fairly smoothly. When we laid out all eight bosses
for the first time, we realized we were missing the
token hot-blooded/passionate character type, so
we assigned that role to Pump Man." {Watanabe)
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CHILL M-'IN
"CommandoMan is a powerful muscle-type robot much like Concrete Man, and zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED
is also a military robot in the vein of Napalm Man. Since both Concrete Man and
Napalm Man's designs are more round in shape, we decided to go with a blocky
look for Commando Man. We were then told to make sure that the number of visible
weapons in Commando Man's design made sense in terms of the number of attacks
he uses in the game, so we simplified his equipment. The shape of his cannons was
based on Pump Man's design." (Watanabe)
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"Chill Mon initially started off as the power/muscle-type character, but Strike Man was to take on a role similar to the one previously held by zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZ
we did a full switching around of the boss characters midway through Air Man, Nitro Man was switched to a more humanoid design. Working
development, and Chill Man was assigned to be the 'cool guy'. We were out his transformations was quite tricky. Since motorcycles look best When
told that we already had enough characters with some kind of mark or someone is riding them, the rider and bike are technically separate
symbol attached to their forehead, so we had to focus more on giving components. We decided to add the handlebars in order to clearly
Chill Man a unique silhouette. Since it had already been decided that convey the fact that he is a motorcycle robot, not a car robot." (Watanabe)
0
SHE'E'P ffloAN
"Initially, Sheep Man was going to be a round-eyed, silly zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGF

character like Heat Man. This was mainly because most
people tend to think of sheep as sleepy animals, and we
also felt we should include at least one or two round-
eyed boss characters. Strike Man started out as a boss
character who was good at every sport involving a ball,
0
but the designs got too complex so we decided to stick
to just baseball. There was also an idea to make Strike
Man transform into a ball, so we started with a base
similar to Air Man's and the rest of the design just came
together from there." (Watanabe)
ME't.iitA MtAN UZI.
"Sheep Man probably gave us the most trouble zyxwvutsrqponm

out of them all. In the end, we received an
illustration from lnafune and ended up going in
that direction. I think the designs for other animal-
themed boss characters like Uranus and Hyper
Storm H helped us with Sheep Man as well.
Based on Solar Man's name, 1 imagined he would
be shooting beams out of his body or something,
but we were asked to give him flames instead of
beams, so he became an artificial sun generator.
Since we added a sun above his head, we hod
to adjust his height a bit. I was a little surprised
when the sprites we got back depicted him as a
more cheerful character." (Watanabe)
WILY C;::!STLE'
"The designs of the space castle's virus tanks and zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIH
elevator parts were inspired by IV bags. The castle for
'Mega Man 1 O' went straight from rough drafts to the
screen without any base art, so we made up the details
as we were putting each pixel in. This time, Wily's Castle
does not blow up, sink, or go up in flames because
the three DLC special stages are all about Mega Man
escaping from the castle. We laid out the maps and
designed them so that they started in the space station
stage from 'World l ' and ended in the fortress escape
stage from 'World 4'." (Inti Creates - Shin Nakamura}
!>AJ2K l<Al~BOW
"When we were discussing the possibility of having

two castles like we did in 'Mega Man 4' through '6'
and 'World l ' through 'World 4\ there were plans
for underground caverns underneath the castle.
RIO WILY STAGE CONCEPT MEETING NOTES There was going to be a second castle hanging
couw W& v'O fWO Wit-Y'S CASM wrscw~? (Wtlll 11?A~r110~) down from the ceiling of the caverns like a bat. This
idea was scrapped when it was suddenly decided
1. O~ oAl211i z. rn SPAC& (1\1& ,Ai211i IS VISIBI£) that we'd be putting the castle in space." (Nakamura)
WII-Y Sf01·SfOY WII-Y Sf05
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"While we were still designing the castle to be located

entirely on Earth, we were experimenting with a crustacean
look and a carnivorous plant look. Once it was decided that
part of the castle would be located in space, we thought the
most unexpected thing we could do would be to go with an
extremely orthodox design." (Nakamura)
ME'GiA MiAN llZI,.
CHILL Ml!IN STl!IGE'
PUMP Ml!IN STl!IGE' STlo!IICE'Ml!IN STl!IGE'
SHE'E'P Ml!IN STl!IGE' COMMl!INDO Ml!IN STl!IGE' NITlo!O Ml!IN STl!IGE'

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while 1 designed him. When I submitted his design,
he was named Drill Man. I know there was already
a Drill Man in '4'. (laughs)" (Iwamoto)
The teaser page from Kodansha's "Comic BonBon". Some of the bosses' names are
different than they are in the final product.
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bad idea." (lzuki)
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explodes when he dies', I realize now to make the torso square so that
that I probably ruined a lot of people's people would be able to easily
days with my annoyingly detailed YOSHIHlli.!O :cw~mOTO identify it. I was so happy when
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character concepts. (laughs)" (Arigo) "When 1 submitted my design to Capcom, 1 added better than I expected in the actual
a few last-minute notes like, 'You could have doves game." (lzuki)
fly out of his hat or something."' (Iwamoto)
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by Rockman Shadow. The original boss characters for this project were Dangan Man,
Komusou Man, Aircon Man, Konro Man, Clock Man, and Compass Man. Compass Man
and RockmanShadow are friends.
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INTERVIEW WITH
THE ILLUSTRATORS 1
From super-deformed to photorealistic, Tatsuya Yoshikawa
has proven his skill with a variety of art styles. In this
interview, Yoshikawa speaks about his mentor Akira
Yasuda,his experiences with social games, and many other
memoriesassociated with his career. TATSUYA YOSHIKAWA
Yoshikawa worked on "Mega Man X" as part of the
graphics team while also doing character design
work for "Breath of Fire". From"Mega Man'' to "Lost
Ranker", Yoshikawa has designed characters for a wide
range of games. Ever since he left Capcom in 20 l l,
Yoshikawa has been working as a freelancer.
BEING A NEWBIE AND WORKING ON SPRITES the Cruiziler, the Mega Tortoise, D-REX,and Wolf care to elaborate on that a bit more?
ARIGA: Please tell us how you came to do design and Sigma were all me as well. I've always enjoyed YOSHIKAWA: I was referring to things like the way
illustration work for the "Mega Man" series. drawing animals, so they viewed that as a talent "Mega Man" characters tend to have thicker arms
YOSHIKAWA: As soon as I [ofne d the company, I of mine and asked me to use that to draw quite and legs. Technically, though, these things are not
heard about a competition they were holding for a few detailed and complex characters, including so much "design traits" as they are techniques that
the "Breath of Fire" project. It was unusual for new boss characters. I got to experiment a lot and had were used to make the sprites look better. Another
employees to participate in such competitions, but tons of fun. example would be how we always seemed to add
I was told they needed new artists, so I jumped in. ARIGA: The thing about the "Mega Man" and "Mega an inner lining or siding whenever we had a glowing
Later, I got my first sprite job with the "Mega Man Man X" world is that you can't really include a bunch part within a circular frame on the character.
X" project. lnafune, Kaji, and some of the other guys of natural animals and humans,but you also don't
were kind enough to teach me about sprites and want to weigh down the game's ambiance by using
show me how to get the job done right. thoroughly inorganic machines.
ARIGA: Working with pixels is really fun, isn't it? YOSHIKAWA: I agree.
YOSHIKAWA: It certainly is. To this day, I still get lots ARIGA: That's why I think the delicate balance between
of sprite work every year, and I also create PC the animal theme and the clearly mechanical nature
icons for fun. I haven't been able to do that lately of some of the characters is such an important part
because my workload has been steadily increasing of the warmth you feel from the series. There wasn't
despite the fact that I left Capcom. Still, I always ~ whole lot.,of the animal theme in the original
make time to create New Year's icons to send to Mega Man game, so I guess you could say that
everyone in place of New Year's postcards. They're trend started with "Mega Man 2".
just little 32x32 icons, though. YOSHIKAWA: That'strue.
ARIGA: I believe the trend started with Friender in
::Mega Mon 2.:·, and matured in the early stages of
Mega Man X.
YOSHIKAWA: Yeah, it was a pretty steady stream, ARIGA: What the fans usually refer to as the "Count
wasn't it? It certainly helped that we decided to go Mecha style". (laughs)
with an animal theme for mostof the boss characters, YOSHIKAWA: We used that look in a lot of different
and that basically shaped the "Mega Man X" world places, including the joints, chest, eyes, and ears.
as we know it today. These details can be described as childish in a
ARIGA: Yeah, you can really see the animal theme with positive way. They're relatively primitive symbols
the "Mega Man X" series. or trademarks that kids can easily mimic. It's not
YOSHIKAWA: That choice probably had a lot to do just about children being able to recreate these
with the fact that using the unique traits, movements, drawings, though. The "Mega Man" style of design
and expressions of familiar animals made it easier really taught me about the fun of controlling the
*A small portion of the iconsYoshikawa has created. to create characters that people would find fun and evolution of a design in this industry, as well as the
ARIGA: 32x32 in 16-bit color? relotoble. My personal interest in animals made tricky nature of balancing various factors. As an
YOSHIKAWA: Exactly. (laughs) this a particularly fun job for me. Also, it's worth example, even if you're an adult who likes Gundam,
ARIGA: I remember the good old days of the Super mentioning that I never really drew mecha before that doesn't necessarily mean that you could draw
NES and the SEGA Genesis. getting involved with the "Mega Man" series. The up a perfect Gundam from scratch. Gundam designs
YOSHIKAWA: Tweaking the colors in those days was fun. more I did, though, the more I come to like it. incorporate a lot of realistic parts from real combat
ARIGA: I know what you mean. I would create colors ARIGA: So, you got used to drawing mecha?"Practice vehicles and cars, while Mega Man designs take
you couldn't usually get with 16-bit systems by makes perfect"? more of their cues from children's toys. It's all about
overlapping a "second character". (laughs) YOSHIKAWA: I guess it would be accurate to say I taking these simple traits and manipulating them
YOSHIKAWA: Yeah. (laughs) Back in the days of no longer feel uncomfortable drawing mecha. If I into sophisticated things while still maintaining their
CRT monitors and low resolutions, you'd get some were to be offered a job drawing mecho now, I'd original approachability.
serious halation* going on with the sprites. But I confidently say that I'm up to the task. Sometimes, ARIGA: Looking at "Mega Man X3" in particular, you
took advantage of those halations to convey "in- people seem surprised that I can draw mecha, and I can really see how the little circles on their ankles
between" colors. I was always messing around with always tell them it's because of my time with "Mega were a design staple.
stuff like that. (laughs) Man"! (laughs) YOSHIKAWA: That, and you also see holes or slots
*The blurring of color around an object on a ARIGA: But it wasn't like you hated drawing mecha, around their toes a lot. But "Mega Man X3" was
television screen. right? more of a group effort, so sometimes I think we put
ARIGA: You mentioned "Mega Man X" as the first YOSHIKAWA: As you might expect, I tended to draw in too many different design details. (laughs)
project in which you did sprite work. my favorite characters' faces back when I first ARIGA: Back when I was drawing mango for Comic
YOSHIKAWA: Yes, that's right. The very first thing I started drawing in my tween or early teen years. BonBon, I happened to see some of the official
worked on for that project was the Spiky enemy. ARIGA: I know what that's about. I'll also add that those illustrations for "Mega Man X3" while I was visiting
During my time with that project, I was taught a lot faces were usually drawn at the same angle over the editing department. I recall thinking to myself,
of "Mega Man" knowledge like the basic symbolism and over again! (laughs) "lwamoto-sensei ls going to have his hands full with
and physical parts that make up the foundation for YOSHIKAWA: You got it. (laughs) I guess it's because 'Mega Man X3' ... its designs clearly have way more
the unique look of the "Mega Man" design. I started we instinctively know we can't draw very well or lines than the ones in 'X2' did." {laughs)
off by learning how to use colors and light in terms something? People will usually pick something they YOSHIKAWA: I can see why you would have thought
of "the laws of Mega Man", and the job basically like as a subject when they first start drawing, that. {laughs) If I recall correctly, Tozaki* and Kaji
evolved from there. I joined the company in 1992 because the desire to be able to draw that worked on the "Mega Man X2" designs together,
and stayed in the learning phase for quite awhile. subject well will motivate them to keep practicing. with Tazaki toking the lead. I'm pretty sure it was
ARIGA: I started working with sprites back in 1991, so Unfortunately, your future employers probably [ust the two of them. We had a lot less time for "X3",
we pretty much got into that at the same time. No won't be very interested in how well you are able so we had about four people on that one. There was
wonder we're able to speak the same language to doodle your favorite childhood character's face. a bit of a competitive edge to the work atmosphere,
with regard to 16-bit color. (laughs) (laughs) When you start drawing as a career, with each of us wanting to outdo the others. (laughs)
YOSHIKAWA: Sprites on CRTs, right? I know, it was so it's all about drawing stuff that can be used in a lnafune was around a lot to check on our work, so
great. (laughs) You don't get many chances to see professional capacity. I got more than my share of those factors probably led to denser and more
that sort of thing anymore. opportunitiesto practice drawing professional art at complicated designs. (laughs)
ARIGA: Was the Spiky also the first design work you Capcom, and I was very happy to have that kind of *Kazunori Tazaki is usually credited as "lkkt". Aside
did at Capcom? environmentto work in. from the "Mega Man" series, T azaki is also known
YOSHIKAWA: I was iuggling a lot of different design ARIGA: I suppose it is important to be able to draw for his work in games like "Dino Crisis", "Viewtiful
work at the same time, so I really can't say for what your emf)loyer wants you to draw, rather than Joe", and "Okoml".
certain. As far as "Mego Mon X" is concerned, I did what you feel like drawing. ARIGA: I actually liked the silhouettes of the boss
the designs and sprites for the minor enemies. As YOSHIKAWA: Indeed it is. That's how I figured out that characters in "Mega Man X3" because I felt there was
the new guy, I was asked to do quite a few designs once you learn how to draw just about anything, the more variety among them than there was for the boss
as part of my training. I designed enemies like the things you want to draw also turn out looking better. characters of "Mego Man X2". Still, I hove to admit, I
Bee Blader, the Raybit, the Snow Shooter, and the "Mega Man X" is technically about mecha, but that think the "X2" designs made better use of lines.
Rolling Gabyoall. world contains so much variety that it gave me the YOSHIKAWA: I can agree with that. They were put
ARIGA: So you gradually evolved into working on some chance to learn and experiment with different things together very well.
of the more complex designs. right off the bat. ARIGA: One thing I did notice about T azaki's work is
YOSHIKAWA: Yes, it's a slippery slope. (laughs) But I ARIGA: Earlier, you mentioned the basic symbolism and that he tends to form a character's hand like this (* l ),
had fun with the complex designs too. The Anglerge, physical parts that make up the foundation for the whereas lnafune is more known for this (*2) kind of
unique look of the "Mega Man" design. Would you hand pose.
me:Ga maN= 6 me:Ga maN= X: OFF/C:/,:!ILC:OmPLE'TE'WORICS
times when I feel like I have a harder time drawing than I was by the realization of how dumb I really
for my own projects because I have noticed I am was for not getting it. {laughs) I spent every day
too easily satisfied with my work. It's like, if I don't practicing and going through lots of trial and error as
keep myself strapped down with extra discipline, my I endeavored to figure out how to take the image I
own projects will sneak by me at a quality level that saw in my mind and reproduce it on paper.
doesn't truly reflect me as an artist. ARIGA: That repetition must have formed some kind of
ARIGA: Another difference is that when you're working basic concept in your head, because the difference
on someone else's thing, you know where your work between your art styles in "Breath of Fire II" and
begins and ends. Especially when it comes to design "Breath of Fire Ill" is quite noticeable. Listening to your
work, when you are designing a character for your story, it really sounds like you hod a master-and-
YOSHIKAWA: We all had lnafune's and Kaji's original own project, there's no one there telling you when apprentice sort of relationship with Yasuda.
t zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
{
art to use as reference, and we did our best to
emulate it, but I think it was inevitable that our own
to stop.
complicated
This can sometimes
designs.
lead to unnecessarily *The illustration on top is from "Breath of Fire II", while
the bottom one ls from "Breath of Fire Ill".
unique styles eventually exposed themselves in the YOSHIKAWA: I agree. When you're working on someone
details of our work. I imagine the hand posing that else's character, you of course have that perpetual
you're referring to is a result of Tazaki's personal desire to inject some of yourself into the design,
style seeping out. (laughs) but at the same time you have that little voice in
ARIGA: Do you have any funny anecdotes to share? your head reminding you that this is someone else's
YOSHIKAWA: Well, when I was talking about working character and that you have to respect their wishes.
on sprites earlier, it did remind me of that piece of Based on experience, I'd say I produce better results
equipment we used when creating original sprites. when I'm working under those kinds of restrictions.
I'm not sure what it was called, but it looked kind of Those are the times when I am most likely to produce
like a lunch box that we'd put on top of the Super an unexpected chemical reaction through my work.
NES in order to display our sprites on a CRT monitor. When I say "chemical reaction", I'm talking about the
Everyone was using that device back then, and you'd finished product turning out to be so amazing and of
often hear these loud popping noises, followed by such high quality that I have to admit I could never
people screaming "Fire! Fire!!" {laughs) make something like that just on my own.
ARIGA: Yeah, most companies would just keep those ARIGA: I guess it's that mixing of personalities and
things running all the time. It was enough to make you talents that creates what you describe as a chemical
think they were doing tests to see how long they could reaction. By taking in something that came from an
keep it running before it burst into flames. (laughs) external source and processing it within yourself,
YOSHIKAWA: Some of my senior colleagues would use it you also learn new things and evolve, which is then
without the appropriate cover attached. (laughs) Oh, reflected in the work that you do.
and you were always given a briefing about each unit's YOSHIKAWA: Indeed, working on someone else's project
quirks, like how you had to push it down at a certain hos its challenges, but the rewards are invaluable.
angle or something in order to get it to work. (laughs}
EVOLVING ART STYLES AND
THE REASON FOR THE CHANGES MEMORIES WITH AKIRA YASUDA
IN "MEGA MAN XS" ARIGA: I feel like your art style changed significantly
ARIGA: The size of the characters' arms and legs was with "Breath of Fire Ill".
noticeably reduced for ''Mega Man X8". Why is that? YOSHIKAWA: When Capcom was doing some
YOSHIKAWA: We had to tweak the designs because restructuring and merging the console game
"Mega Man X8" is a game with polygon-based department with the arcade game deportment, I was
graphics, and having too many collisions made the blessed with the opportunity to talk with Yasuda on
production process harder than it needed to be for several occasions. This had a huge effect on me. Every
everyone. l joined the "Mega Man X7" project when it time I got into a conversation with him, my mind would
was already underway, so I didn't get to do much for go blank and I thought I was going to die. (laughs)
that one. ARIGA: But I take it you gained valuable experience YOSHIKAWA: Yasuda literally changed the face of video
ARIGA: With regard to the designs in "Mega Man X7" and knowledge each time? games and related media. I don't know if it was a
and "X8", did you guys make a conscious decision to YOSHIKAWA: I think it helped to break down the foolish conscious effort or if it just came naturally, but either
incorporate the line style of old robot animes? pride I had. (laughs) I mean, when you're talking way, his ability to know what he wants and make it
YOSHIKAWA: We did. I think that intention was on the to someone like Yasuda, it's easy to realize how happen is a true testament to his genius. I can't even
table starting with the original "Mega Man X". The foolish such pride really is. He taught me how it's not describe how lucky I feel that I got to witness him
people who were working on "Mega Man X" really just about creating a pretty and flashy picture, but drawing right in front of my eyes, specifically for me.
liked the look of old robot animes, so I suppose it was that it's important to think about the information you Those were the happiest days of my life. To give you a
only natural that those preferences would be reflected are putting into an illustration, make it easy for the better idea of the kind of person Yasuda is, whenever I
in "X". I'm also part of that generation and I'd always viewers to relate to, and draw something that people had business over at the design studio, I was pretty much
wanted to do something like that, so it was definitely will feel a true affinity for. That's what makes the guaranteed to see Yasuda there. I'm not sure if he was
on my mind when I worked on "Mego Mon X8". We difference between on amateur and a professional. aware of business hours or even time as a basic concept.
really didn't hove enough time for "XB", but I feel like Within Yasuda himself, there is always a sort of fad He was always experimenting with his art, drawing
I did everything I could in the time that was granted. or a certain thing he is aiming for. A great example various things, and studying whatever he felt would help
ARIGA: The eight boss characters in "Mego Man X" were of what I'm talking about would be "Turn A Gundam", make him a better artist. If I went to the design studio
almost like divine creations, wouldn't you say? I mean, where I could clearly see what it was that an amateur and didn't see him actively drawing, all I needed to do
you had lnafune, Koji, and Tazaki. Each of them brought could not achieve. The accurate sketches, the control was glance down and I'd see his feet sticking out from
their own unique touch to the characters, which resulted over the colors, the designs themselves ... it was a under his desk. (laughs) So it's not like he never slept.
in a very special kind of variety. I imagine "XB" was pretty harsh lesson, but one that really changed the ARIGA: Those were the days. You couldn't do that even
very hard for you because you had to come up with all way I think about and look at my work. if you wonted to these days, with all of the security
of the boss characters alone, and trying to pull it back ARIGA: How exactly did you learn from Yasuda? concerns and energy conservation initiatives.
to the lines of "X" meant you had to produce the same YOSHIKAWA: I just really couldn't draw, that's the bottom YOSHIKAWA: Yeah, they'll literally kick you out of the
quality of work as three masters of the art. line. So once or twice a week, I would take everything I building at the end of the work day. But that should give
YOSHIKAWA: Not to mention that I had other had drown and bring it to Yasuda, who would go over you a pretty good idea of who Yasuda is as an artist.
responsibilities that I had to maintain at the same it with a red pen and give me pointers. He'd explain
time. (laughs) I wish I could have drawn some proper to me how I could do things differently in order to JOINING CAPCOM AND YOSHIKAWA'S HOBBY
full body illustrations, but ... achieve the effect I was going for. ARIGA: When did you decide you wanted art to be your career?
ARIGA: I'm sure you had your reasons. ARIGA: That must have been intense. YOSHIKAWA: I made that decision while I was a student.
YOSHIKAWA: Totally. My brain was always like mush The high school I went to had an art course, so that
AN ILLUSTRATOR'S FRAME OF MIND whenever I was with Yasuda, and I honestly thought certainly helped. I also applied to an arts university, but
ARIGA: Is there anything you are particularly careful I would die if I didn't get over it. (laughs) I lost a lot was rejected. My parents were very supportive and told
about when working on a final character design that of confidence in my work during that time, and I even me it would be okay if I wanted to wait another year
has been approved and handed over to you? thought about quitting if I didn't "get it" soon. Then, to apply again, but I was young and panicked a bit. I
YOSHIKAWA: Well, I find that when it comes to a approximately four or five months into my intense immediately enrolled at a vocational school and studied
11This!11
character designed by someone else, it is important Yasuda-training, he exclaimed, He drew one so hard that I basically got what I needed in one year.
to respect and in a way channel that person's soul or of those flowery circles on my illustration, the kind ARIGA: Did you go straight from the vocational school to
intent while working on the character. This was true for that grade school teachers will put on an A+ test. Capcom?
"Breath of Fire", and it was definitely true for "Mega (laughs) He enthusiastically drew the flowery circle YOSHIKAWA: Yes, though I hadn't planned on it. At
Man". In this case the design source was lnafune, and I and even signed his name next to it as his official seal the time, and even today for that matter, a career
definitely did everything I could to keep the spirit of his of approval. He then said, "This is great." in design is not particularly kind to new graduates.
designs olive when working on "Mega Man". When I'm ARIGA: I'm guessing that one was in the art style that we All the new kids have to start at the very bottom,
working on characters designed by others, I feel like saw in "Breath of Fire Ill". with intense workloads and small salaries. There was
someone has entrusted me with a valuable possession, YOSHIKAWA: Exactly. One of the big things he taught on employment board at the vocational school, but
so I will naturally treat it delicately. me during that time was about drawing the human all of the postings offered little more than minimum
ARIGA: I can totally understand what you mean. Whenever form. Even when you are drawing with an anatomical wage. That just sounds like common sense now, of
I was assisting another mango artist with their manga, I diagram right in front of you, simply trying to draw course, but I was young then. I was only interested in
found I always did a better and more careful job with what you see won't do the trick. You hove to bring it big companies, and Copcom was one of the biggest
the backgrounds I drew for them. When working on to life as you're putting it on paper. He took a lot of names I saw on the board. I liked video games, and
my own mango, I don't really think too much about it time out of his busy schedule to really hammer that though I had never specifically paid close attention to
and l just draw what comes naturally. l also tend to be idea into my head. Unfortunately, my young and Capcom as a company, the posting was for a position
satisfied more easily with my work when it's for my own foolish self couldn't figure it out [ust from hearing it at a location that would be an easy commute for me.
projects, whereas I feel like I demand higher quality explained to me. {laughs) Yasuda would sketch out a ARIGA: What kind of video games did you like to play?
work from myself when it is for others. ton of drafts while I observed, and I'm quite serious YOSHIKAWA: At the time, my favorite game was
YOSHIKAWA: I think we all go into a totally different when I say that every single one of those drafts "Populous". l mostly played simulation games because
mindset when it's our own project versus working on was of insanely good quality. tf anything, I was I wasn't very good at action games. I did play
someone else's. On the other hand, though, there are more shocked at how easily he was able to do that "SonSon" at the arcade, though I hod no idea it was
417
a Capcom game. It was only after I joined Capcom ARIGA: If you toke into account all of the bosses and but a lot of social game developers are really fast
that I realized I had been playing one of their games minor enemies in the spin-off series as well, the illustrators. I suppose that's a result of them honing
all along. (laughs) number of characters in the "Mego Man" series easily their skills according to the market's demands.
ARIGA: Do you still play games now? beats out the "Dragon Quest" series and even the ARIGA: They are pretty quick to adapt to changes, that's
YOSHIKAWA: I don't really play video games anymore number of Pokemon in the "Pokemon" series. for sure. Though I get the feeling that there is less focus
because I've gotten into bouldering, which is a style of YOSHIKAWA: When it comes to pondering what on the backbone of art as a whole these days.
rock climbing. It is an intense sport that gives you a real entertainment really is and taking the pulse of the YOSHIKAWA: I agree, but again, it's just the way things
sense of accomplishment in a relatively short amount of current generation in order to build a new addition are now. l think it's a good thing that technology
time. The boulder will trick you by looking climbable to a pre-established structure, the "Mego Man" world has given us computer tools that make the drawing
in places that aren't, and you're pretty much forced offers something you can't find anywhere else. Back process faster. It certainly helps me when I'm trying to
to develop the muscles you need in order to climb. No when I was still working at Capcom, I often found hammer out a new art style for myself. This efficiency
matter how impossible it seems, if you choose your myself wondering when they were going to start a and speed may be the foundation upon which the
hand placements logically, success is possible. I'm by no new "Mega Man" project. There were a few talks current generation is built. The social game industry
means an expert climber, but just like with illustrations about "Mega Man X9", and I even got a chance to grew in leaps and bounds when social games were
and design, as long as you understand the theory talk to the person who would have been the planner still new, but I wonder if it is starting to stabilize now?
behind bouldering and follow the necessary steps, you on that project, but it never came to fruition. ARIGA: The social game market has been growing
will generally achieve a good outcome. That's what this rapidly, though it's hard to say whether or not it is
hobby or "game" has taught me. OPTIMIZING ART sitting on a bubble.
ARIGA: A lot of artists struggle with maintaining a ARIGA: What kind of tools do you use when you're working? YOSHIKAWA: As far as art is concerned, I do feel a
healthy level of physical fitness, so I think that is a YOSHIKAWA: Phatoshop CS 5.5. bit of anticipation because I think the next evolution
great hobby to have. ARIGA: Are there any features in particular that you like will come out of the social game market. I believe
YOSHIKAWA: Visualization is also important in bouldering. to use? What about brushes and layer effects? we'll see it happen once that market has sufficiently
You basically have to figure out exactly how you're YOSHIKAWA: I don't think I do anything special. I matured. In the console game industry, it was Yasuda
going to place your hands and plan out each of your usually start off with a foundation sketch in pencil who initiated a similar evolution. I saw it happen with
moves before climbing, otherwise it becomes nearly or pen anyway. What I'd really like to do is work my own eyes, so I hope I get to see the next one as
impossible. I always stand in front of the boulder prior with some kind of paint, but I don't have the time for well. The same goes for trading card games and
to climbing and run a simulation in my head about how that. Basically when I say Photoshop, I just mean I do light novels. The demand for specific art styles has
my climb is going to play out. The skills that bouldering digital work on the PC and that's about it. been clearly divided among the different genres.
emphasizes can be applied to my work as an illustrator, ARIGA: So the use of Photoshop is about efficiency for you. Once that solidifies, it tends to crumble and give way
so it's a hobby I'd like to stick with. The only problem is YOSHIKAWA: I've kind of gotten to the paint where I to a new era. If enough people notice this step at
that bouldering makes my fingers thicker, and I'm not miss getting my clothes messy and smelly with various the right time, you end up with a massive race to the
sure what that means for an illustrator. (laughs) drawing materials. (laughs) I might pursue painting as next finish line. Of course, I intend to do what I con to
ARIGA: I guess it shouldn't be too bad unless you sprain a hobby if 1 can find the time. trigger an evolution myself if possible. I hope more
a finger, right? (laughs) ARIGA: When drawing traditionally, what do you use to artists will join me on this front.
YOSHIKAWA: I have to admit, that's a very real color your illustrations? ARIGA: You're working on DeNA's "The Irons and Steels"
possibility with bouldering. (laughs) There are also YOSHIKAWA: I use the water-based acrylic paint made now, right?
plenty of opportunities to split my nails. by Liquitex. I've tried markers in the past, but it didn't YOSHIKAWA: I was really just a judge of sorts far that
work out for me. project. As for as actual production work is concerned,
INSPIRATIONS ARIGA: Generally speaking, when illustrating, you first I'm currently assisting with conceptual work for
ARIGA: ls there any particular artist who inspired you to do a rough sketch, then a draft, then base lines, and "Yugure no Valkyries". Before joining that project, I
pursue art and design? finally the coloring. Which part do you have the most didn't really know what kind of work goes into the
YOSHIKAWA: I really liked Masamune Shirow's work. difficulty with? development of a social game, so I've learned a
Throughout my entire student career, from middle YOSHIKAWA: I would say the draft. By the time I get lat just by helping out. All that stuff I said about the
school right through vocational school, he was to the draft, I'm already imagining what it will look art styles is one of the things I've learned from that
consistently releasing something amazing. I feel like I like with colors. But once 1 put the colors in, I often experience. I've been bombarded with so much new
witnessed an evolutionary era. Seeing his work made find that it doesn't look the way I thought it would. information that it has given me a lot to think about.
me think, "What if I could draw like him? Design like (laughs) Still, coloring is the easy part because you ARIGA: I have to agree ... it's exciting to think about
him?" That probably gave me the push in the right already know what you wont to do with the piece. It's what the next stage of evolution will bring to the
direction that I needed. I especially loved "Dominion: getting from the rough sketch of what you're trying social gaming world.
Tank Police". I liked how nature was the main to accomplish to the more solid draft that I find to be YOSHIKAWA: Since its current focus is mainly on the
theme. As I mentioned before, I really like nature very difficult. domestic market, I think it's suffering from a bit of
and animals. The original world crafted by Shirow ARIGA: I always thought your coloring style was "Gal6pagos syndrome". I hope it will spread out to
was really cool too, because it was like something very unique. Is this uniqueness something you are the rest of the world soon. It's obvious that a change
you'd find in a video game. You also feel like you've personally aware of? or transformation of some kind is on the horizon. It's a
learned something after you finish reading it. (laughs) YOSHIKAWA: I suppose sa. I tend to use colors that I fascinating notion, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.
ARIGA: I like "Dominion: Tank Police" too! Do you prefer like, and I am extra careful about light and eyes.
the original or "Conflict One"? ARIGA: The projects you've worked on have a pretty A MESSAGE FOR MEGA MAN? zyxwvutsrqponmlkjih
YOSHIKAWA: The original. The character development was wide range of styles, from the more fantastical style ARIGA: To round out this interview, would you like to
enough to bring me to tears. "Orion" is great, too. I read of "Mega Man" to the photorealistic style of "Devil offer a message to Mega Man on his 25th birthday?
it at least once a year. The way he fits an entire vibrant May Cry". Does the mindset you approach a project YOSHIKAWA: Please make mare "Mega Man" games.
world into a single book reminds me of video games, with differ according to the style you're working with? (laughs)
and that's probably why I'm so drawn to his work. YOSHIKAWA: Absolutely. I start by figuring out what it ARIGA: That sounds more like a message to the house of
ARIGA: I'd love to find out what happens after the is the game needs. I do try to set aside my personal "Mego Man" than a message to Mega Man himself ...
end, and I'm sure I'd be excited if a sequel was feelings, but it's not always possible. So then I have (laughs)
announced, but at the same time I think we all know it my personal feelings to deal with, and it is often the YOSHIKAWA: My message to Mega Man is basically,
ended the way it was supposed to end. case that I need to work against my personal feelings "You're not done yet, are ya buddy?" I might even
YOSHIKAWA: Exactly right. It's akay the way it is. (laughs) in order to ensure that the game gets what it needs add a bit more intensity and be like, "You've still got
ARIGA: The "Mega Man" series is now celebrating its 25th from me. This is always a source of personal turmoil. more life in you! Keep going!!"
anniversary. What were you doing 25 years ago? I take what I have been tasked with, pursue what I ARIGA: He'll be the real deal if he survives 25 more years.
YOSHIKAWA: I have no idea. I was probably reading consider to be the ideal, then make adjustments as YOSHIKAWA: As I mentioned earlier, the "Mega Man"
mango. (laughs} I was also an avid reader of the necessary on my way to the finish line. It really is a series allows for so much growth and variation that I'm
magazine "Model Graphix" back then. I really challenge every single time. Still, I come out of it with confident it will live on for at least another 25 years.
enjoyed Kenichi Sonoda's articles. He could a sense of accomplishment and that's my end goal, so ARIGA: It does have limitless potential.
nonchalantly sketch up a mecha that was unlike any I can't say l hate it. YOSHIKAWA: Whether it's "Mega Man X", "Mega Man
other artist's. He's truly amazing. ARIGA: Optimizing your art style according to the needs Battle Network", "Mega Man Legends", "Mega Man
of the game is very important. Zero", or any of the other spin-off series, they've
YOSHIKAWA'S MEGA MAN TODAY YOSHIKAWA: The main thing that will lead to the success already proven that they can go in any direction with
ARIGA: Hypothetically speaking, if you were hired to of a video game is how much fun it is. The player's "Mega Man" and be successful. There's still plenty of
draw for "Mega Man" and you were given complete feelings about the game's visual aspect are a huge potential to create a new "Mega Man". It may be a
freedom, how do you think that would turn out? part of the fun they get out of it, though, so I agree bit old-school as an action or action/shooting game,
YOSHIKAWA: Well ... 1 have had my preconceived notions that optimization of one's art style is an absolute and the notion that you aren't killing people but
about art and design reset so many times now that necessity. rather just pitting robots against each other is also
when it comes to working on a video game project, I rather old-school, but it's exactly this simplicity that
tend to set aside my personal feelings and focus on CONSOLE AND SOCIAL GAMES gives the series its immense potential. I believe the
what the game is trying to accomplish and what it ARIGA: I heard you've been working on social games "Mega Man" series is a national treasure.
needs in order to achieve that. This is how I approach lately. Do you find working on social games to be ARIGA: There aren't many other series that hove held on
design work now. So I guess my answer to your any different from working on console games? for 25 years. t think the fans' enduring love for "Mega
question is, if I was asked to draw for "Mego Mon", YOSHIKAWA: I'd say the biggest difference is that there Man" speaks volumes of its true worth and potential.
the work I'd produce would depend entirely on the is a very clear type of art that is favored in social YOSHIKAWA: I sincerely hope they continue to do right
situation. I would want to design something that no one games. I've found that, in order to meet the demands by the series. I still think you can add more numbers
has seen before, but I would want it to be instantly of the market, a lot of artists have been shifting to to "Mega Man X" ... They ought to give "Mega Man
liked by the fans as well. I think I'm having more fun that art style. Whether that's for better or worse, X9" a chance.
thinking about it than I would if I actually did it. (laughs) that is the climate we are working in now. This ability ARIGA: I hape they do. I also hope they ga back to the
ARIGA: Would you want to give it a shot? to change with the times is a basic skill that Capcom original series for a "Mega Man 1 1" and "Mega
YOSHIKAWA: I think I would. I had a lot of fun with taught me. There, I was taught that your personal Man l 2"! Thank you very much for your time today!
"Mega Man X8", and the "Mega Man" series in flavor would come out in your work after you had
general is a veritable treasure trove. It is definitely a learned to produce the art that is needed. Instead of INTERVIEWER/ HITOSHIARIGA
series where you can suggest all kinds of wild ideas, going solely by that rule, though, I also rely on the
and none of them would be considered particularly fundamental truths that Yasuda taught me. I feel like
outrageous. Working from o foundation like that the lessons I received from Yasuda still offer me the
means you can revisit it again and again without kind of support I need, even today. The lines start
running out of things to do. getting a little blurry when it comes to social games,
418 I zyxwvutmeaa
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INTERVIEW WITH For this interview, I sat down with Hideki Ishikawa and Horuki Suetsugu (SENSEi) to discuss topics
THE ILLUSTRATORS 2 like their time with the "Mega Man" series and what it means to be a professional
were kind enough to share some valuable insights with me.
artist. They
HARUKI SUETSUGU (SENSEi)

Suetsugu joined Copcom after spending a year as a part-time middle
school teacher. He first started working on Mega Man illustrations
and character designs with "Mega Mon X4". Now, 20 years later,
he still retains a prominent role in the console game development
industry with duties ranging from concept art to design work.
HIDEKI ISHIKAWA
Ishikawa [olne d the "Mega Mon 7" team as an
illustrator and hos worked on most of the "Mega
Mon" titles since then. Since leaving Capcom,
Ishikawa has proven his talents in various fields,
both in and out of the video game industry.
FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL SUETSUGU: We merged in from the arcade team, but illustrations show Mego Mon to be in his normal colors
ARIGA: How did you come to draw "Mega Man" Ishikawa and the others didn't have Macs to work when using the Freeze Crocker and the Junk Shield,
illustrations? with. Instead, the company brought in this massive but they were different colors in the actual game.
SUETSUGU: When you work at the Capcom Design machine that probably cost around two to three Was that just because the coloring took so long that
Studio, you basically have no choice. hundred grand. you didn't hove enough time to fix the colors?
ARIGA: Is it a rite of passage or something? ISHIKAWA: The Macs were so much better, you really ISHIKAWA: Did I do those? I honestly don't remember
ISHIKAWA: Yau could say that. Back then, "Mega Man" had to wonder why they bothered bringing that very well... "Mega Man 7" was pretty hectic for me
:'as o s taple ~f .~he NES's game library, as was
1 behemoth in... because I was getting line art thrown at me from all
Ghosts n Goblins . SUETSUGU: It made this really deep and almost ominous kinds of people. When l was really tight on time,
SUETSUGU: Don't forget the ported games and the sound every time you turned it on. (laughs) I'd just clean up the lines I got and use them as they
Disney stuff. ISHIKAWA: Yeah, and you'd get this big gust of were. That's probably why I don't really remember
ISHIKAWA: As one of the main console game franchises, hot air too. (laughs) I'd say it was the size of two the special weapons specifically. All of the work for
we were pumping out a few titles per year for tatami mats at least. It was like those old-school "Mega Man 7" was divided up between various
"Mega Man". We also released guide books for supercomputers ... but specifically for drawing! people. We had people working on just the posters,
each game, so we had to draw the main characters, (laughs) We were just excited that we could use just the enemies, etc. There was no way one person
bosses, regular enemies, box art, Mega Man with his airbrushes. (laughs) could handle all of the art and get it done in time
various special weapons, images for the instruction SUETSUGU: Even the plug was a special one that was for release.
manuals, and so on. There was always a ton of stuff super thick. You seriously had to do some major room SUETSUGU: There was quite a bit of illustration work to
that needed drawing. It was never a joint venture of reorganizing just to be able to plug it in. get through, wasn't there?
any kind, though. It's not like the game developers ISHIKAWA: You can see the evidence of the airbrushes ARIGA: The first few games were probably the only
would sit down with us and show us what they were in "Mega Man 7". (laughs) "Mego Man 6" and ones that could be handled by one person ...
intending to make for each game. We were simply everything before that was still eel art. SUETSUGU: You're right. Things were much simpler
given the sprites as references once a game was back then. I remember I [oine d in on "Mega Mon
finished. (laughs) X4" simply because someone said, "Do you wont
ARIGA: That sounds rough. in?" and I said, ''Yes!" It's actually kind of a funny
ISHIKAWA: That was back during the days when they story, because I'd always had this sort of secret
went straight from doodles on a piece of paper to crush on the "Mega Man X" series, just like I had
sprites, so proper line art and concept drawings daydreamed about working on the "Legend
were pretty much nonexistent. (laughs) Each time, we of Zelda" series ... then lo and behold, Cc pcom
had to draw line art based on a sprite that someone somehow got in on that*, and my wish was granted.
made. Then, when I started thinking to myself how much
SUETSUGU: Really? I'd love to work on a robot game, I was invited to
ISHIKAWA: Yeah. (laughs) They'd also bring in same work on "Tech Romancer" ... Has anything like this
rough art that barely qualifies as line art and tell us · ever happened to you? Wishing you could work
to draw up illustrations for minor enemy characters on something only to have that wish granted?
based on that. Then, once we finished the illustrations, *"Oracle of Seasons", "Oracle of Ages", "Four
things would get even crazier because we'd have to Swords", and "The Minish Cap" were developed
produce eel art. On raw film, mind you. Most of the as collaborative efforts between Nintendo and
character-related illustrations you see in the "MM25" Capcom. Suetsugu worked on enemy designs,
book are raw eels. background designs, and various other illustrations
SUETSUGU: That's true. I was kind of surprised when I for "Four Swords" and "The Minish Cap".
saw the originals. The eels were pretty large. (laughs) ISHIKAWA: It has. Mine was "Bravely Default, Flying
ISHIKAWA: Even when an illustration was specifically Fairy". I've spent tons of time ploying with the [ob
intended for use in a small size like the ones you see change systems in "Final Fantasy Ill" and "V", and
in the instruction manuals, we still had to draw it in ARIGA: The enemies in "Mega Man 711 were still eel because of that, I'd always wanted a chance to
normal anime eel art size. That was how I developed art, but airbrushes were clearly used on the boss think up fun outfits for various job classes. I couldn't
my skill at drawing curves freehand. (laughs) characters. believe it when my wish was granted. If you pion to
SUETSUGU: I'm sure you picked up that skill whether you ISHIKAWA: That was because we only had one of those make a living through your art, having such wishes
wanted to or not because there's no "undo" button machines, so if someone was using it to draw up a granted really boosts your morale.
for eels like there is for the digital illustrations we boss character, no one else could use it. That's why ARIGA: I con totally understand what you guys mean. It
work with today. (laughs) so many of the minor enemies were still done on eels. really does feel like a secret crush.
ISHIKAWA: I was fresh out of vocational school at the (laughs) SUETSUGU: Nat to sound tao cllche d about it, but I
time, and I had yet to develop a sense for things like SUETSUGU: Oh, I see. Sa all of the work an the various honestly think those kinds of opportunities come
using the right colors at the right time and combining characters was being done simultaneously. That's around if you work really hard and prove yourself
colors appropriately. I had this set of color chips pretty impressive. (laughs) What did you do about through your everyday work. It's almost like a
that I'd hold up to an illustration in order to figure line art when you were using that machine? Did you reward for doing a good job.
out which colors were going where before I actually draw regular line art with a pen and scan it in? ISHIKAWA: That makes total sense. If you don't earn
started coloring. This method took way too long. ISHIKAWA: Yep. The first step was always ta erase the trust through your work, no one will ever think to call
With the computer software we have these days, it bits of debris. (laughs) on you for special projects. You can't just spend your
almost doesn't matter what colors you slop onto an ARIGA: Wow, this is making me feel nostalgic. (laughs) days at work drawing whatever you want, however
illustration because you con swap out whole areas of SUETSUGU: We had Macs by the time I got started an you wont, and expect to have that pay off.
color with just a few clicks. However, going through "Mega Man X4", so we scanned our pencil lines into
this process taught me that some colors look nice the computer and finished them up there. FAVORITE ILLUSTRATIONS
together while other pairings just look horrible. It ISHIKAWA: "Mega Man V" on the Game Bay wasn't ARIGA: Of all the illustrations you have ever drown for
also made me realize just how much I hadn't token in color, so we could pretty much do whatever with the "Mega Mon" series, do you have a particular
my art studies seriously. those sprites. (laughs) favorite?
SUETSUGU: These days, you con use the layer feature ARIGA: As long as the dark parts were dark and the ISHIKAWA: Actually, I'd have to say my favorites are
to compare things easily, but that wasn't the case light parts were light, you were good to go, right? your Burner Man (pg. 99) and Dynamo Man (pg.
bock then. You probably come in at just the right ISHIKAWA: Yes, so we all had quite a bit al fun with 98), Arigo. Especially Burner Mon.
time to experience the transition from eel art to the colors since the players would never know what ARIGA: Wow, really!? l'm totally flattered! I kinda
digital art, didn't you? colors we were actually using. {laughs) I did quite a thought I had gone too far with the design of his
ISHIKAWA: Yes,I did. bit of drawing for "Mego Man V" on the Gome Boy, fingers, but when I sow your illustration of Burner
SUETSUGU: By the time I gal started an "Mega Man but when I look at those illustrations now, I can see Man, it looked very natural. It's really quite amazing.
X4", we already had a Power Mac with Photoshop that I really wasn't very good at freehand drawing I was also very grateful that you made his face look
3 or 4, which granted us the use of layers. We still back then. My concentric circles were particularly scary, the way I wanted it.
weren't able to submit things digitally, though, so we bad ... I can't tell you how much easier my life is now ISHIKAWA: He was supposed to be a crazy character,
had to print out all of our work to submit it. that we draw an PCs. (laughs) right?
ARIGA: I remember those days. I'd start with something ARIGA: Hearing you talk about that big machine earlier SUETSUGU: They actually provided you with a concept
on actual paper, toke a photo of it to produce a reminded me that I wonted to ask you about the for the character?
positive, then submit that positive film. special weapons in "Mega Man 7". I noticed the ISHIKAWA: I only had the art at first.
419
ARIGA: I sent in detailed concept drawings later, ARIGA: zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
For lshikawa's art, I personally like the piece
hoping to make someone's job easier. on page 267. It made me realize how much fun you
ISHIKAWA: Those mode their way to the dev team. can have while still working on what is considered
SUETSUGU: Does that mean you never got that extra official artwork.
bit of information, Ishikawa? ISHIKAWA: Just to be clear, that's not her panties! It's a
ARIGA: Or maybe they refined whatever I sent them mechanical part. The part that looks like a skirt has
before giving it to you? burners on it, so it's really more like armor. (laughs)
ISHIKAWA: I received the one with the color Everyone thinks the white port is her panties just
assignments. The one on page 368. because it's white ... just like how they think Astro Boy
ARIGA: What about you, Suetsugu? Do you have a is wearing black briefs! (laughs)
favorite? ARIGA: I imagine you would hove sparked a totally
SUETSUGU: My personal favorite has to be the different kind of discussion in the public forum if this
illustration of Zero I drew for "Mega Man X4". The white part on Roll was block ...
one on page 188. To tell the truth, his proportions ISHIKAWA: l see what you mean ... So you think white
are a bit off ... but I drew a whole mountain of drafts was the right way to go?
before finally getting that piece done. I'm usually ARIGA: White was the right way to go. (laughs)
spread out over so many different projects that it SUETSUGU: Still, don't you think you put a few of your
always takes me some time to get accustomed to own, um, "preferences" into this piece? (laughs)
a game's particular style. Getting that look right is * A variety of different design styles was brought together in ISHIKAWA: Yeah, but lnafune approved it at the time,
really important when working on any game. united harmony by Higurashi1s deft touch. saying it was harmless enough to be released to the
ARIGA: You're your own worst enemy in those cases. fan dub at least.
SUETSUGU: That was the first illustration I did for the SUETSUGU: That's true, I suppose.
have to admit, I actually know what you're talking ISHIKAWA: I was told I could do whatever I wanted,
"Mega Man X" series where I honestly felt like I had
about now. I start off with the lighting and the so I had fun with it. (laughs) I had a lot of trouble
achieved the look I was going for. Unfortunately,
silhouette, and I figure out where to have light within coming up with creative backgrounds at the time, so
I never really got that feeling with X. Sorry about
the dark, and vice versa, among other things. Back I see now how often I used to put the moon in various
that, buddy. X is just really hard, 1 think. He's such
then, I didn't really understand how to do all of that backgrounds. How embarrassing! (laughs)
a nice guy as far as his personality is concerned,
well, so I just used a bunch of layers to make sure I ARIGA: Do you have any favorite illustrations from
so you think you'll be safe if you draw him to look
could edit things easily later. Looking at some of my other artists, Ishikawa?
like a nice guy ... but that's never quite right because
old work now is really quite embarrassing. ISHIKAWA: The first one that really shocked me was
he needs to have the tough look of a hero too.
Balancing those two things is always tricky.
ARIGA: But you were doing the best you could at the time. probably Suetsugu's X, which you can see on page
ARIGA: Yeah, when you look at X in the original "Mega
SUETSUGU: Yeah, it was like your life depended on it. 184. I guess you could say I never formally learned
Man X", his eyes make him look like a cold-blooded killer.
ISHIKAWA: I will admit that I was scared out of my about art and illustration ... But when I saw Suetsugu's
mind back then. I hated my seat because I was colors in "Mega Man X4" for the first time, I thought
He started looking gentler in "X2" and "X3", though.
sitting face-to-face with Yasuda! (laughs) to myself, "Wow, yup. That's definitely SENSEi."
SUETSUGU: Oh, also the Special Limited Pack for the
SEGA Saturn version of "Mega Man X4". I was very (laughs) Back when Suetsugu was using oil paints,
AKIRA YASUDA'S TEACHINGS AND ART
happy with the way that package art turned out. he'd always lay down base colors first and I'd ask
SUETSUGU: But I bet you learned a lot.
I've drawn a lot of promotional art before, but that ISHIKAWA: I learned so much.We had a lot of "Turn A him why that was.
was the first time my art went on a really thick box Gundom" talks late at night. (laughs) We'd discuss SUETSUGU: Did you2 (laughs)
that contained a bonus toy. I was like, "It's on the things like, "What would you do if you went home ISHIKAWA: It was only recently that I looked through
shelves! Yes! A kid picked one up!! Yes!!" (laughs) I tonight and found a beautiful alien girl in your a few instructional art books and realized just
had done so much work in the arcade industry that room?" (laughs) We'd always have these talks. We how little l knew .cbout the basic methods that
are commonly used. That made me wonder how
also talked about what we'd do if we hod super
powers and had to choose between saving our
I even got this far. (laughs) When I look at the
girlfriend's life or our mother's life. We'd get so into methods used overseas, it really puts everything
these discussions that we'd keep talking until the wee into perspective for me and I am able to get a
hours of the morning. (laughs) These conversations better understanding of all the things people were
would often branch off into deeper discussions teaching me ages ago. For instance, how important
about how super powers could ruin a person if they it is to use black and white first to calculate where
used them too much or weren't careful about how the light and shadows will go. I can see now how
useful that is, but I really didn't get it back then.
they used them. Of course, there was always a port
of me that was like, "This would never happen, so (laughs) In this way, it's not that I just like Suetsugu's zyxwvutsrqponm
art; his work is also like on educational textbook for
it doesn't really matter!" (laughs) But still, Yasuda
would be very serious about it as he talked to me, me. His illustrations are full of so many lessons I need
so I would stay up with him in order to hold up my to learn. Bock then, my art only improved through
end of these serious conversations. This pretty much my artistic instincts getting honed. Thinking about it
now, I realize how much more progress I could have
happened every day. (laughs)
made in a shorter amount of time if I had put more
ARIGA: That sounds a lot like the kinds of things he
effort into learning and understanding the methods
would talk about when he was on Ustreom. (laughs)
that were right there in front of me. Suetsugu was
ISHIKAWA: Yeah, pretty much. That's pure Yasuda.
the one who taught me how important all of that is.
(laughs) But I hove to say, I get it now. When it
comes to designing a character, there are two SUETSUGU: Well. .. You're welcome, I guess ... (laughs)
types of designers. On one hand, you have people ARIGA: As far as Suetsugu's work goes, I especially like
I never had the chance to appreciate what it feels who start with a character's external appearance, the series of illustrations on page 199.
like to have a customer pick up a game you worked and on the other, you have those who start by SUETSUGU: I was told they needed something for the
on and hold it in their hands. Sure, there were times figuring out who a character is on the inside. In opening sequence, and that's what I submitted. They
where I was happy to see someone looking at a thought they had enough materials to follow the
my opinion, the people who are really good at
poster I had drawn, but it's really very different storyboard and fit it to the music, but I was suddenly
drawing but can't seem to get more work are
when there is direct physical contact between a told they needed more artwork and chaos broke out
usually of the former variety. When someone starts
customer and your work. That was the moment when with a character's external appearance, it usually immediately afterward. I slept under my desk for
I truly understood the awesomeness of working in means they're more focused on what they want that several days.
the console field. character to look like rather than what the client ARIGA: I was pretty shocked when I saw the game.
ARIGA: Do you have favorite pieces that were done by is hoping to get. In the end, this usually results in The new art was displayed in a f1urry and it left me
other artists? thinking, "Wait, that's it?" (laughs)
forgettable characters that all basically look the
SUETSUGU: I generally like everything Ishikawa does, some. The character simulation you run in your head SUETSUGU: The whole point of that sequence was to
and I also like Higurashi's work. I feel like they are show you scenes that might have been.
is a very important aspect of character design, and
as close as you can get to lnafune's original work. Yasuda's brain computes immeasurable amounts of ISHIKAWA: Suetsugu always takes every job very
ARIGA: They do seem to have achieved a kind of silent data in that regard. (laughs) As I started to adapt
seriously, even the last-minute ones where they make
harmony with Mega Man. insane demands. Now that I'm a freelancer, I don't
to Yasuda's way of thinking, I noticed my range of
SUETSUGU: It's really quite impressive. You could look expression expanding considerably. It's gotten to even feel like getting into it unless I'm getting paid,
at any of their illustrations and say, "Yep, that's the and I will cut corners wherever I can to produce the
the point now where I can clearly tell the difference
real Mega Man!" Especially those in "Mega Man 9"! end product as required. I sometimes wonder where
between a character I designed from the outside in
ISHIKAWA: You really have to love Mega Man to get and a character I designed from the inside out. As
Suetsugu gets the energy and dedication he always
there, I think. much as it is a creative endeavor, you really have to puts into his work. (laughs)
ARIGA: I think it's kind of like the PreCure theatrical use your head instead of just relying on your artistic SUETSUGU: "Mega Man X4" had a fully animated
feature, where they had all those differently- instincts. If the feelings you put into your work don't opening sequence, whereas "XS" was more like a
designed PreCure characters in one movie, but the series of still images. I felt kind of bad about that
have any meaning, your work will never be worth
art director managed to bring them all together into because the consumers ended up paying pretty
much.
a working harmony. much the same price for both.
SUETSUGU: I'd say you need something akin to a touch
ISHIKAWA: It's all about the love, I'm telling you. You of narcissism to get it right, like you're becoming ARIGA: The boss characters also didn't speak at all in
hove to love them all equally, or else you will the character yourself and getting drunk on how XS.
unconsciously lean toward one over the rest. awesome you a re.
SUETSUGU: Exactly.
SUETSUGU: One thing I will say about lshikawa's work ISHIKAWA: I can see that. I do often strike the ISHIKAWA: I like Yoshikawo's art, too. Flame Hyenard,
is that his colors become very nice once he got used character's poses myself and make the facial in particular.
to working digitally. expressions to really get into the character's head.
ARIGA: I don't think that's Yoshikawa ...
ISHIKAWA: Those days were insane. Hard drives only (laughs) So when you produce something that looks ISHIKAWA: Huh2 It's not? Seriously? (laughs)
had four gigabytes of storage, and when you used like a textbook illustration of some stereotypical ARIGA: I believe Soldier Stonekong was the only thing
layers it took about l 5 minutes to save! character and think it's great, you're pretty much he drew for "Mega Man X7".
SUETSUGU: Now listen here ... Are you sure you weren't guaranteed not to make it as a professional ISHIKAWA: Then who did Flame Hyenard?
just using too many layers? (laughs) You have to illustrator. I mean, amateurs and your friends will
ARIGA: I agree that the coloring on Hyenord is really
achieve a certain balance just with the line art. nice. Multiple people worked on "Mego Mon X7", so
probably tell you it's good, but that's about as far
ISHIKAWA: Oooh, I'm getting scolded! (laughs) But I OS it'll go.
the general direction of the art had already been
420 I mEG~ m~N"" 6 mEG~ m~N"" X: OFFICl~L COfflPLETE WOJii!ICS

established by the time Yoshikawa joined the team. I I guess you could say Osamu Tezuka, Fujio Fujiko, and ARIGA: Yoshikawa talked about Yasuda as well, so I'm
was told he had more control over "XS". Tsubame Kamogawa were my biggest inspirations as really getting a sense of just how influential he was on
ISHIKAWA: Gigabolt Man-0-War in "Mega Man XS" a child. Whenever I doodled, it would be in one of pretty much everybody.
has great fingertips. Still, I think I liked more of the art their styles. Since my parents wouldn't buy me manga, ISHIKAWA: It's true. Not a lot of people on salaries could
from "X7". I spent a lot of time drawing original characters and get to where he did. It was only when I got out of the
ARIGA: I think they had a better selection of animal coming up with my own stories. I rarely tried to copy game that I realized everyone is fighting over the
motifs for "Mega Man X7". They chose really cool their art and characters, though, as it was clear that l same pie. If you want more pieces than everyone else,
animals. would never beat them at their own game. you have to earn a certain level of trust. People have
SUETSUGU: I agree. The base animal selection is very ARIGA: But that was the root of it all for you. to know that they can count on you to produce quality
important for "Mega Man X" games. Storm Eagle SUETSUGU: I had different inspirations for different work time after time. Of course, experience and
from the first game for instance, is one design you genres, too. For really detailed stuff it was people practice ar~ the only things that will get you the skills
really can't get wrong. It's going to turn out cool no like Yoshiyuki Takani, Yuji Kaida, and Naoyuki required to earn that trust. That's why it's so important
matter what. (laughs) Kato. For manga, it would be the three people I just to really understand the logic and philosophies I
ARIGA: I guess it's natural for the first game in a series to mentioned, plus Mutsumi Hagiiwa for girlie stuff. I also mentioned earlier, and to make those your own. If you
get all the cool stuff. (laughs) didn't get a lot of expensive toys when I was a kid, so use your instincts alone, you'll really knock it out of the
ISHIKAWA: The first game is also usually the only one I mostly played with clay and LEGOblocks. I only had park when you do get it right, but you'll get it right
that gets to use ideas like the stag beetle and the the basic LEGO set, though. far less often and be less reliable as a result.
Japanese rhinoceros beetle. (laughs) ARIGA: So you were unwittingly studying 30 structures ARIGA: I see what you mean.
ARIGA: When it comes to the coolest animals, it's first from a young age ... ISHIKAWA: To bring the conversation back to inspirations,
come, first served. Though the rhino beetle idea didn't ISHIKAWA: I grew up with parents who ran a sushi I did the most reading when I was in middle school,
become fully realized until "X3". (laughs) restaurant, so my childhood was pretty different from and I was definitely inspired by Akira Toriyama. You
Suetsugu's. My parents really didn't understand the really can't disregard Toriyama. Aside from him,
MEMORIES FROM PRE-CAPCOM DAYS concept of making a living through drawing stuff. I there was also Masakazu Katsura and Osamu Tezuka.
ARIGA: Mega Man is 25 years old now. Do you guys
first started watching anime when I was in middle I drew Tezuka's animal characters a lot, especially
remember what you were doing 25 years ago?
school. Those were the golden days of Shonen Jump, Captain Bokko.
SUETSUGU: I was watching my 50 yen coins evaporate
too. You had series like "Fist of the North Star", "Saint SUETSUGU: Nice' (laughs)
at the 50 yen arcade center near my university.
Seiya", "Dragon Ball", and even "Wingman" and ISHIKAWA: I also liked that horse character from "Prime
Games like "1943" and "Hyper Dyne Side Arms"
"Kinnikuman" from the previous generation. I was Rose". She's a horse, but she has human breasts ...
were gobbling up my 50 yen coins like nobody's
drawing Buffaloman, Asuraman, and Sunshine a lot ARIGA: You must be referring to Bouquet. Osamu Tezuka
business. I don't believe I had a console back then. I
back then. did have a tendency to open all kinds of doors for
was just a starving university student like everyone
ARIGA: Those three are really tough characters to draw. little kids that perhaps should have remained closed ...
else. (laughs) I was riding a motorcycle at the time, so
Asuraman in particular has three shoulders, so if you (laughs)
all of my extra cash went into that.
don't get it right, his torso starts getting elongated ... ISHIKAWA: I think all of the artists who drew characters
ISHIKAWA: I was into all kinds of games too. The late
ISHIKAWA: When I say I drew them, I mean as much as a that I thought were particularly cool or cute back then
'80s -- 1987 especially -- was a bountiful era for
kid could draw them. (laughs) It's not like I was really still influence my work today. I suppose you could say
video games, with titles like "R-Type" and "Ys". Falcom
aware of how muscle structure works like I am now. they are the best rulers by which to measure my own
had the best music at the time. I had a Famicom Disk
(laughs) Sunshine was literally just a square for me work. I'm constantly trying to match or surpass them
System, too. I have to say, though, I think I'm getting
back then, like Gold Lightan. His design got a little somehow. But I can find inspiration in a lot of different
too old for the "Mega Man" games now ... even though
complex after his comeback ... Oh man, I'm feeling so people, whether they are up-and-coming artists or old
I remember playing them back then like it was just
nostalgic now. I think I drew Sunshine the most, then veterans. Whenever a piece of art catches my eye, I
yesterday.
Buffaloman, and Asuraman the least, I think. dig deeper to try and figure out what the artist was
ARIGA: You can get them on the 3DS now.
ARIGA: It sounds like you favored the Akuma Choujin thinking. If you are able to get into the mind of the
ISHIKAWA: I know! My nostalgia got the better of me
characters somewhat. artist, you will be able to draw like them.
and I tried "Mega Man 2" out, but I couldn't get past
ISHIKAWA: I admit it, I didn't like Kinnikuman himself SUETSUGU: I agree. Instead of simply trying to mimic
Metal Man and his Metal Blades. I didn't have any
very much. (laughs) I did like Screw Kid and the art of someone you respect, it's better to try and
trouble with things like that when I was younger, but
Kendaman, though. I also liked the 4D Killer Combo understand what that artist used as a reference or
now I'm totally useless.
tag team of Pentagon and Black Hole. Thinking about what they were thinking as they drew it. You run
SUETSUGU: I bring it up a lot, but I was totally addicted
it now, I realize how amazing Black Hole really is a sort of simulation in your head, and you feel a
to the arcade game "Three Wonders" back then.
as a character. I know I keep bringing Yasuda up, pretty special sensation of joy whenever you are
I really loved that game. When everyone was all
but he taught me how important the positioning of a able to uncover the materials that artist used as
hyped up about "Street Fighter 11", I was stacking my
character's key concept is. For example, if you have references. For example, if you see a background
50 yen coins on a "Three Wonders" machine. (laughs)
a character called Star Man, the star is obviously the for a wonderfully fantastical world, you scr-atch
ARIGA: You could totally relax with "Three Wonders"
character's motif. You have the option of putting stars your head and try to figure out how they came up
because everyone else was gathered around the
on his hands, his chest, his face, or even his belt buckle. with something like that. Then, you might flip through
"Street Fighter II" machine, right?
When you line up all of those designs next-·to each some books that show you architectural marvels
ISHIKAWA: Was that ever ported?
other, you'll see that the one with the star on his face from all around the world, and suddenly you see the
ARIGA: It was released on the SEGA Saturn ... but l have
really jumps out at you. The chest is a close second. source of that mysterious world right there in front of
to say, it doesn't feel the same. I suppose that's to be
This is because humans tend to look at someone's face you! (laughs)
expected with a port, though.
to gauge what they're about, usually based on things ISHIKAWA: It's that moment when you find out what that
SUETSUGU: "Three Wonders" was actually a collection of
like emotions portrayed through facial expressions. artist likes, and it makes you feel giddy. (laughs)
three games, including "Midnight Wanderers: Quest
As a character designer, you _can take advantage That's the kind of trial and error process we go
for the Chariot", "Chariot: Adventure Through the
of this human tendency by putting a character's key through in order to try and infuse that emotional
Sky", and "Don't Pull" ... I feel bad for its developers
concept right on their face. At the time, I just thought response we had into our own work. I find that newer
because they had to work three times as hard, but
this was a neat piece of information, but the more artists tend to find their niche or "weapon of choice"
only got one game's worth of sales. {laughs)
projects I worked on, the more I started to realize the and stick to it. They don't realize that doing that will
ISHIKAWA: You weren't working at Capcom yet at that
wisdom in Yasuda's words. Now whenever I design spoil their own potential. If you really want to survive
point, were you, Suetsugu?
a character, I think about what I can bring to that for the long term in the art industry, you have to be
SUETSUGU: No, not yet. But I had already started
character's face. Taking something away from the willing and able to constantly cast aside your favorite
looking for a job when I found myself in the corner of
face is also an option, as long as it means giving weapon and experiment with new things.
a dark arcade playing Capcom's "Three Wonders".
that character's face a unique look or trait. So now, SUETSUGU: Well said. (laughs)
At that point I knew I had to apply for a job at
it's easy to understand why Black Hole was such a ARIGA: I bet you get a lot of opportunities to see
Capcom.
brilliant character. The same goes for Pentagon. It different kinds of art now that you are working in the
ARIGA: Didn't you mention that you thought about
seems like most of the old characters I really like social and trading card game industries.
becoming a teacher?
basically follow that rule. (laughs) ISHIKAWA: That's true. In terms of other artists in my
SUETSUGU: Yes. I had already started the processand
ARIGA: That's true. There are many characters with current field, I have a lot of respect for people like
had made it to the secondary exams. They were
trademark faces. Toshia Takayama and Ryuta Murayama. Murayama
pretty confident that 1 would follow through with
SUETSUGU: Recently, with 30 models becoming more in particular is still a very young artist, but he was
my application, but then I was seduced by Capcom
common in video games, it's become easier to see a big part of the "Lord of Vermilion" project and I
and turned down the teaching opportunity because I
that character designs have their focus on the face, just saw him drawing a group illustration the other
wanted to draw more than anything.
chest, and eyes. When a character is displayed on the day. Tomatika is someone else worth mentioning.
ISHIKAWA: I'm pretty sure a career as a teacher would
screen, most people will look at their face first, so it He's another young, talented artist who is now
have been much more stable. (laughs)
feels more familiar when you see the design focused in trying his hand at directing. Though that role is quite
SUETSUGU: Oh, for sure. The physical portion of the
that area. I tend to feel uneasy when I see a character different from the illustrator role he started out in,
teaching exams involved things like running and
design that has too much information scattered all over his dedication has earned him the chance to be a
swimming, so I had to make sure I was in good shape
the body, because that makes it difficult for the viewer director at a very young age, and that is something
for that. Still, I couldn't help myself ... 1 gave in to the
to determine where they should look. I can respect. In comparison, I left Capcom just
allure of "Three Wonders". (laughs)
ISHIKAWA: Of course, it's possible to emphasize that kind before I turned 30, and if you were to ask me if I
ARIGA: So it's safe to say that "Three Wonders" changed
of design as the focus of the design itself, in which was "director quality" at that point, I'd have to admit
the course of your life.
case it could still be a successful design. I find Kazuma that I wasn't at all. (laughs) I suppose today's young
ISHIKAWA: Looking back on that decision now, do you
Kaneko is really good at that, and it just goes to people have a leg up because computers allow them
regret it at all?
show you that there isn't really one correct way to to evolve at a much faster pace than we were able
SUETSUGU: I think if I had my memory erased and was
approach character design. I sometimes wonder why I to. That's an advantage that the modern age has
sent back in time, I'd do it all again exactly the same.
didn't recognize these simple truths sooner. (laughs) provided for new artists.
(laughs) I have no doubts about that.
ARIGA: You can see that sort of philosophy reflected in SUETSUGU: I agree that technological advancements
INSPIRING PEOPLE AND DESIGN FOCUSES the "Mega Man" series' boss characters. play a big part in the shift in power we''re seeing
ARIGA: Were you two inspired by anyone in particular? ISHIKAWA: That's true. Metal Man, for instance, would in the industry lately. It took me years to master the
SUETSUGU: The first mango I ever bought was volume 3 basically just be a nobody if he didn't have that saw use of paints, but now you can easily get your hands
of "Doraemon". Volumes 1 and 2 weren't available on his head. (laughs) Since designers and developers on really good how-to books and learn Photoshop
anymore. (laughs) My parents didn't really want to get paid to think about these sorts of things, I feel comparatively quickly. It's a totally different era.
let me read manga growing up, so the only mangos I like I should have understood that concept a long ARIGA: Yeah, these days you don't have to worry about
had at home were a few volumes of "Black Jack" and time ago. Yasuda really taught me a lot of stuff that 1 preparing your paints, getting water, then cleaning
"Macaroni Horenso" left behind by some relatives. So needed to know. your brushes and palette after you're done.
421
SUETSUGU: Exactly, and let's not even get into the undo of the original art from those days, it really captures making the transition from analog to digital was not
feature*! (laughs) my attention. By the way, Ishikawa, what would you without its challenges. Now I feel like I am free of
*The undo feature literally allows the user to "undo" do if you were asked to produce eel art now? the trappings of line art, but Japanese artists come
a previous action. ISHIKAWA: Whoa, whoa, whoa ... What would I do? from a culture of mango and anime, so I think most
ARIGA: Yes! The undo feature totally lets you try I probably wouldn't take the job! (laughs) As a of us still have trouble coloring something unless the
different things without having to suffer the freelancer, my first question would be, " ... and what line art is properly done. I was like that, anyway.
consequences of a bad decision. is your budget looking like?" When you think about Fortunately, I can now quickly spot problem areas or
ISHIKAWA: These days, a lot of illustrators earn money the amount of time that would take ... Just the drying change something's shape quite easily even after I'm
at a much faster rate. You get artists who are able time alone is mind-blowing. done coloring a piece. This allows me to touch up a
to negotiate between time and quality in a brilliant SUETSUGU: Oh, right ... They need time to dry. (laughs) certain spot as many times as I deem necessary, and
way, and a portion of the people involved in mobile ISHIKAWA: Yeah, you can't move on to the next stage I feel like that adds another level of quality to my
games is making as much money as executives in of colors until the previous stage dries, so you end artwork.
major corporations. up working on several pieces simultaneously. ARIGA: There's definitely been a noticeable difference
SUETSUGU: I forgot what working on eel art was like. I in the density of art following the shift to the digital
THE EVOLUTION OF THE WORK ENVIRONMENT usually used Liquitex for poster art, and that was in era. Now that you work in development, Suetsugu,
ARIGA: Let's talk about the differences in the work
B2 size so I could basically keep going. are you mostly drawing image boards and the like?
environment between "the old days" and "now".
ISHIKAWA: liquitex is nice. SUETSUGU: I'm kept busy with various duties. For the
Even though "the old days" weren't really that long
ARIGA: I heard animation companies often used Xerox past few years, most of my work has involved
ago ... I think we all agree that the work environment
machines to trace line art. Did Capcom use anything character design. With regard to my tools, I mostly
has changed drastically in a short amount of time.
like that back then? use Painter, though I think only a handful of us do.
SUETSUGU: In the old days, we couldn't redo stuff as SUETSUGU: Nope. We didn't have a Xerox machine. I've been using it since version 4, and I just love the
easily as we can now in the digital age. Deadlines
(laughs) way it feels. I don't think I could ever use anything
always seemed closer back then too. There were
ISHIKAWA: We sure didn't. (laughs) else. Like Ishikawa, I don't even bother with analog
so many steps leading up to the final submission,
ARIGA: So you traced everything by hand? line art anymore and instead draw everything on
whereas Photoshop has made it so that as long as
ISHIKAWA: Yep. We'd put some oil-based black ink in the screen. My most recent design work was for
the data is print-ready, you're good to go. This has
a Rotring and it'd make that squeaking sound as we "Monster Hunter 4". I did things like the weapons
made deadlines seem more reasonable, which is
drew each line. If you went off the mark by even a and the combo moves, so I hope you'll check it out.
nice, but it also feels like you get less time to work
little bit, you had to start over. It was really tough. (laughs)
on each piece. (laughs) You're also stacked with
(laughs) Now it's much easier to edit lines, but back ISHIKAWA: The "Monster Hunter" series is the bane of
more pieces to work on.
then it was all about PSI {pounds per square inch). all working professionals. It's such a time hog. (laughs)
ARIGA: It's all about efficiency now, so I guess they
The challenge was to see how far you could go with SUETSUGU: I was usually tasked with promotional
expect you to finish the same amount of work in less
human powers. (laughs) illustrations up until "Mega Man X", but I joined the
time.
SUETSUGU: The new kids can now dedicate all their development team for "The Legend of Zelda: Four
SUETSUGU: During the early days of digital work, I time to drawing, compared to the time we had to Swords Adventures", which changed my thought
had a lot of trouble controlling the colors. Now, I
spend editing or redrawing something. It's definitely process forever. Now I always look at it from the
can easily summon up the colors I want thanks to
a better use of time. Speaking of eel art, some of game's perspective, trying to figure out what the
color profiles. "Mega Man X4" was developed back
the original eel art from the "Street Fighter II" movie game needs or how something will look when it's in
during the days when you still couldn't submit things
is still archived in the design studio. Unfortunately, a motion within the game. For example, with "Zack &
digitally. You might notice that some of the shading Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure", my goal was to
lot of the lines have faded over time. Still, the lines
is darker than usual, and that was because we were
that were traced by hand have a certain beauty to come up with designs that would make the polygon
worried the colors would thin out during the printing
them that you don't see anymore. models look cool while still using the least number of
process. You can also see that there's a tinge of
ISHIKAWA: That project and Disney-related projects joints possible. I drew a lot of the early development
red on the "X4" version of X. The original data has
really taught me the [oy of drawing lines. There's image boards. Building a world from the ground up
him in a very nice blue, but the printing process
definitely a difference between lines you feel good is hard work, but also a lot of fun. We have lots of
required the use of CMYK, and that particular blue
about and those that you feel awful about. amazing talent available to us now, so I find I am
wasn't reproduced very well. We got much better
SUETSUGU: I once had the opportunity to see line art drawing less promotional art these days. One of the
with the colors in "X5" and beyond because we
drawn by a Disney artist, and it was quite shocking! more unusual jobs I ever did was design the layout
started to get a better idea about which colors
I can't even describe how beautiful those lines were! for a 3D CG illustration.
could be faithfully reproduced. I think that's also
ISHIKAWA: I knew someone who was working on a ARIGA: It sounds like you're getting more work as a
why lshikawa's Mega Man illustrations seem to lean
Disney project, and I felt so bad for him. No matter game developer than as an illustrator these days.
a bit toward the green side. It's really hard to print
how hard he tried, they wouldn't approve his work. SUETSUGU: It's true. I suppose that's a good thing, since
a truly beautiful blue. You probably had a hard
They scrutinized everything through the Disney- the reason I joined the company in the first place
time finding colors that would print nicely, didn't you,
brand magnifying glass, and they weren't willing to is because I love games. It also feels extremely
Ishikawa? (laughs) settle for anything less than what they had become awesome when the team comes together as a unit
ISHIKAWA: I never did find those colors ... (laughs) accustomed to. That's to be expected, of course, and gets things done. It's almost enough to make a
ARIGA: Is that why you changed up the color style for because if they had made any sort of compromise grown man cry! I often think to myself, "Something
"Mega Man & Bass"?
and allowed a "Japanized" Mickey Mouse into the like this could never have been accomplished by one
ISHIKAWA: Yeah, we were pretty much like, world under their official seal, I think all hell would man alone."
"Whatever!" (laughs) Oh, but we still got official
have broken loose.
approval from lnafune, of course.
ARIGA: I've heard many stories about Disney's strict
TARGETED ILLUSTRATIONS zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedc
SUETSUGU: The default CM YK color set followed supervision. I see more "moe" style in the characters
ARIGA: When it comes to the roles illustrations play in
American standards up until Photoshop 5, I think. video games, CG is a popular choice these days
they've been using in recent commercials, though, so
This meant that the "K" of CMYK was a bit stronger when targeting a wider market. I was starting to
I guess that's another sign of the changing times.
than we expected, resulting in a darker print. It ISHIKAWA: I imagine the "level" of Japanimation back feel like illustrations were only being used for games
simply wasn't made with Japanese printing in mind. aimed at younger players; however, the sudden
then was something Disney would snicker at. Like
Of course, we had no idea at first and all of our influx of social games has increased the value of
animation suffering from Gal6pagos syndrome.
prints came out looking quite wrong. We ended illustrations in video games exponentially. What kind
(laughs) But now you see characters like Duchess
up having to implement an extra step where we of role do you think illustrations will play in video
Dressel von Fli.igel, who are clearly heavy on the
would manually erase the "M" channel for things games from here on out?
Japanese influence!
like dark blue eyes. It had us all in tears, let me
ARIGA: You had it so tough before, Ishikawa ... What
SUETSUGU: I do think that depends entirely on the
tell you. Printing something as simple as a beautiful target market. For example, you could have a
kind of tools do you use now?
blue sky seemed like an impossibility. Now, the use totally amazing illustration, but if the art style and
ISHIKAWA: Just Photoshop, mostly. I've gotten pretty
of color profiles has made it much easier for us to character are too "unique" or "different" from
good with the brushes and things. I particularly like
get the colors we are aiming for. In that respect, I the mainstream, you'll attract more of your target
the dual brush feature. I often observe overseas
do feel like we've finally adapted to our new work audience by rejecting the illustration. I think it might
illustrators to see how they get so much texture into
environment. be easier to explain by referring back to lshikawa's
their illustrations in such a short amount of time.
ARIGA: I remember the days when pink would suddenly
That's how I learned to use the copy brush and
story about Yasuda. With the "Monster Hunter"
turn gray after making the transition to CM YK. promotional CG art, they were very careful not to
special brush features.
SUETSUGU: Accidents like that were quite common, yes. draw too much attention to the character's face. By
SUETSUGU: Oh? You'll have to teach me about those
(laughs) Another great advancement is the ability to doing this, they ensured that the emphasis was not on
someday. (laughs)
transfer data over networks. It's so convenient that the character's unique nature, which allowed it to be
ARIGA: Now that you're working more on social and
we can now trade artwork with people outside of more readily accepted by a broader audience. At
trading card games, I imagine you do more painting
the company through the Internet. Before, we had least, that is the explanation I heard. Then you have
(* l) than drawing (*2) ... Did this shift in your work
to rely on express post or couriers to deliver our the question of proportions and height. When you
require changes to your usual methods?
magneto-optical {MO) drives. The previous building
* 1: Illustrations that are mostly colors.
have characters that are generally short, you have
we worked in wasn't set up in a net-friendly way, a harder time getting older players interested in
*2: Illustrations that are mostly lines.
and we often found that our LAN cables weren't your game because their instant reaction is that the
ISHIKAWA: For sure. When I was still with Capcom, I
long enough to reach the various computers we game is geared more toward children. I think that is
couldn't move on to the coloring stage until I drew
needed them to reach. This led to LAN cables being why Mega Man looks a bit taller and more human-
up the lines and scanned them in. If I decided I
draped outside of the windows ... of course, things like in some series. If you get very specific and
wanted to change something like the posing or fix
are much cleaner and more efficient now. specialized with a certain look, that look becomes
the perspective on something, I had to go all the
ARIGA: I lmo q ine any MOs still lying about are
way back to the line art stage. This forced me to
more valuable and you have an easier time pleasing
gathering dust. (laughs) concentrate on doing up the line art exactly the
existing fans, but you can't avoid turning away other
SUETSUGU: Totally. The "Mega Man X" MOs died for way I wanted before moving on to the next stage.
potential players. That's the tricky part about game
some reason. The data is safe, though, because we development. I know, for example, that there are
I would almost describe it as a sense of dread or
had backups on hard drives. people who hate my version of X.
fear. The scanning process isn't any better. Once
ARIGA: So MOs really did have an expiration date.
you have the image scanned in, you have to take
ARIGA: I think it also has a lot to do with the genre the
SUETSUGU: I think the best part of working with paints time to erase all of the debris that shows up on
video game belongs to.
was the physical connection with the work. There's just SUETSUGU: That's true. The "artsy" mango, anime, and
the scanned image. In comparison, the fully digital
something about real, hands-on work that you can't games that artists tend to love typically don't sell
workflow I enjoy now is much more convenient
., recreate in a digital atmosphere. When I look at some very well to the general pubffc. l't seems f'iKe the
and my work speed has naturally increased. Still,
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more generic mangos with your stereotypical hooligan lot of people these days, upon encountering a new character with kind of a clump of hair that wouldn't
characters are easier to sell. game with "cute" characters, will instantly categorize need to move at all, and add a hair accessory like
ISHIKAWA: I know exactly what you mean. It's like that the game as a "kiddie" game. This new generation a feather to add movement to the head are.a. Then,
kind of world offers less resistance when it comes to doesn't appreciate the awesomeness of that style as since the character concept involved the heroine riding
the customer attempting to immerse themselves in the much. a motorcycle, I gave her clothes that would allow her
story. ISHIKAWA: Would it be inaccurate to say that "normal to straddle a bike. I was careful to design an outfit
SUETSUGU: Of course, that is not to say it is wrong to people" don't get it? I don't know if I'm missing the where you think you might be able to catch a glimpse
place value on the art itself, and it is entirely natural mark, but I feel like the window of opportunity for of "it", but "it" wouldn't get exposed ... and don't ask
to use the art to promote whatever project you are catching the interest of non-illustrators is much smaller. me what "it" is, please. {laughs) The next important
trying to sell. All I om saying is that it is important to But that is normal, of course. We are the weird ones. step was to ensure that she was distinct enough from
know who you are trying to appeal to. ARIGA: That's not on unreasonable thing to say. Most the existing characters, so I named her Lily and used
ARIGA: It's all about the target market. players are not illustrators. white as her base color, accented with turquoise. She
SUETSUGU: Exactly. The "volume zone" {the most common, SUETSUGU& ISHIKAWA: And that's the key. was supposed to be an officer's daughter, right?
middle-income consumers). ISHIKAWA: As illustrators, our job is to appeal to non- ISHIKAWA: The police chief's daughter, actually.
ARIGA: Even with video game art books, the market illustrators. Every time Bandai starts a new project, SUETSUGU: I imagined the police chief wearing a
data suggests that the ones with photorealistic art are they get a bunch of elementary school students to fill Western cowboy hat, like a stereotypical sheriff
less popular among consumers. out questionnaires. I previously hod the opportunity from Texas. So what would his daughter do to
SUETSUGU: That's due to the lack of a unique flavor or to look at some of these questionnaires, and I found rebel against her father? She'd dress like a Native
art style. that the majority of little kids would look at something American, of course! That was the basis for her outfit
ARIGA: The less realistic the art style, the more interest us grown-ups would consider an epic accomplishment design, though it was all based on my own unfounded
people will have in the concept art and other in character design and respond negatively to it. fantasies. Anyway, that's how I go about designing
development materials. I agree that targeting a Kids also respond especially negatively to giant stuff for games. I take hints from the game's various
specific market with your art con help you get your characters, according to the questionnaires I saw. concepts and add an extra something to make it
consumers to take a more intense interest in your It was quite surprising to see such a noticeable unique, like adding turquoise to Lily.
product. discrepancy between what children deem great ISHIKAWA: And Native American jewelry or something.
ISHIKAWA: This is great information. I will be sure to and what adults acknowledge as good design work. SUETSUGU: I gave her jacket a really bulky form so that
apply this knowledge to my future work. (laughs) Your When you consider that fact, it does make it harder the thinner form of her white clothes would stand out
consumers' interest is definitely something you want to to create something that will appeal to a wide range when she took her jacket off. I was pretty confident,
hold on to. of ages. but then Komaki showed me his design with hair
SUETSUGU: Basically, the more realistic the art style, the SUETSUGU: The target demographic is something that that flapped and I was like, "Agh! That's brilliant!!"
less "characterized" the character becomes, so the always comes up during game development, but the (laughs) I had given in to compromise where Komaki
value of the art depends on the balancing of the art truth is, it con be hard to hit your target even when had made it happen. A character with hair movement
style according to the target market. Another really you know what it is. was of course better, so I knew at that moment that I
important factor is how easy it is for the viewer to hod lost the competition. (laughs) The truth was that
understand what they're seeing. This is something that BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE "MEGA everyone had been secretly drawing their submissions,
is a very hot topic in game development, because MAN LEGENDS3" HEROINE but no one revealed their designs until the day of the
when it comes to photorealistic art, everyone can SUETSUGU: One of my character design stories involves competition. I also drew my submission after work,
recognize when you do a good job. It's harder to the new heroine design competition for "Mega Man after everyone left ... though that had more to do with
get people to give your game a chance when you legends 3". I had been told that with the polygon the fact that 1 didn't have time to do it during work
have short "mango" characters as the selling point. A model, there would only be one [olnt available hours. (laughs) Some people accused me of trying to
for hair movement. My first plan was to design the draw attention to myself, but I swear I was just doing
the best that I could do. It was pretty much a bare-
Suetsugu's heroine idea lshikawa's heroine idea fisted brawl at that point. I think most video game
character designers are able to figure out other
designers' thought processes just by looking at their
designs. My focus was on the model's limitations. I
really liked Higurashi's design because the character
looked so full of life and the overall design fit well
with her body type. The only thing I found unfortunate
about his design was that his character's face didn't
look energetic enough, but that was probably
because he felt the pressure of going up against all
of the senior designers. The winner ended up being
Komaki. Being the cunning tactician that he is, Komaki
had prepared his submission in a way that made it
look ready for an official presentation, complete with
a logo and everything.
ARIGA: He really knew what he was doing.
SUETSUGU: Everyone had their own angle, I think.
ISHIKAWA: Mine just proved to be too weak. I guess
I needed to design a character that could be used
more for the core story, one that could be the origin
of something new. When I think about it like that now,
I realize how impossible such a feat would have been
for me at the time. Still, I'm very happy that, even at
my current age, I am able to learn something new
from every job that I do.
MESSAGESTO MEGA MAN

ON HIS 25TH BIRTHDAY
ARIGA: To wrap things up, please offer a personal
L..IL..Y - message to Mega Man, who hos enjoyed 25 years of
AF'fe.2 J"Olfl!lfll6'
success.
i-Ho- 5!216!H1" SA"f-5.
1"o-6,Ul.Al2 -5Kl!2-r. SUETSUGU: First of all, I would like to say, "Don't give
up!" (laughs) There are still plenty of possibilities out
there. I know it's hard to tell what's going to happen
with things the way they are right now, but I'd like to
encourage and reassure him that we all know this isn't
the end for him. Furthermore, I'd like to declare here
and now that if I was to be given the opportunity to
work on another Mega Man project, I would give it
my all! I'll be wishing for that opportunity.
ARIGA: Thank you. Ishikawa?
ISHIKAWA: Dear Capcom, please consider including me
if you decide to do something in the future. {laughs)
EVERYONE: (laughs)
ISHIKAWA: As for my message to Mega Man, I'll say
I have high hopes for a new Mega Man series
that caters to the needs and desires of the current
generation. I think that's the direction Mega Man
should go. I really believe that the "Mego Man
X" series broke the mold, and I sincerely hope the
"Mego Man" series as a whole will go on to explore
new frontiers. Whether those frontiers end up being
action, action RPG, or anything else, I look forward to
meeting a brand new Mega Man, the likes of which
no one has ever seen before.
Suetsugu's second heroine idea

INTERVIEWER/ HITOSHIARIGA
L..11.-Y -
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This is a crossover title that allows all the characters from

Rockman xover the various Mega Man timelines and universes to exist in
ios I I /29 /20 I 2 the same game. All of the Mega Mans have been trapped
in a dimensional rift by Dr. Wily, Sigma, and the other
villains of the series. In order to combat this dire situation,
Dr. Light and Dr. Cossack team up to create a new robot
hero called OVER-1. Though a mass production model,
OVER-1 was designed with the ability to enhance himself
with items called "Battle Memory" that are scattered
throughout the world, granting him virtually limitless
potential. Of course, it's up to OVER-1 to fight against all
of the evil forces threatening the world. The player is able
to create their own custom Mega Man in order to team up
with allies and fight for world peace!
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INTERVIEW WITH In this group discussion,four select illustrators lay it all out on the table. This interview
focuses mainly on "Mega Man 9" and "Mega Man 1 O", but the artists also discuss
THE ILLUSTRATORS 3 the birth of OVER-l, the hero of the new game ''Rockman xover''!
RYUJI HIGURASHI KEISUKE MIZUNO KENTA SAITO YURI KATAIWA

Involved with various 11Mega Man" Involved with "Mega Man: Powered Involved with most of the official titles, Responsible for the illustrations related
games, including the "Rockman Complete Up11, "Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X", an~ also responsiblE~ for designing th 1~ to merchandise like plastic model kits
Works" series, "Mega Mon X: Command the "Mega Man Battle Network" and main character of Rockman Xover . and iigsaw puzzles, as well as the 20th
Mission", the "Mega Man Battle "Mega Man Star Force" series, "Mega Saito started his professional career at anniversary group illustration. Kataiwa's
Network" series, and "Mega Man 9". Man 1 O", and "Rockman Xever". about the same time as Mizuno. Roll is especially popular among fans.
THE TRADEMARK "MEGA MAN" KATAIWA: That was quite a challenge. I started off so cool, it's easy to get influenced by them.
CHARACTER POSES by gathering reference materials to learn about ARIGA: It's true. "Mego Man 7" was quite special.
ARIGA: Higurashi and Mizuno, you worked on the "Mega characters I wasn't familiar with, as I had to toke MIZUNO: That's why figuring out the character poses in
Man 9" and "Mega Man l O" projects. Did you find the things like poses into consideration. I needed to think terms of the NES style had us holding our heads in our
approval process to be particularly strict? about whether a certain pose would suit a certain ~ands. I did m:,
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best}o carry over .:he thick limbs from
HIGURASHI: All I ever got from lnafune was, "I guess character, and stuff like that. Mego Mon 5 and Mega Man 6 .
that's okay." (laughs) ARIGA: Are there characters hidden behind Mega Man's ARIGA: Bass has upper body armor that Mega Mon and
MIZUNO: Me toa. left loot? Proto Man don't have. Did that make them difficult to
HIGURASHI: lnalune gave Inti Creates a lot al detailed KATAIWA: No, actually. The characters that you can only balance when drawing them?
feedback and made requests with regard to the boss partially see were fully drawn, but the area that is MIZUNO: It sure did.
characters, but he didn't really say much to us about obscured by his foot is completely blank. SAITO: I doubt he gave it that much thought. (laughs)
our ill1~strations. All we ever got was, "I guess that's MIZUNO: I did tool (laughs) I made big changes to
okay. Ballade's and Enker's pose, and hod Punk spread his
ARIGA: That must be his way of making compliments or arms out wide to make his silhouette cooler. I was also
expressing approval. Did anyone ever get anything very happy that I had the opportunity to draw special
other than "I guess that's okay"? weapons for three different characters.
HIGURASHI: I think lnalune is the kind of person who will SAITO: Yeah, the only one you hod finished at that point
trust you once he acknowledges your ability. That's was Enker's Mirror Buster.
what made working for him easier than most. He ARIGA: The only reference I could find for Punk's
trusted us, so it was up to each of us to make sure we weapon was lkeharo's mango, while the sprite was
didn't betray that trust. the only thing I could come up with for Ballade's
ARIGA: Was there anything in particular that you were weapon. I was very grateful when we finally got
careful about when reproducing lnafune's art? official illustrations of these weapons.
MIZUNO: Personally, I relied a lot on Higurashi's reviews. MIZUNO: Does that mean Ikehara based his art on the
There were times when I'd show him a hero pose and sprites?
he'd say it was "too perfect". It was explained to me ARIGA: When I visited him as a mango assistant, I found
that using a pose that is "too perfect" will limit the out he was using a device that would allow him to
player's imagination, making it important to maintain a take screenshots directly off of his television.
small buffer of "imperfection". I found that to be a very MIZUNO: I see. Copcom didn't have any concept art for
valuable lesson. FAVORITE CHARACTERS those weapons, so I kind of created the designs while
ARIGA: You went for a slightly relaxed version of a ARIGA: Were you playing Mega Man games before drawing them.
perfect pose, then? you joined Co pcom, Mizuno? ARIGA: I was delighted the first time I saw the illustration
HIGURASHI: That's right. The key to a good illustration MIZUNO: Yes. My first Mega Mon experience was with of the Ballade Cracker because I was finally able to
is to clearly convey the nature of the character while "Mego Man 2". The game I got into the most was understand its physical structure.
still leaving a lot up to the player's imagination. The "Mega Mon 4". Skull Mon was my favorite character SAITO: Higurashi rejected a whole bunch of illustrations
poses for the Rockman Complete Works versions of simply because I thought he looked cool. Bass is for that weapon. (laughs)
the boss characters were designed to be the "result another favorite of mine. MIZUNO: (laughs) Yeah, I went through tons of trial and
of imagination". Unfortunately, that isn't always the ARIGA: Soito, Kotaiwa, do you two have favorite error with that thing, but he just kept telling me it
best way to go with debut illustrations. If you simply characters as well? wasn't looking "Mega Man enough".
tell the player how they're supposed to perceive a SAITO: I caught Mega Mon fever a little later than HIGURASHI: I figured we had the right illustration when
character, they won't feel a desire to figure anything everyone else, so my first experience was with the lnafune didn't reject it.
out for themselves. The great thing about lnafune's "Mego Mon X" series. I like Colonel and Iris. MIZUNO: The hardest part was coming up with new
poses is that they leave room for the player to KATAIWA: I don't play the Mega Man games, but Roll special weapon poses, because we weren't allowed to
expand on the character for themselves using their is so cute and hos become my favorite character use poses that were too similar to the existing ones.
imagination. through work. SAITO: Oh, same goes for the special weapon colors too.
ARIGA: 11 Mego MIZUNO: Right. We made them distinct by using
I'm pretty sure lnafune's artistic sense is a ARIGA: Very nice. The deeper you get into
natural gift. He doesn't need to consciously infuse his Man", the harder it becomes to make such simple different colors in the joints. (laughs)
illustrations with that relaxed vibe because it comes and straight comments about your feelings regarding ARIGA: Of course, regardless of his colors, you can
out naturally for him, and that's what makes him an the games and characters. I find that most hardcore never be completely certain that Mega Mon is
amazing artist. There are always lots of illustrations Mego Man fans will pick a side villain or a minor equipped with a special weapon unless his one hand
in a magazine, but I always felt like the Mega Man enemy from a specific stage as their favorite is clenched in a fist or posed with his middle and ring
illustrations caught your attention with ease and left a character. The fans who pick Mego Man or Roll as fingers pressed together.
strong impression on you. their favorite character are few and far between, EVERYONE: (laughs)
MIZUNO: I wish I could inherit that natural ability from strangely enough. (laughs) MIZUNO: It was hard to come up with new poses while
him. The best I con do is try and carry that torch into HIGURASHI: Not to make it sound like I'm trying to prove still sticking to that unwritten rule. We also couldn't use
the future through my art. a point or anything, but ... Mega Man is my favorite drastic angle changes like showing Mega Mon from
ARIGA: Working within the Mega Man world must be character! below or above. There was a specific range allowed
easier than other projects because the series offers ARIGA: Woot! (laughs) for the camera movement and we had limitations on
such a big sandbox to ploy in. perspective too, so there were all kinds of challenges
MIZUNO: I've been a Mega Man fan since I was in REPRODUCING THE ILLUSTRATIONS we had to overcome.
elementary school, and I was always trying to mimic FROM THE NES ERA
ARIGA: Mizuno, you mentioned that Bass is one of your
ROBBED!? THE BOSS CHARACTER CONTESTS zyxwvutsrq
lnafune's style while doodling. Even now, I sometimes
favorite characters. I get the impression that you tried
ARIGA: Did any of you send in ideas for the numerous
try to recall that feeling when I draw for work.
boss character contests Capcom held for the "Mego
to bring Boss back to Mego Man's NES era art style
WHAT'S BEHIND MEGA MAN IN THE 20TH Man" series?
for "Mega Man l O". Con you tell us anything about
ANNIVERSARY ILLUSTRATION? that? MIZUNO: I didn't.
ARIGA: Kataiwa, you were tasked with drawing the KATAIWA: Me neither.
MIZUNO: It was extremely difficult. We used the
group illustration on page 300 pretty soon after
SAITO: I did, but I didn't win.
illustrations from the NES era games as reference
joining the company. Did you feel a lot of pressure
HIGURASHI: Ditta. (laughs)
when drawing the boss characters, but there was no
while working on it? NES version of Bass. The "Mega Man 7" Bass design
ARIGA: I continued submitting ideas even ofter I become
KATAIWA: It was the first time I had been given the a professional artist, but I still got trounced by all the
was the one that left the strongest impression on us, so
winners. {laughs)
opportunity to draw a full illustration, so I was no matter how hard we tried, our Boss for "Mego Mon
psyched out by my own uncertainty for a while. 1 O" kept drifting closer to that version of Boss. (laughs)
SAITO: The one thing I will soy is that Jupiter from "Mega
ARIGA: Was that Man V" on the Game Boy looks exactly like one of
your first group illustration too? ARIGA: When the "Mega Mon" series made the leap to
the character designs I submitted.
KATAIWA: At the time, I'd say everything was a first for the Super NES, the characters got taller, there were
me. (laughs) ARIGA: Oooh... Stolen! (laughs)
more colors, and the highlights were whiter. So the
ARIGA: How long did that illustration take you to draw?
SAITO: Do you really think so? (laughs)
work environment itself hod changed drastically since
KATAIWA: Hmm ... I'd say about a month. the first time Bass made his debut. Ta king that Boss
ARIGA: I'm sure they didn't do it on purpose. I con
imagine how easy it would be to get a character
ARIGA: I imagine it was quite difficult for you, starting and reeling him back to the art style of the NESdays
from a place where you didn't know much about the design stuck in the back of your mind after going
was quite a feat.
through tons and tons of fan submissions. That old
necessary shapes and colors. MIZUNO: The character poses from "Mega Man 7" were
memory probably just resurfaced in someone's mind
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during development. (laughs) and saying, "I'll draw a new one right away!" MIZUNO: Not specifically, but since OVER-5 was
HIGURASHI: I'm sure there are tens and even hundreds of KATAIWA: Yes. That's when I drew the Mega Man Star Force supposed to be particularly heavy on the armor, I
people who believe their designs were stolen. {laughs) illustration featuring Luna Platz and Sonia Strumm*. thought a straight-edged look would work best.
ARIGA: Spring Man from "Mega Man 7" has the same ARIGA: I hadn't heard about that. SAITO: I also suggested using military colors, didn't I?
name and design idea as one of my submissions. I think KATAIWA: The illustration that didn't get used is the Roll MIZUNO: Oh yeah, I remember that!
it was an idea I submitted for "Mega Man 5" or "Mega group illustration on page 279. I recall how shocked SAITO: You'd forgotten!? (laughs) Since Dr. Cossack
Man 6" ... I can't really remember. Higurashi was when I submitted the draft for approval. developed the armor parts, I thought about Russia and
SAITO: guess claims like this are more common than we
I what people generally associate with it. My brain was
think. (laughs) filled with stereotypical Western images like wolves
and knights.
THE THREAT OF MEGA MAN AND MANJU!? ARIGA: If "Rockman Xever" toys were to be sold at retail,
ARIGA: Regarding the group illustration that was used as I'm thinking Bandai would sell the base OVER-1 for
the package art for "Rockman 9", l noticed that Mega 1,000 yen, and the various armor parts would be sold
Man doesn't have his buster equipped on either of his for 500 yen each.
hands. Was this intentional? SAITO: Bandai2
HIGURASHI: That was part of the "Mega Man returning ARIGA: Because of the "Mega Armor" series ... {laughs)
to his roots" initiative. Ever since the package art for SAITO: Ah, I see. You were thinking of the "Mega Armor"
"Rockman 2", he's always had his buster equipped series instead of the "D-Arts" figures. {laughs) It's true
on one hand. The overall layout is reminiscent of the that we had potential toys in mind when designing
"Rockman 3" package art, though. OVER-1. It would have been extra cool if the fur part
ARIGA: I really like how the illustration that was used for was synthetic fur instead of hard plastic.
the "Rockman l O" package art has Earth featured
above the characters. It looks so beautiful. I still have *The second illustration Kataiwa drew for the calendar. ANSWERING UNITY QUESTIONS!
the "Rockmanju" snack box displayed in my home ARIGA: Rockman Unity manager Ucchi recently gathered
HIGURASHI: Can you blame mea (laughs)
where it can be seen by all. some questions from the fansite's members, and the
KATAIWA: I didn't think I'd get many chances to do an
editorial team picked out a few that they felt you guys
illustration like that, so I decided to pack in as many
could answer. Do you mind?
Rolls as I could! It was a very pure and innocent idea,
SAITO: Not at all!
really ... The title t imagined for it was "Pack of Rolls". I
ARIGA: Okay, let's see... The first question is from [GO!],
was very happy when it was used for things like mugs
who asks, "What is your favorite game out of the
and puzzles.
whole Mega Man series?"
THE NEW GAME "ROCKMAN XOVER" MIZUNO: "Mega Man X4" for me.
ARIGA: Who did the character design for OVER- 1? SAITO: Same goes for me. I guess it's our generation?
SAITO: I did OVER-1 through 4, and Mizuno did OVER-5. (laughs)
ARIGA: Why did you add fur to OVER- 1? HIGURASHI: I like "Mega Man 4" and "Mega Man X".
SAITO: Conceptually, OVER-1 was created with a more KATAIWA: I have to go with the original "Mega Man".
MIZUNO: Thank you so much! advanced Al than any other robot and is capable of ARIGA: I'm going to go ahead and add my answer as
SAITO: There were discussions about making the manju adapting to any situation by changing armor parts. "Mega Man 2"! Next question ... [Furaibo no Kaze]
look like Earth because the planet is visible in the As a result, his CPU has to endure an incredibly heavy asks, "Which stage is your favorite visually, not toking
illustration. burden, so a heat sink is a must. Naturally, this situation into consideration things like gameplay difficulty?''
MIZUNO: We got an email from Higurashi while he was makes overheating a serious problem and renders MIZUNO: Hmm ... Armored Armadillo's stage. It feels great
away on business overseas saying, "People might not OVER-1 more vulnerable to external heat sources. His to ride the platform, build up some good momentum,
get that it's a box of manju, so maybe we should add neck, which is a vital part connecting his head to his and run through the entire stage. On top of that, I think
a title that has 'manju' in it." body, is also quite vulnerable to physical damage. I the Niagara background is beautiful.
HIGURASHI: I was sitting in my hotel room in the USA, was able to provide a sufficient heat sink by adjusting HIGURASHI: The final stage of "Mega Man" for me.
trying to choose between "Manju from Space" and "The the internal components of his torso, and the fur was Seeing Guts Man getting mass-produced makes you
Manju Threat". Details like that are really important, added to protect his neck from physical harm as well stop and think, "Holy moly! We'd better stop Dr. Wily
you know? as external heat. quick or things are going to get really bad really fast!"
HIGURASHl'S JUNIORS: ... Are they ... ? (laughs) MIZUNO: "Conceptually" ... ? ... or was that just me?
ARIGA: Another thing that makes the "Rockman 1 O" SAITO: That's just the official explanation. (laughs) I had to ARIGA: That was one of the more memorable moments
package art different from the others in the series is come up with a silhouette that wasn't similar to those of from the early Mega Man stages.
the fact that Proto Man is featured quite centrally in the other main characters in the series, and according to HIGURASHI: It taught me that you can create drama
the illustration. the overall timeline, this character exists between "Mega without words.
MIZUNO: We put Proto Man in the center because he is Mon" and "Mega Man X". I couldn't do without the thick SAITO: Mine would be ... hmm... Toad Man? Because the
a playable character in "Mega Man l O". I thought it'd limbs, so my only option was to add a unique accent ... colors are pretty.
be more interesting if we included Bass as well, but he That's the real truth behind the fur. KATAIWA: I. .. well, to be honest, I'm always so focused on
was supposed to be a secret character, so we couldn't HIGURASHI: At first, I couldn't help but wonder why a controlling the character that I never really hove the
include him in the package art. robot would need fur ... but after hearing the official chance to appreciate the backgrounds ... I'm sorry, I'm
ARIGA: Who drew the box art for the North American explanation, I was able to accept it. I also told myself going to have to pass on this one.
version of "Mega Man 9" {page 290)? that fur isn't too weird since Zero has hair. (laughs) ARIGA: Oh, don't worry about it. That's quite normal
HIGURASHI: All I know is that it was an artist from overseas. ARIGA: How did you come up with the name "OVER"2 until you really get used to it. Okay, let's move on ...
We all had a good laugh over that one. (laughs) SAITO: Each armor is basically just clamped onto OVER-1. [Amanatsu@pxzMachi] asks, ''The characters of the
ARIGA: I think the person who drew that really had a The red, circular, joint-like areas are part of his body. Mega Man series hove a~ lot of trademark features,
deep understanding of the North American [bad box We designed the various armors to go "over" the main like helmets and thick limbs. Are there any particular
art] "Mega Man". body, so that's how he got his name. parts that you find difficult to draw?"
HIGURASHI: That particular illustration arrived just as I ARIGA: So he's a robot who can be customized via MIZUNO: For sure! My weakness is X's wrists. Whenever
was trying to get lnafune to approve the "Rockman 9" additional expansions. I draw the armor on his hands and arms, I always end
package art. Needless to say, all of the tension in the SAITO: The idea is that Dr. Cossack got the design concept up leaving a gap at the wrist, so I always have to be
air evaporated instantly. (laughs) from a motryoshka doll. By the way, this armor system careful about that.
KATAIWA: The North American box art for "Mega Man brought to light the CPU overheating issues mentioned SAITO: I could technically say "everything" ... but nothing
1011 (page 291) is something special, too. He's shooting before, and that's what led Dr. light to develop specific comes to mind. {laughs)
at the heavens with his buster while nailing an enemy the armor system for X where his armor parts are HIGURASHI: Hmm... I don't think the hard part is so much
below with his gun. (laughs) exchanged rather than layered on top of one another ... drawing as it is conveying what I'm trying to relate to
SAITO: On top of that, the enemy character that stands or at least that's the story in my head. the viewer. I guess the unique nature of the Mega Man
out the most isn't even in the game! MIZUNO: Only in your head. (laughs) style is hard to grasp sometimes.
EVERYONE: (laughs) SAITO: Not to change the subject or anything, but since KATAIWA: For me, it's Roll as a whole. I'm constantly
OVER-4 is a skill-based robot who's very versatile, second-guessing myself because I wont everyone to
REGARDING CERTAIN MERCHANDISE I originally imagined him as a "wizard" kind of think my Roll illustrations are cute.
ARIGA: I want to ask about the package art for character. But then two or three weeks after I drew ARIGA: I think your efforts definitely pay off. I know a lot
Kotobukiya's plastic model kits. Who was in charge of him, "Kamen Rider Wizard" was announced and I was of fans had their socks knocked off by your "Pock of
those illustrations? Rolls". (laughs)
like, "Curses! They beat me to it!" (laughs)
MIZUNO: I did Mega Man and Proto Man. The package ARIGA: I think most professional artists have had a similar KATAIWA: I hope so! (laughs)
was so large that Mega Man in one pose alone ARIGA: Next question! [Usuke] asks, "Hypothetically speaking,
experience. (laughs)
wouldn't take up enough space, so we decided to if you were asked to draw an illustration that combined
SAITO: Due to extenuating circumstances, I was only
go with three different poses. I figured that Proto a Mega Man character with a curry campaign, and were
given one week for the design work. That meant one
Man's shield and scarf would help fill up space on his given complete freedom in terms of layout, characters, and
character per day for the characters on my to-do
package, so he just has one pose in the center of the
list. That's why I couldn't go back and change OVER- character quantity, what would you do?" Hm ... this sounds
illustration. 4's design even after I realized "Kamen Rider" hod like a tough one. (laughs)
KATAIWA: I drew Roll. beaten me to the punch. SAITO: Flame Man from "Mega Man 6"!
ARIGA: There are two Rolls with different costumes on the zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
MIZUNO: It was a pretty hardcore schedule, wasn't it? MIZUNO: He didn't even hesitate. (laughs)
illustration together. ARIGA: I knew Flame Man would come up! (laughs)
(laughs)
KATAIWA: That's because I was told that the costume for ARIGA: Did you actually produce one character per day? HIGURASHI: I think it's safe to say we'd all go with Flame
the Roll models would be interchangeable.
SAITO: Almost. Because OVER- 1 took me two days, Mon.
ARIGA: When a model comes with interchangeable parts,
I asked Mizuno to toke on OVER-5, so I did four ARIGA: Okay. (laughs) Our next question comes from
people tend to buy two of them. (laughs) That must be [Wishing for legends 3! Hiropyoko] ... By the way, I'm
characters in five days.
why the Roll kits sold so well. MIZUNO: But I couldn't start on OVER-5 until Saito wishing for "Mega Man legends 3" too! The question
HIGURASHI: It's true that we received the most additional was done with OVER-1, because I couldn't design is, "Are there any heavily criticized illustrations that you
orders for the Roll kit. still think about from time to time?"
attachments unless I could see what they were being
KATAIWA: Speaking of merchandise, I have a story about
attached to. MIZUNO: Probably the feedback I got from a senior
one of the calendars that is only funny in hindsight. I colleague regarding the 20th anniversary illustration
SAITO: Sorry for the inconvenience ...
was asked to draw an illustration for the calendar, but
MIZUNO: For real. (laughs) on page 298. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUT
was given the wrong sizing information. As a result, my ARIGA: What was the feedback?
ARIGA: Did you go into designing OVER-5 with the
illustration wasn't used in the calendar. intention of making him look different from OVER-1 MIZUNO: I was asked why I wanted to include lumine
HIGURASHI: That was such a mess. I remember you panicking through 4? when he's only appeared once.
427
ARIGA: (laughs) I think it's okayl Sometimes you can't ARIGA: Um ... well. .. that's kinda hard to say... (laughs) everything. (laughs)
help who you want to draw! Who's ready for the next question? KATAIWA: In terms of workload and skill, I'd say the
HIGURASHI: Mine would be my "Battle Network 3" HIGURASHI: Nice evasion. (laughs) third 20th anniversary illustration on page 300, but
illustration of Lan and MegaMan, with MegaMan's ARIGA: We have a limited amount of time for this interview, the truth is that drawing Roll is always challenging
emblem as the background. A certain magazine after all! (laughs) [Amanotsu@pxzMachi] comes at us for me. As I mentioned before, I go through a lot of
criticized it harshly, saying, "How is this a Mega Man again with this question: "What is your favoritetrack out trial and error with her every time because I feel so
Battle Network 3 illustration?" That hit me so hard I of all theMega Man background music?" much pressure to make sure that she turnsout looking
honestly considered quitting. MIZUNO: "X vs. Zero"! adorable.
ARIGA: Critics can hurt us with their words. SAITO: The music from Armored Armadillo's stage! ARIGA: I can seethat's really important to you. Next is ...
HIGURASHI: That incident made me vow that I would HIGURASHI: I like the tunes for ... Cut Man, Spark Man, another [GO!] question! "Out of all the illustrations
never draw illustrations similar to that ever again. Dust Man, the Wily Capsule fight from "4", Armored you've ever drawn, do you have a favorite?"
Armadillo, Storm Eagle, and the main theme from SAITO: I'm just not going to bother. (laughs)
*Left: "Battle Network 2", right: "Battle Network 3"
"Battle Network". MIZUNO: I'll go with the jacket illustration for "We
KATAIWA: All of the music used in the Mega Man series are ROCK-MEN! 2", because I think Proto Man's
is so cool... thoughI admit, I haven't really been able sunglasses turned out really well.
to take the time to enjoy any of it properly because, ARIGA: Yeah, the reflection effect looks really cool!
again, I'm too focused on surviving when playing. MIZUNO: Thank you'
ARIGA: I think I'm starting to get a mentalimage of what HIGURASHI: The Ms. Mari I drew for "Mega Man Battle
you look like when you're playing. (laughs) Our next Network 2". Also, the illustration of Lan wearing
question comes from [RamenRiderWizaman], who Rollerblades that I drew for "Battle Network 2". I
asks, "Please talk about an illustration that you're feel like I was really able to summarize his character
particularly proud of." well in that one piece.
MIZUNO: I make sure I'm proud of every illustration I ARIGA: Cheerful, optimistic, and energetic ... Yup, I agree.
ARIGA: [HiyomoriKanae@Rahy] provides our next submit. KATAIWA: My answer is the group illustration of all
question, "Which character is your favorite? If you have ARIGA: Good answer! What about you, Higurashi? the Rolls on page 279. I know I've used that one to
multiple favorites, who would your number one be?" HIGURASHI: The wallpaper I drew for the "ZX" official answer a few questions and I'm really sorry about
MIZUNO: My favorites ore rival characters like Bass, blog. I drew Aile on a motorcycle,and I did my best that, but it really was tough to draw. I just feel very
Vile, and the X-Hunters. lf I had to pick just one, I'd to mimic Nakayama's art style. I don't think anyone lucky that so many people had a positive reaction to
say ... Bass? realized I drew it, so I guess you could call that a that piece.
HtGURASHI: Lan from "Mega Man Battle Network"! success. ARIGA: I can totally understand that feeling, as I have
KATAIWA: Roll because she's cute. ARIGA: Yeah! I remember how shocked I was when you illustrations that are special to me as well. Oh, look!
SAITO: The OVER-1 through OVER-4 designs that I drew told me about that before. The next question is from [obachan_nukopo] and
within one week! I can't pick just one! (laughs) HtGURASHt: *snicker* not [GO!]; how unexpected! "Can you think of any
ARIGA: Sometimes it's the harsh memories that mean the ARIGA: You try too hard. (laughs) package art that you wish you could redraw? If yes,
most to us in hindsight. I suppose it would be cruel to SAITO: For me, it's OVER-1 because of the highlights in please explain why."
force you to pick one, so we'll leave it at that. (laughs) his eyes. They're like the ones Dr. Cossack has. SAITO: I haven't drawn any package art, so I'll passon
[Touka@Teburo] asks, "Which illustration took the KATAIWA: I'm always silently chantingthe mantra, "Be this one too.
longest to draw?" cute... Be cute..." when I'm drawing. KATAIWA: I'll pass too.
MIZUNO: I already touched on this before, but the first ARIGA: I think we can all agree that Kataiwa's HIGURASHI: Me tool
20th anniversary illustration I did took a long time illustrations hove a very special kind of cuteness. ARIGA: I'm afraid we can't let you pass, Higurashi. If
due to character selection. I think that having a mantra to chant while you're anyone out of this group has to answer this question,
KATAIWA: My answer is also something I touched on drawing is pretty effective! Our next question is ... it's you.
before, but the 20th anniversary illustration I drew Oh, this one is kind of similar to our last question. HIGURASHI: But that's such a tough question to answer
took the longest. It was my first time being entrusted [GO!] is back again to ask, "Is there any particular because if you let me redraw one, I'd probably want
with an illustration that important and there were just illustration that you're really happy you drew?" to redraw all of them... So the only answer I can truly
so many characters ... I'm sorry my answer is so similar HIGURASHI: I'm really happy I drew ... the Luna and manage is, "I wouldn't change any of them!"
to Mizuno's. Sonia illustration that was used for a shitajiki. MIZUNO: I feel the same way.
ARIGA: No problem! It always feels nice when your art is used for ARIGA: Okay, last question! [CAPKobun/Kobun# l J
HIGURASHI: The "Mega Man Star Force 3" illustration merchandise, and that was the first time one of my asks, "We were told that some of the original
where Luna is pointing her finger. The actual drawing illustrations was used in that way. materials used in the 'MM25' book hod to be
part of it only took one or two days, but the planning MIZUNO: I know I keep bringing it up, but my answer to digitally remastered (under the supervision of the
part took three months. I had a lot of trouble this question is once again the first 20th anniversary Capcom Design Studio) due to their poor condition.
differentiating her from the "tsundere" archetype illustration on page 298. I never could have Specifically, what methods were used to repair the
that was really popular at the time, and that's why it anticipated all the positive feedback I got from the materials, and what piece was the most difficult to
took me so long. fans. Thank you all so much for your support! fix?"
ARIGA: Ah, the doss president from "Star Force 3"! I KATAIWA: For me, it's the group illustration of all the HIGURASHI: We used the extremely analog method of
know how hard it can be to start on an illustration Rolls (page 279). Like Mizuno, it was the unexpected scanning the printed material and tracing it. I can't
without being in the right mindset. fan response that made it a very special illustration think of one piece that was particularly difficult, but
SAITO: Three months? Seriously!? For me, it was OVER-1. for me. the entire processwas really straining on the eyes.
Two days to design and one day to draw, for a total SAITO: I plan to get that kind of response for "Xever". ARIGA: There were a lot of illustrations for which the
of three days. ARIGA: The furred robot has already garnered quite a original art hadn't survived the ravages of time. That
EVERYONE: (laughs) bit of positive attention. made it even more important that we include all of
ARIGA: Saito, you are too amazing. (laughs) Another SAITO: Thank you! the materials we could.
question from [Touka@Teburo]: "What is your favorite ARIGA: The next question is ... Oh, another one from HtGURASHt: It was hardcore ...
transformation form out of the entire Mega Man [GO!]... This is starting to feel like a late night radio ARIGA: For real.
series?" Personally, I'd say Jet Mega Man from "Mega talk show. (laughs) This is a good question: "Who is SAITO: I feel like somesuppressed memories are surfacing ...
Man 6". I wish they'd make a plastic model kit of that, your favorite villain?" MIZUNO: (laughs) zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM
or at leasta "D-Arts" figure. What about you, Mizuno? MIZUNO: Villain? l like most of the main ones from the
MIZUNO: X's First Armor, I guess? "Mega Man X" series, like Sigma,Vile, the Xc+iunter s, MESSAGES TO MEGA MAN FANS
HIGURASHI: The Second Armor from "Mega Man X2". and the Nightmare Police. ARIGA: Let's end this session with personal messagesto
It's got that somewhat dark edge to it that I like. The HIGURASHI: He didn't turn out to be a true "villain", all of the Mega Man fans out there!
air dash is awesometoo. but I like Dr. Cossack. I think he expanded the Mega HIGURASHI: I drew Mega Man for a long time, and I
ARIGA: I like the air dash too! Combine that with a Man world considerably. honestly feel like I fulfilled myself with "Mega Man
charged Speed Burner!! KATAIWA: I love Dr. Wily. I admire the fact that he 9". I achieved a sense of accomplishment that I don't
SAITO: I'm with Arigo on Jet Mega Man. Round burners doesn't give up no matter what, even if his ambitions think I'll ever surpass. As a member of the company,
are so cool. may not be the best. I feel it is my duty to pass the baton to our next
KATAIWA: Sorry, but I never got far enough to try out SAITO: The black Zero from "X2"! generation of talent and trust them to carry the torch
the transformations. (laughs) ARIGA: The Zero replica is really cool. Next up, we from "1 O" onward. I'll be taking a step back from the
ARIGA: This next question might be tough for Kotaiwa have... "Is there a particular character that you find front lines to offer support from a different angle.
too... [Green] asks, "Is there a particular Mega Mon fun to draw?" That's four questions from [GO!] now! I'm sure the great team we have following in our
bossthat gives you a hard time?" EVERYONE: (laughs) footsteps will do a wonderful job, so I hope we can
MIZUNO: Velguarder. If I miss with the Hadouken, I tend MIZUNO: X is probably the most fun for me. I've been count on all of you for your continued support.
to panic and he's basically free to toy with me after drawing him since I was in elementary school, so he KATAIWA: I want nothing more than to continue drawing
that. has a special place in my heart. cute characters for "Mega Man". I hope I don't let
SAITO: The Hadouken ... (laughs) I had trouble with all HIGURASHI: I find Mayl to be lots of fun to draw. I anyone down.
of the bosseswhen I used Oil Man in "Mega Man: see it as a challenge every time because she is MIZUNO: I'm part of that "next generation" who will
Powered Up". technically a fairly bland design, so drawing her to be entrusted with future Mega Man artwork. Most
HIGURASHI: The Nightmare,Mother from "Mega Man look like a heroine is a test of my skill. of us were fans first, so like Arigo and Higurashi, l
X6", all the way. I never want to fight that bossever KATAIWA: I usually hove fun whenever I get the chance believe my love for Mega Mon rivals that of even
again. to draw cute characters. the biggest fans out there. I will continue to do my
ARIGA: Now there's a good answer! (laughs) The SAITO: Ditto! (laughs) best as far as producing work that won't betray the
Nightmare Mother is known for being the worst boss ARIGA: "Which character is the hardest to draw?" This faith of current fans, myself included.
in the entire series. Most players say the Nightmare question is from [GO!] ... Huh? Wait, are the rest of SAITO: Aw, man ... everyone already said everything I
Mother goes beyond being tough and is just cruel. our questions [GO!] questions!? was going to say! (laughs) Hmm... I hope our fans will
KATAIWA: The farthest I ever got was Cut Man... and it HIGURASHI: (laughs) Hmm... I'd say Metal Man. Blades are pick up a copy of the new "Rockman Xever" and...
still ended in a double KO. I was so dose, tool really hard to draw to begin with, and he hasa ton! HtGURASHI: Make you more money?
ARIGA: Cut Man's stage is tough on new players, ARIGA: He looks super cool but is a pain in the neck to SAITO: Hey! You ruined my emotional and touching
especially because of the Bunby Helis. But if you draw! (laughs) speech!l
have the Fire Storm, you should be able to make it MIZUNO: I'll go with the "Mega Man l 0" Bass I EVERYONE: (laughs)
past them pretty easily and ... mentioned before.
KATAIWA: Beat the boss? SAITO: OVER- l ! ... That's basically my answer for INTERVIEWER/ HITOSHIARIGA
428 I zyxwvumEGi!I
mi!IN"" IHGFEDCBA t!i mEGi!I mi!IN"" X, OFFlCli!IL comPLETE WORICS
Rockman Unity submitted several burning questions they had for Capcom's "Mega Man" artists, and we have the answers right here!
The editorial team handpicked these questions for the, illustrators listed below. ls there any previously unrevealed information to be
discovered!? Now begins "The Answer"!
PARTICIPANTS (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)
~
TAKUYAAIZU YUJI ISHIHARA MASAKAZU EGUCHI SADANORI KAWANO HARUKI SUETSUGU KENTA SAITO
Inti Creates. Best known Ca pcom. Best known Capcom. Best known for Capcom. Best known for Capcom. Best known for Ca~1com. B1~st known
for "Zero 1 -4", "ZX", for "Legends 1 & 2", "Legends 2 & 3", "Legends 1 & 2", "X4-X6". for Xever .
"ZX Advent", and "BN 1-6", and "BN 1-6" and "Zero 1 -4", "ZX",
"MM9& 10". "Star Force 1-3". "Star For~e 1 & 2". and "ZX Advent".
MASAYA SUZUKI RYUJI HIGURASHI KEISUKE MIZUNO MAKOTOYABE TATSUYA YOSHIKAWA

Inti Creates. Best known Capcom. Best known for "MM 9"1 Capcom. Best known for Inti Creates. Freelancer. Best known for
for "Zero 1-4" and "Rockman Complete Works 1-6 "1 "'"(;0 9 & 10", "BN,~ & Best known for "MM 7" and "Xl, X3, X7, & XS".
"MM 9 & 10". "X5 & X6", "BN 1-4 & 6", and 6 , ~tar Fo;,ce 1-3 , "Zero 2-4", "ZX",
"Star Force 1-3". and Xever. and "ZX Advent' .
"MM": Mega Man / "X": Mega Man X / "Legends": Mega Man Legends/ * The text in square brackets following each question indicates the online handle
ABBREVIATIONS "BN": Mega Man Battle Network / "Zero": Mega Man Zero / of the person who submitted the question. Twitter IDs were used for questions
"ZX", Mego Mon ZX / "ZX Advent", Mego Mon ZX Advent / submitted through Twitter. All handles were respectfully shortened os necessary.
The responder tog "Copcom" represents on individual who is involved with the
"Star Force": Mega Man Star Force/ "xover": Rockman Xever
Mego Mon series but hos requested to not hove their identity revealed.
series. X larger would make the package easier to spot

SET 1: CLASSIC "MEGA MAN"
Ql: I understand that blue was chosen as Mega Man's Q2: Aside from a few that exist with minor changes, on store shelves. Another reason is because we
main color due to the color display limitations of why don't we see any of the robots from the wanted to make the main theme for each game
the NES. With all of the new technology available classic "Mega Man" era in the "Mega Man X" more easily identifiable. The layout where the
now, what color would you choose for Mega Man series? [CuttingWheel] main character is surrounded by enemy characters
if you had the opportunity to change his design? CAPCOM: If you take cell phones as an example, it's is known within Capcom as "The Fujl w o r o "
[Eternoll(Beot 'em up RPG)] easy to see how outdated a phone from ten years Layout". It is a layout that Capcom has mastered
HIGURASHI: Though I admit I think it'd be interesting ago seems to us today. Over 1 00 years have over the years, and it does offer a certain degree
to change it up, I think it's safe to say we'd always passed between "Mega Man" and "Mega Man of visual excitement. The only issue was that all of
end up at blue. X", so it's reasonable to think that many of the the illustrations using this layout ended up looking
Q2: Does original artwork for the boss characters from older robot models simply became outdated and kind of similar. If it had been used for a one-
the WonderSwan version of "Rockman & Forte" fell into disuse. The fact that Metalls and Battens shot product, this wouldn't have been as much
continued to thrive with only minor changes is a of an issue. But when you have an entire series,
exist? [Anapricotpie]
testament to the brilliance of their original designs. it's important to tell each game's specific story
CAPCOM: That game was made by another company,
so the art was not done at Capcom. Therefore, Q3: Have you ever thought about what happens through the art. The limited edition of "Rockman
original artwork like illustrations and concept art in the years between the "Mega Man" and X4" did revisit the old style by having the eight
unfortunately does not exist. "Mega Man X" series? Or have you intentionally main bosses on the package. The PlayStation
Q3: Is there anything in particular that you keep in refrained from fleshing out those game years? version emphasized the color green while the
mind when drawing Mega Man (especially the [JakeSchaeffer] Saturn version used the color red. We went with
original Mega Man)? [MFCV] CAPCOM: We've discussed it internally, but I doubt a sort of portrait style without using eel shading
MIZUNO: I've noticed that the bodies I draw have a any of that will ever be released to the public. in the hopes that it would give the package a
tendency to look more organic than mechanical, so We don't want to do anything that would rob the more extravagant look. Since "X4" marked a shift
that's something I'm always careful about. players of the fun that comes from letting their to new hardware, we also wanted everyone to
HIGURASHI: For me, it's all about making the art look imaginations tell the story. notice that something was different from the first
like lnafune's (the Rockman Complete Works series Q4: Who created Dynamo? [Dynamo(Kobun#2832)] three games. Typically, these are the things we
excepted). CAPCOM: That remains unknown. think about when planning layouts.
Q4: The original "Mega Man" series featured special QS: Who created Vile? [Rockman_Pappy] *Fujiwara = Tokuro Pujlwcr c, who is best known for
weapon illustrations up until "7", but there were CAPCOM: As with Dynamo, Vile's creator remains "Ghosts 'n Goblins" and was involved with "Mega
none for "8", and then they were brought back for unknown. Man" as well.
"9". Why weren't there any for "8", and did you Q6: Page l 89 features an illustration of X using the QB: Why did the mark on Vile's forehead change from
bring them back for "9" in an effort to take the Ultimate Armor to fly. Please talk about this piece! Sigma's mark to a "V" in "Mega Man: Maverick
series back to its roots? [CAPKobun/Kobun# 1] [Tabashi] Hunter X"? [CAPKobun/Kobun#l]

HIGURASHI: I think the main reason was scheduling SUETSUGU: I believe the story behind that illustration YOSHIKAWA: Vile was assisting Sigma but was never
constraints. We were able to draw special has to do with the fact that toy versions of actually loyal to him. 1 believe the "V" stands for
weapon illustrations for "9" and "1 O" because Ultimate Armor X were going to be included as "Vile", and represents the fact that he only serves
time was set aside for that in their initial schedules. a bonus item with the limited edition of "Rockman himself. This change can be explained by the fact
QS: If you were to reboot the original "Mega Man" X4" and also sold separately. The illustration that Vile seemed to have a higher level of self-
series for the current generation, how would you was meant to promote the idea that you could awareness in "Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X".
change the world and characters? [BlackMachine] dismantle the Ultimate Armor and reassemble it in Q9: Are the red operators from "Mega Man: Maverick
CAPCOM: I doubt we'd make major changes to the an airplane form. I don't know if there were ever Hunter X" a mass production model? I noticed
world itself, but I think it would be reasonable to any plans to have that sort of transformation in multiple blue operators in the "Day of Sigma"
pursue a little more realism with regard to the the game ... Since Ultimate Armor X was treated anime. [MFCV]
character designs, in terms of the structure of the like a secret character in "X4", though, 1 don't think
joints and the Mega Buster's transformation. we would have prepared a whole flying system
Q6: Why were features like sliding and the charge for it alone. But wouldn't it be interesting to be
shot omitted from "Mega Man 9" and "1 O"? able to use armor like that in a new "X" game?
If there was more to it than simple gameplay Q7: The Japanese package art for the "Mega Man X"
balancing, I'd like to know the details. [Ruteum] series seemed to go in a new direction after "X5".
HIGURASHI: During the development of "9", I did Why is this? [GO!]
hear something about the charge shot being SUETSUGU: We wanted to feature X and Zero in a
removed because the power of the Mega Buster bigger way. Compared to the days of "Xl ", video
itself had been enhanced. But that's not an official game stores were brimming with new games by
explanation, so I'm sorry to say that I think the best the time "X5" came out. Store shelves are even YOSHIKAWA: Both zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPO
are mass production models,
answer is gameplay balancing considerations. more crowded today. Now imagine taking an though the red operators function at a slightly
illustration that includes all of the boss characters higher level than the blue operators, and as such
SET 2: "MEGA MAN X" and shrinking that down to the size of a CD case. there are fewer red ones.
Ql: For the "Mega Man X" series, does official design It would have a difficult time catching a customer's Ql 0: This question is for Higurashi. .. Regarding the
artwork exist for X and Zero without their helmets? eye among all of the other colorful and flashy rear view illustration of Zero for "Mega Man X:
[Show@EarthAdministrator] packages on the shelves. That's why we decided Command Mission", there are certain parts that
CAPCOM: The only piece that exists is the one on to simplify the layout and focus on the main seem to be different from the in-game design.
page 253, created for the "Mega Armor" figure characters. We thought that making the image of What was the reason for this discrepancy? The
429
Zero you drew for "Command Mission" is my artist who is currently working with mango and form. It was awhile after the game was released
favorite Zero of all time. I hope to see another other illustrations. We were very lucky to have that I first heard it described as an eggshell, at
"Higurashi Zero" in a new "X" game. [Zegil] them work on the p r oje ct with us, and they which point I hod to admit that it is an accurate
HIGURASHI: When l got the order for that illustration, deserve all of the credit for the high quality of description. I guess mango artists and authors
I was asked to match it to the polygon model from the town's design. have to work with the same characters over and
the game, so I drew the details according to that. Q3: On page 1 1 of the liner notes for "Capcom over again more than any Capcom staff member,
I haven't confirmedanything, but it is possible that Special Selection: RockmanDASH 2", there is so they hove more opportunities to notice things
the final polygon model in the game was altered a Bonne mech called "Tohra II", but how is it like that.
before production. It's not like I mode a mistake different from the Matrix Battery? [CAPKobun/
or anything! I swear!!Anyway, thank you for your Kobun#l]
kind words regarding my Zero. I'm glad you like KAWANO: Technically, "Matrix Battery" was the
him. temporary name we assigned to that unit during
Ql 1: In the "Mega Man X: Command Mission" development, and it was based on the fact that it
gallery, there is an image of X with an Ultimate was supposed to break the terrain up into matrix
Armor that's designed differently from the code in order to launch shells at MegaMan. Its
one we actually see in the game. Was this a official name was supposed to be "Dohro", so I
rejected design draft or something? [Yulnasa@ think "T ohra" is just a typo. The Matrix Battery
PasserbyMaverick] that appeared in "Mega Man legends" was
HIGURASHI: To be honest, I don't remember ... but your "Dohra 1 ", and the one in "Mega Man Legends 2"
theory soundsabout right. was the upgraded "Dohra 2".
Ql 2: A portion of the "Mego Mon X: Command Q4: Of all the Mego Man games, "Mego Mon
Mission" concept art shows an X that is close to Legends" is the only series where Metalls don't
the traditional design, and some screenshots appear. But it does have Bon Bonne, who has
of this X were also released, so why was the a design and color scheme that makes him look
design changed for the final game? [CAPKobun/ on awful lot like a Metall. Was Bon Bonne
Kobun#l] intentionally designed as a Metall replacement?
HIGURASHI: According to the development team, it [CAPKobun/Kobun#l]
was becauseX didn't stand out enough on-screen. KAWANO: You must be a true Mega Man fan to
I have to admit, X has an extremely simple design notice the absence of Metalls! To be honest,
compared to someof the other characters... I don't really remember very well, but I do
Ql 3: Regarding the official timeline, the Ultimate recall the designers saying something similar to
Complete Guide states that "Mega Man X: what you are saying in your question. I did try QS: How did you feel about the Nevis that little kids
Command Mission" takes place a few years after to look through the old "Mega Man Legends" thought up? Were you surprised by any of them?
"X7", while Mega Man X: Official Complete development materials to find an answer, but [MFCV]
Works states that it takes place in the same the notion of seeing my old interview and photos ISHIHARA: We are always token aback by the pure
timeframe as the "Zero" series, which is l 00 years mode me cringe, and I just couldn'tdo it. freedom of expressionthat children are capable
after "X7". Can we get an official word on this, QS: Please describe a simple version of the design of. Some of them move us with their intense
please? [CAPKobun/Kobun# 1] concept behind the "Bright Bats" group that was passion, while others make us laugh with their
HIGURASHI: "Command Mission" is technically a spin- supposed to appear in "Mega Man Legends 3". carefree style. The innocent and straightforward
off, so even though it takes place in 22XX, it's Also, if possible, please include the average age ideas like Dark MegaMan and PoopMan always
not necessarily the same "22XX" during which the of its members. [kzkm] warm our hearts.
"Zero" series takes place. Still, we didn't want Q6: There ore a lot of girls who like Lon (Moyl,
to cut it off completely just because it's a spin- Princess Pride, Iris, Sherrice), but which pair do
off. Our goal was to incorporate some of the you think makes the best couple? [Scanning] zyxwvutsrqp
"Zero" series' flavor in order to make it feel like EGUCHI: I'm sure a lot of people have different ideas
"CommandMission" is still connected to the other about who Lon should be with, but personally I'd
games, like it is part of the same family. So it like to see him settle down with Mayl. Of course,
might be easier if you regard "Command Mission" there's always Yoi Ayanokoji ... I can guarantee
not as "a story that takes place between X7 that Yai will grow up to be quite pretty.
and the Zero series", but rather as "one of many Q7: Who is your favorite NPC from "Mega Man Battle
potential futures that exists independently from Network" and "Mega Man Star Force"? [GO!]
the Zero series". HIGURASHI: I thought the waitress from "Battle
Ql 4: During "The Day of Sigma" in "Mega Man: Network" was really cute. I was token aback by
Maverick Hunter X", there's a scenewhere Zero the Japanese name for the "Star Force" character
wipes his face immediately after Sigma defeats "Chatty Ditz", and I kind of worry about her
the berserker Mechaniloid. At that moment, there future.
doesn't seem to be a red, circular part on the side ISHIHARA: Mr. Prog and Mr. Hertz are in their own
of his buster. Was that an error? Looking closely category, but I do like that girl from "Battle
at the official illustrations, it seems like there Network" that looks somewhat depressed. I also
should be red, circular parts on both sides of his like the basic Novi from "Battle Network 1"
buster... [CAPKobun/Kobun#l] becauseyou can just changeits color and eyes to
HIGURASHI: We're only human! To err is human!! EGUCHI: As you con see in the image above, they make it into an evil Novi.
would have been sort of a "bad kids" kind of MIZUNO: I like the purple evil Novi from "Battle
biker group. I should also note that they would Network 4" because he just looks like a classic,
have been the weakest group on the entire island. obvious villain.
The members ranged between 14 and 17 years QB: Shellgeek from "Bottle Network 2" and Shell'n
old, and they'd steal bikes to ride. It would have from "Mega Mon 8" look very similar and, in fact,
been a fun and crazy adventure with a group of appear to be pretty much the some. Is Shellgeek
friends who refused to be bound by the island's simply Shell'n redone in the "Battle Network"
rules ... Sigh... style? [CAPKobun/Kobun# l]
ISHIHARA: That is exactly right. The schedule was so
SET 4: "MEGA MAN BATTLENETWORK" zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM
tight at the time, the planner provided me with
Ql: Crash Man and Hard Man from the classic "Mego
a few characters from other series to consider.
Man" series didn't appear in 11Mego Mon Bottle
We figured that this way, fans who could make
Network", but ore there design drafts of them in
the connection would get a chuckle from the
the "Battle Network" style? [Gizero]
inside joke, but I also hod to make sure that the
ISHIHARA: No official designs exist, but I did do a few
character would be fun and appealing to those
doodles in my spare time as little experiments.
seeing it for the first time in "Battle Network".
Q2: Mr. Prog appears to have hands, but con he use Q9: A ninja version of Mr. Prog appeared in "Battle
them like actual hands? [MatsutoboJ
Network 5" with a Japanese katana on his back,
SET 3: "MEGA MAN LEGENDS" ISHIHARA: Of course! He needs them to execute
but were there plans to have him actually use the
Ql: Who is the official mascot of the "Mega Man programs, so they con extend and grasp things as
katana? Also, were the various Mr. Progspopular
Legends" series:Dato or the Servbots? [Shosetsu@ necessary even though we simplified his look for
among the staff members for their cuteness?
IPC_Squod] the actual game.
[Shosetsu@IPC_Squod]
KAWANO: I'd soy the Servbots. Hoving 41 of them Q3: Eugene Chaud's shirt looks like it's yellow at the
ISHIHARA: I never really imagined him using the
allowed us to make them all quite different and collar and along the bottom, but is he actually
katona, but I put it on his back because I thought it
interesting. Though I do love how Data looks like wearing a block shirt over a yellow shirt?
made him look cute and it got a few chuckles out
a very innocent character upon first glance, but [KukiMiyo(KinnikuSenpuMiyoko)]
of people. I even noticed that one staff member
has a darker side that he hides well. HIGURASHI: No, it's one shirt that is just colored that
had the design draft as the desktop wallpaper on
Q2: The town on Kattelox Island in "Mega Man way. I don't hear anyone disputing me on this, so his PC.
Legends" is so cute. What kind of concept was the I'm pretty sure I'm right. Guys? I'm right... right?
010: How did you settle on the design for the Cybeost
town's design based cna [Shosetsu@IPC_Squad] ISHIHARA: Yes, you're right. (laughs) It's one shirt that Folzor? [AsutoyanuAtton]
KAWANO: You've got quite the sharp eye to notice is colored that way.
ISHIHARA: Our instructions were to come up with a
Q4: The mango version of "Mega Man Battle Network"
the town's design! We put quite a bit of time into
once described Chaud's hairstyle as an "eggshell
giant monster bird that has a look worthy of a zyxwvutsrqpo
designing that town. It started off looking like a final boss. I knew that both Gregor and Falzar
town made of LEGO blocks, but it seemed to be cut" ... Was this the concept behind his original
would be equally vital to "Mega Man Battle
lacking a "lived-in" feel, so we ended up going in design for the games? [KingMachine]
Network 6" because they would be responsible
a different direction. Still, that laid the foundation ISHIHARA: The design of Choud's hairstyle was meant
for getting people interested in the game as well
for something that looked like a "toy town". The to be something that hadn't been used before
as making players think hard about which version
design was handled by an extremely talented but looked cool and distinct enough in sprite
they wonted to buy. As such, these two characters
430 I zyxwvumEGIQ
m"1N"" IHGFEDCBA .SzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
mEGIQ m"1N"' X, CFF/C/IQLccmPLETE WCRIC5
went through multiple approval checks before SET 6: "MEGA MAN ST AR FORCE" fetishes ... ?
they reached completion. Ql: In the "Mego Man Star Force" series, Luna Platz's Q3: Who designed Hyper Mega Man and Hyper Roll
Ql 1: We've seen art for the characters Tory Froid and vertical rolls (commonly known as drills} seem to for "Marvel vs. Capcom l " and "2"? [CAPKobun/
Cross Fusion MegaMan from the "MegaMan NT vary in size depending on the artist who drew Kobun#l]
Warrior" anime, but does that mean there were her. Is there an official size for her drills? [Asuka] CAPCOM: They were done by the game's
plans to include these characters in one of the HIGURASHI: Even when the same person drew her development staff as well. They contain a lot of zyxwvutsrqponmlkji
video games? [Eternally Single] multiple times, we often saw some variation in the aspects from previously established designs, but
CAPCOM: There were no such plans. The illustration size of her drills. Even Olympic-class figure skaters you have to admit that they offer their own strong
of Tory was done for fun, and Cross Fusion will mess up sometimes, and illustrators, too, are impact as well! zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED
MegaMan was an illustration done in relation to only human. It's difficult to draw something exactly 04: Was the "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3"
the anime movie. the same way over and over ... in other words, we illustration of Zero drawn by one of the "Mega
just ask that you let us get away with little things Man" series' illustrators? I think that's a super cool
SET 5: "ZERO", "ZX", AND "ZX ADVENT" like this! Zero, so I was curious. [Haruya]
Ql: Does Alouette1s stuffed animal have a name? CAPCOM: The character art for MvC3 used in-game
Q2: The class president's face looks like it got cuter
[Lotos] between "Star Force 1 *" and "Star Force 3*". Is models that were retouched, so it can't strictly be
there a reason for this? [GO!] said that one person "drew" that Zero ... He was a
collaborative effort between the person in charge
of posing and the person in charge of retouching.
QS: The mobile game "Rockman: The Puzzle Battle"
used uniquely stylized versions of the character
sprites from the original "Mega Man", while
"Mega Mon Space Rescue" featured Mega
Man wearing a spacesuit-type costume. Do you
prepare official design drafts for mobile games
like these? [nobody 1987]
HIGURASHI:No, not really. It sounds like doing design
drafts for those could be a lot of fun, but I'm
afraid we simply don't have enough time for the
additional work that would require.
Q6: If all of the "Mega Man" series' illustrators were
to duke it out in "Battle & Chase", who would win?
[Miyazou]
HIGURASHI: If we're allowed to use memory cards, I'd
definitely win!
SUZUKI: There is no official stance on that, which has 07: While drawing offkial illustrations, are you ever
resulted in some fans coming up with a theory that influenced by the various "Mego Man" animes
the stuffed animal is actually the real Alouette. and mangos? [Scanning]
Regardless, Alouette does seem like the kind HIGURASHI: All the time. I think the kind of chemical
of girl who would name her stuffed animal, so I reaction you get from merging two creative minds
think it's safe to soy that it has a name even if we creates an ideal work environment.
never flnd out what it is. QB: It seems like the "Mega Man" series' illustrations
Q2: One of the fan books stated that Copy X are usually full body illustrations rather than
HIGURASHI: As might be expected, we had to draw
randomly started eliminating innocent Reploids. close-ups. Is this because the character designs
the illustrations for "Star Force 1" before playing
What caused him to start doing this? [Lotos] were created with the intention of displaying their
the game, so I imagined Luna would fill a role
YABE: Copy X was created to manage the metropolis
similar to Yai's in "Battle Network". But after full bodies to begin with? [GO!@GO_Guiltism]
known as Neo Arcadia and was programmed HIGURASHI: I'd like to answer this question with
ploying the game, I started to see her more as a
to make it a utopia for humankind. In his pursuit another question: Would you be satisfied with
main heroine of the story, and that influenced her
of perfection for human life, Copy X become close-ups? Exactly. (laughs) I'm just kidding. The
look a bit in "Star Force 3". In addition to that, it
increasingly bothered by the massive amount of simple explanation is that if you have full body
probably has something to do with the fact that I
energy consumed by Reploids and the periodic illustrations, you are free to crop them depending
got better at drawing cute characters over time.
mistakes they made. This probably led to Copy X on how or where you want to use them. On
going out of control. SET 7: "ROCKMAN XOVER" the other hand, you can't derive a full body
QJ: Are the navy portions of Vent's and Aile's limbs Ql: With regard to the key visuals for "Rockman illustration from a close-up.
made of a tights-like material? I'm curious to Xever", please explain why X was drawn in the Q9: Why do you refrain from clearly indicating the
know if there is skin under that or if peeling style of "Mega Man X l -X7" and "Mega Man: artist for every illustration? Is this company policy
back the navy parts would reveal machine parts. Maverick Hunter X", MegaMan Volnutt in the or something? Why, then, are some illustrations
[NotsumiKusono] style of "Mego Man Legends 2", and Shooting clearly credited to specific artists? [Satorin]
YABE: The parts that look like they are covered by Star Mega Man in the style of "Star Force 3". HIGURASHI: From a business perspective, it's important
tights are the actual surface of their bodies. The [CAPKobun/Kobun#l] to maintain a certain continuity with the characters.
surface color can technically be any color, and MIZUNO: By default, we tended to reference the As such, discrepancies resulting from using
that's why you see some people in town whose newest designs available from the officially different artists technically shouldn't be allowed.
bodies hove skin-colored surfaces. Some of them released games. For X, he is best known for his Our stance is that we're selling the "product"
actually kept portions of real skin, while others design in "X7", so that's the one we went with. (character) and not the "artist" ... therefore, we
simply color the surface of their body in a skin- Since "Legends 3" was never released, the don't see it as particularly necessary to put a
colored tone for fashion reasons. "Legends 2" design was considered to be the most specific artist's name on every single piece of art.
Q4: The Reploids in the "Mego Mon Zero" series look recent one in that case. But then you also have products like this book
like they are wearing clothes ... Are they actually Q2: It looks to me like OVl:R-1 's ear parts look a lot where there is a strong desire to have the artists
wearing clothes made from fabric or is it all like Shooting Star Mega Man's ear ports. Is this clearly indicated. Either way, the artists' personal
hard materials designed to look like clothes? an intentional similarity? If there are other parts thoughts on such policies are meaningless within a
[OmiFujimiya] that OVER-1 shores in common with other existing corporate environment. There was a considerable
SUZUKI: I don't know what the official stance on that is, Mega Man characters, please point them out as amount of debate regarding the displaying of
but when I was working on the sprites, I imagined well! specific names for this book as well.
the material to be something like urethane resin ... SAITO: I can't say the similarity was entirely QlO: If you were granted the opportunity to create
something that is pretty hard but also flexible unintended, but since Dr. Light's presence marks a "Mega Man" game without any of the usually
when enough pressure is applied. "xover" as taking place prior to the "Mega Man associated limitations, what kind of game would
QS: Three of the Four Guardians from the "Mega X" series, we tried to limit character similarities for you make? [HitoshiAriga]
Man Zero" series seem to meet mysterious ends. the "Legends" series and beyond. HIGURASHI: I think I'd go with something incredibly
UCapcom stated that they continued to fight unorthodox instead of sticking to something most
for humans in some unknown place, while the SET 8: OTHER people would expect to see out of the series.
Official Complete Works book say that they died Ql: Have there ever been any plans to toke characters
Maybe a "Battle & Chase 2" with all of the
protecting Zero from Omega's explosion. What is from the comics or onimes and bring them into the
characters from every series! I'd love to host
the real truth? [Jangarian] video games? [RandyWolford] a massive online game for "Mega Man" fans
AIZU: Neo Arcadia's official archives don't show CAPCOM: We usually try to avoid bringing concepts
around the world! h would be like a large-scale
any records of activity for those three after from the comics and animes into the official
marathon race. (laughs)
that incident, so they ore officially treated as games because we wont those non-game
deceased. However, it is entirely possible that products to remain exclusive representations of
This marks the end of "The Answer" Q&A session.
they continued to function beyond Neo Arcadia's their respective authors' imagination, unfettered
A great big thank you to everyone who submitted
sensors, so we can't say for certain that they're by official concepts. Otherwise, the comics and
questions, and to the illustrators who took the time to
truly gone. animes would lose their purpose. I think it is
answer those questions! All together now ...
Q6: Please explain why you decided to grow out important to maintain this boundary for the fans'
Vent's and Aile's hair for the transition from sake as well.
"Mega Man ZX" to "ZX Advent". [NotsumiKusano] Q2: Who designed the alternate costumes for Roll in HAPPY
YABE: "ZX Advent" tokes
"ZX", so we wanted
place a few years after
the player to understand that
"Mega
they
Man:
went overboard
Powered Up"? It kind of seems
with the variety. [Show@
like
2STH ANNIVERSARY
time had passed when they saw those familiar EarthAdministrator] TO THE
CAPCOM: Those were done by the game's
characters.
them distinct
We also thought
from Grey, Ashe, and the other new
it would help make
development staff. It's possible that they used
MEGA MAN SERIES!
characters. On an emotional front, I think Vent the chance to design alternate costumes as a
and Aile were influenced by Girouette as well. therapeutic escape from their harsh schedule,
or maybe it was just on outlet for their personal
431
ft.
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THEY HAD EiDTH THE CONVICTION TD

TRUST IN =1'USTICE AND THE METTLE

"Mega Man" & "Mega Man 2" Planner A.K.

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"As the first character I

"Mega Man's world and

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"I designed Dr. Wily all by myself. I was a,m,ng

"In 'Mega Man l ', the basic actions involved shootingand

"I was trying to make the zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLK

"In '2', I think Heat Man

"When time gets tight, I help out wherever I can. For

"Thinking back on it now, working late for this project

"Although '2' was a huge success,about a year passed before

"Again, I was responsible

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"Items l, 2, and 3 had some interesting capabilities, but they

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"I think I was the one working on the

"Eddie was an idea that came

nWhen creating new characters, lnafune really enjoys starting from

"So many of the entrieswere really good, and

"l'm sure a lot of it has to do

"Once again, we had to welcome a new team leader. This meant

"I knew we had to come up with

"We didn't just make the Charge Shot

"I think '51 was pretty fun

"They let me work on the

"You know who this is, right?

"We were always implementing new ideas, and we finally

"At the time, series that made it to their sixth title

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"We tried taking boss character

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"For having hit a lot of

Mega Man 7 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfe

Thanks to Mega Man's

"Due to the bad timing of certain

"We were seriously pressed for time,

"From the moment we came up with the concepts

"For Bass, I was also asked to do the dot work. When it

.. .. · ~~·. . . . .. .... ... . . .

"How nostalgic! I drew the scene below, and I still remember

"The counter-weakness weapons were

"It was a lot of fun... but also quite rigorous." (Kaji)

"The team leader and about 15 programmers

"Yeah, and the people from the character division zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

"It all started with tnafune sneaking around

"The beta for the overseas version happened at the

"I think the guy who drew Shade Man was

COUNT e,ome, NEO

"The Wily Capsule in '7' turned

"With new hardware came new

"For this title, Kaji was the

"Kc]l designed Wily's necktie and skull

"I'd say this illustration of Proto Man is one of lnafune's. We basically

"'Mega Man 9' marked the

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