Lunar: DS scan (including artwork!)

[Temzin]

Actually, the Lunar I&II Official Design Materials Collection is the only place I've ever seen it, but everyone in Lunar I except Killy/Kyle have last names!

Arhes Noah
Luna Noah (well, not technically)
Nasch....Lumach, maybe, I don't have the book with me this second.
Mia Ausa
Laiek Bogard (he says this in his SSS intro, in Japanese)
Myght...even Myght had a last name! Book's still at home, though.
Jessica Alkirk

[Rune Lai]

Nash Lumack or Lumach, I would guess. Katakana is ルーマック.

Myght's last name is Farn. Katakana is ファーン.

And Ramus's is Farmine (my romanization of choice). Katakana is ファーマイン.

Luckily, my book's just three feet from my computer desk!

[Pluvius]

I hate this new trend in videogame franchises where they choose to recreate a classic look or feel i.e. the final fantasy characters all look the same (to me at least)

It's very formulaic'ish

That's not a new trend. Every Link and Zelda has looked the same. Every Rockman has too, and so has every Belmont.

[Kizyr]

Nash Lumack or Lumach, I would guess. Katakana is ルーマック.

Myght's last name is Farn. Katakana is ファーン.

And Ramus's is Farmine (my romanization of choice). Katakana is ファーマイン.

Luckily, my book's just three feet from my computer desk!

Which books are those from? I knew Nash's, of course, but Myght's and Ramus's are news to me. KF

[Temzin]

Actually, the info's in the back of the Lunar I&II Setteishiryoushuu, in the Lunar I section. Rune's exactly right about Ramus and Myght's names, I forgot about them! By Lunar II, looks like they stopped caring about last names, which is just as well, I suppose.

[Kishi]

For some reason I was really afraid that Kubooka wouldn't be doing the character designs, so this is a real relief. Yes, Lunar characterizations are fairly formulaic; anyone who's played the first two games could tell you that, but it turns me on.

[danth]

For some reason I was really afraid that Kubooka wouldn't be doing the character designs, so this is a real relief. Yes, Lunar characterizations are fairly formulaic; anyone who's played the first two games could tell you that, but it turns me on.

Asking out of ignorance here: Who is Kubooka? Did he do the designs for all the other Lunar games? And how are you sure he is designing the characters for DS?

The new DS characters look like they were drawn by a different guy to me, but I'd love it if that wasn't the case.

EDIT: Wait, are you talking about the designer of the characters' looks, or the writer for their personalities?

[Alunissage]

Kubooka did the character designs (as in drawings), and I think oversaw the aniimation as well. Interestingly, he's usually given a special credit right up there with the developer and publisher, for example on the Korean LunarPC game disc. He was mentioned on (I think) Marvelous's site as being the designer for this game also.

[Kishi]

EDIT: Wait, are you talking about the designer of the characters' looks, or the writer for their personalities?

"Character designer" refers to visual design, although character designers frequently have some say in characters' personalities, as well.

And yes, those designs are definitely Kubooka's work.

[danth]

And yes, those designs are definitely Kubooka's work.

That's fantastic!

Is it possible that some other artist created the art shown in the scans, based off of Kubooka's designs? If not, it looks like Kubooka's style has changed.

[Alunissage]

Would you mind citing examples of exactly what you feel is different? His style changed mainly between TSS and EB, and I think someone else must've done some of the art in Legend, so besides those two I really don't see much different in style here.

[Temzin]

That said, there was a bit of a difference by the time of the EB remake...the redrawn Hiero and Lucia have slightly pointier, less rounded faces (which for some reason translated into very pointy, blocky faces in some of the EB remake's animation, I have no idea why) than in his earlier work. This is understandable, though, given the span of time between them all. These new characters seem a little more subdued compared to EB's designs; they're a little reminiscent of Magic School Lunar's simpler designs, at least to my eyes.

[ilovemyguitar]

I'm agreeing with the simpleness of these designs.... except in the new Lucia's dress. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like one of the more elaborate costumes we've seen on a Lunar character.

[Kishi]

I don't think it's any more complex than Luna's outfit.

I'd laugh if Ubi Soft decided to refer to this Lucia as Lucier.

[danth]

Would you mind citing examples of exactly what you feel is different? His style changed mainly between TSS and EB, and I think someone else must've done some of the art in Legend, so besides those two I really don't see much different in style here.

A bunch of little things that my eyes can see easily but my mind can't put into words. One thing is the lack of a line for the bottom of the eye.

EDIT: Wait, the line at the bottom of the eye is there, just less pronounced. And after looking at the second scan, the art does look a lot more like the original style. Something stood out as different at first, but the more I look at it, the more it looks like the original Lunar art.