Topic: Anybody else wish Hirooka Masaki would come back?

[beingthehero]

I don't think any artist has perfectly captured a balance between Ayami Kojima's art and the older stuff. His art was pretty much universally loved in OoE, and the art alone was one of the high points for that game. Also dem boots on Shanoa...

I wish if/when they do another handheld, they bring Masaki back.

[Lelygax]

But... but then... we would not have same face characters anymore...

Seriously now, I would be okay with that, I like the crazy faces that he can draw, its almost if not at the same level of Ayame Kojima's Graham's crazy face.

[Intersection]

Certainly.
OoE's art was a monumental relief after DoS and PoR. Masaki gives the classic artwork a slight shift in style but remains laudably close to the Castlevania esthetic. And it even remains continuous with Kojima's artwork. Not many artists could pull that off: even today's LoS artwork seems ever so slightly askew.
I'd rather see Kojima return, but otherwise... I'd have Masaki back any day.

[Pfil]

I love Portrait of Ruin, but I recognize some artworks looked a little amateur.
But yes, Order of Ecclesia featured some high level artworks.
It's a mix of ClassicVania, Kojima and pure anime, but with a unique personality.
I'd love this to be back.

[The Puritan]

Definitely my first choice should CV go back to Japanese developers. We need more of Masaki to erase the shame that was Obata.

[VladCT]

We need more of Masaki to erase the shame that was Obata.

The damage cannot be undone, but yes, I agree that we need more of him.

[Ahasverus]

While Masaki's art is certainly one of the best of the whole series, he doesn't hold a candle to current artists. However, he might be perfect for the next phase of the series.

[e105beta]

His Dracula was very much my favorite of the main-timeline, and if the series goes back to Japan, then they definitely need to bring him back.

I really like Kojima's aesthetic sense, but her character design isn't my favorite. Hirooka definitely wins that hands down.

[KaZudra]

I think Masaki and the LoS guys can make a beautiful Castlevania title if He did the Characters and they did Environment

[TheouAegis]

Too much muscle. Too much clothing. New artists need to go. So does Kojima.

I wouldn't mind Hirooka coming back at all. His characters were perhaps the most realistic in any Castlevania to date. You had the scrawny, the corpulent, the the fit, the sickly -- he had them all, the whole human picture. His works weren't tainted with homosexual undertones or estrogen-laced metrophilia (I made that word up).





Not to mention all his contributions to Duel Masters. Yeah, I'd be okay with him back.

[Pfil]

I am another one who wants Castlevania back to Japan, but what if this time they give the project to a japanese team composed of all new members?
That could bring a fresh, yet classic perspective to the series.

[TheouAegis]

Do you realize how difficult it is to market a fresh, new team? Just look at Mercury Steam. Think about how hard they had to push LoS. The Japanese would devour any marketing proclaiming a return of such and such former team members.  It's like Square-Enix could release a game and simply say the soundtrack was by Mitsuda and Uematsu with character design by Yoshitaka. It wouldn't have to even have the Final Fantasy name, it could be something not even FF-related, but just by the name drops alone they'd sell millions of copies in the first month, guaranteed.

[Lelygax]

Hey! This one is from a character from the anime Date A Live isnt it? The outfit, hair, weapon and colors are right at least.

[Dremn]

Hell YES. I used to look at the art on his website all the time, too bad I lost the URL awhile ago.

[Pfil]

Do you realize how difficult it is to market a fresh, new team? Just look at Mercury Steam. Think about how hard they had to push LoS. The Japanese would devour any marketing proclaiming a return of such and such former team members.  It's like Square-Enix could release a game and simply say the soundtrack was by Mitsuda and Uematsu with character design by Yoshitaka. It wouldn't have to even have the Final Fantasy name, it could be something not even FF-related, but just by the name drops alone they'd sell millions of copies in the first month, guaranteed.

I guess that was because MS decided to stay very far from CV. Had their game be more Castlevania, they wouldn't have had so much trouble selling themselves. That, and the complete lack of public relation skills, together with Cox's arrogant attitude.
But you are right, bring back Michiru Yamane, Koji Igarashi and Ayami Kojima and everyone will buy the new game without even caring what it is (myself included).
I hope from the bottom of my heart that Konami's marketing strategy is exactly like that.