Fates Art Style...

[gayserbeam]

Kozaki's great, but I really want to see a 3D Fire Emblem have more subtle designs, specifically Sachiko Wada. Sacred Stone's character art is just so beautiful and elegant.

[Vyse]

I'm a bit biased since I was a huge No More Heroes nut before FE13 came out, but I personally do prefer Kozaki's artwork over Kita's and hope he sticks around for FE15.

[Draxal]

Honestly I think Kozaki has been the best illustrator for the series since Sachiko Wada, he gives the characters a kind of levity and sparkle that really makes them pop. I enjoy the works from all the illustrators, but Wada and Kozaki stand above the rest.

I really like Kozaki and Wada, my only problem with Wada is that some of her female character have the too large eye syndrome, but she's also drawn other female FE characters without it. It's partly the reason I don't like Kita as much as others do (Gigantic Saucer Eyes).

Edited April 18, 2016 by Draxal

[Sentinel07]

It takes some getting used to, but I like Kozaki's style.

It made me happy a fan tried drawing Serra and Florina in that style:

http://jaeon009.tumblr.com/post/142592825857/last-art-break-the-high-maintenance-student-of-st

http://jaeon009.tumblr.com/post/142586520447/who-here-remembers-this-adorable-cinnamon-roll

And I was surprised to see them draw an FE4 character in that style:

http://jaeon009.tumblr.com/post/142605586917/ok-heres-the-last-one-the-flirtatious-prince-of

And for Senri Kita fans, here's the same person trying some Awakening characters in that style:

http://jaeon009.tumblr.com/post/142855483647/chrom-drawn-in-senri-kitas-ish-style-plus-i-gave

http://jaeon009.tumblr.com/post/142883201902/tharja-senri-kita-ish-style-sorry-if-umm-shes

Wow, that Tharja design is actually tolerable. I wish we got that.

[Hardin]

I really like Kozaki and Wada, my only problem with Wada is that some of her female character have the too large eye syndrome, but she's also drawn other female FE characters without it. It's partly the reason I don't like Kita as much as others do (Gigantic Saucer Eyes).

I agree some of Wada's art had that issue, especially Amelia. However I think her recent Cipher art like Soleil and Camilla have shown a marked improvement since then.

[Dangerus]

I personally only played games with Kozaki's art style. Awakening/Fates however I really don't find 'Great' at conveying their characters compared to previous games. Don't get me wrong. They get character personalities down pat, but the designs are often hit or miss. Don't get me started on how awkward some of the characters look in their designs (IAGO OMG). Here's hoping for another great artist in FE15!

Edited April 18, 2016 by Dangerus

[saisymbolic]

See, those badass pictures soc posted just confirm to me that what I dislike is the costume designs in the newer games, which is something I realized when Kozaki started drawing past FE lords and they actually looked good. Both Kozaki's and Senri Kita's styles are great tbh. It's the costume designer that needs to go.

Essentially this. I love Senri Kita and will lap up all her art, but that isn't to say Kozaki needs to go. It's just some of those costume designs that irk me, honestly. The art director needs to step his game up.

Also, thank you shadowofchaos, for posting those pictures. I'm saving that Chrom one.

Edited April 18, 2016 by SaiSymbolic

[carefreejules]

Tbh, they just need a new art director, or hell, bring back the old one.

I would love to see Kozaki's character illustrations in the armor designs that the characters had pre-Awakening.

[Hardin]

They are not going to replace the art director of their most successful games in 20 years, and certainly not replace him with those in charge of the least successful games.

[angienessyo]

Kozaki's pretty great and I loved the art he's done for Fates. (Awakening had some great stuff too but I felt the promo art used too much gray in the shadows) It probably helps that I knew him from Speed Grapher and No More Heroes.

http://i.imgur.com/LOmy4OJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JLVK4ZJ.jpg

I felt like the stuff he did for the Hoshido side really showed his skill with coloring. There was so many pleasant palette choices, especially for characters that heavily relied on red like Hinoka http://i.imgur.com/FDRMpZU.png Senri Kita is great too, but I prefer Kozaki slightly more due to the more modern feel of the art style.

[My Blue Sky]

Kozaki's pretty great and I loved the art he's done for Fates. (Awakening had some great stuff too but I felt the promo art used too much gray in the shadows) It probably helps that I knew him from Speed Grapher and No More Heroes.

http://i.imgur.com/LOmy4OJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JLVK4ZJ.jpg

I felt like the stuff he did for the Hoshido side really showed his skill with coloring. There was so many pleasant palette choices, especially for characters that heavily relied on red like Hinoka http://i.imgur.com/FDRMpZU.png Senri Kita is great too, but I prefer Kozaki slightly more due to the more modern feel of the art style.

[ears perk up] Did someone say Speed Grapher? Whoa, that explains why I thought there was something so familiar in Kozaki's style. I couldn't put my finger on it, but now I see.

[Roflolxp54]

Kozaki also did artwork for Liberation Maiden and Under the Dog.

And he also did the DLC artwork for Katarina in Awakening which isn't really fanservicey at all in terms of aesthetics (it's nostalgia fanservice nonetheless for those who played FE12).

[Vere]

I love Kozaki's style. The only problem I have, as some have mentioned, as that Fates does seem a bit more anime-ish than Awakening, and he definitely made so weird lineart choices this time with the white. I guess Nohr was so dreary he needed the art to pop :p

[The DanMan]

Kozaki is the character designer, but I don't know who designs armor specifically. May also be Kozaki.

The Art Director (whose name escapes me) is in charge of armor design; Kozaki solely draws the characters in them.

I like Kozaki's darker style with more pronounced lines, but I don't like the direction behind it.

I like be happy to have Kozaki or Senri Kita back for the next game. Some of the armor designs could use work but I'm not really sure who is the driving force between battle panties.

As long as it's not Shadow Dragon art, FE15 should be okay.

I have been summoned.

I never quite got the complaints about SD's artstyle. It was a bit of a departure, certainly, but RD -> SD is nowhere near as big as, say, RD -> Awakening. I'm personally a fan of the style (most likely in no small part due to it's art being my first real exposure to the series' art), and characters like Camus and Horace look absolutely badass in it.

[Lann La Mirah]

Kozaki is a phenomenal artist with a lot of talent, but I can't say his style is my favorite art style. That being said, I like his artwork for Fates a lot! (Not so much Awakening...) I just prefer ye olde FE7 or FE8 style.

[Anacybele]

Senri Kita will probably always be my favorite FE artist. There is almost no Tellius character design I don't like while Awakening and Fates have a lot of stupid designs, imo. But I mostly blame the art director for that, not Kozaki. Kozaki is my second favorite artist in this series. Kozaki's stuff done in his own time is a lot better than the garbage we got in the games.

Don't get me wrong, I like some Awakening and Fates designs (Frederick, Lon'qu, Ryoma, Silas, Rinkah, etc), but there might be more of them that I DON'T like.

[maybe]

kozaki is a great artist, I really like the art style

i feel the same as a lot of other people here; while kozaki's art is pretty good, the art director really needs to go, some of those designs are just plain bad

[Tolvir]

kozaki is a great artist, I really like the art style

i feel the same as a lot of other people here; while kozaki's art is pretty good, the art director really needs to go, some of those designs are just plain bad

Yes, the art director definitely needs to go. My biggest problem with it is it feels too over the top. The armor is extremely bulky, it looks ridiculous and like normal people wouldn't be able to wear it. Especially the General/Knight armor. It is what I liked in the previous games, the armor, while it definitely had a fantasy look to it, also looked functional and like the person could actually wear it. Sure the General armor back then was huge, but at the same time you could see the people who used it being able to actually wear it. Then some of them are too fanservicey. I was completely fine with the look of the Dark Mage in Awakening because imo it fits the theme of a Necromancer/Dark wizard. But on the other hand armor like Malig Knight on Camilla or the Paladin and Great Knight in Fates was ridiculous.

I can understand Camilla having more revealing armor or something more, attractive I guess you can say, compared to other sets, but having the butt window and things like that was ridiculous. Orochi and her set baffles me every time I see it because it looks ridiculous. Sure wizards can get a way with things that dont look functional because they don't wear armor at all, but at the same time I would rather they dont look like they just walked in from the strip club.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Tolvir

[Elif]

I really like Kozaki's and Senri Kita's styles the most.

In terms of official art of the character, I love Kozaki's more than Senri Kita's. But for in-game portraits, I'm leaning a bit towards Senri Kita in RD, mainly because I wasn't used to such clean cel-shaded in-game portraits by Kozaki for FE haha. I'm really liking many of Kozaki's in game portraits for Fates over Awakening though, but some of them do still bother me like Leo's when he closes his eyes.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I love Senri Kita's work and it'd be a high bar for any game of the series to surpass RD's art in my eyes, and Kozaki hasn't done it.

That said I've warmed up to him. I felt that his faces had a bit of sameness to them in Awakning, but that his work in Fates has improved. Both games have some issues with armour design, from toilet bowl cavaliers to crotch/butt openings in armour, although at least you don't see the latter in the primary in-game artwork, which I'd love to see the games move away from. But overall I'm pretty happy.