{"id":40459,"date":"2024-11-26T13:58:03","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T04:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=40459"},"modified":"2024-11-26T13:58:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T04:58:06","slug":"the-charm-of-persona-and-metaphor-refantazios-character-designs-lies-in-a-sex-appeal-that-doesnt-reveal-the-artists-gender-says-former-atlus-designer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/the-charm-of-persona-and-metaphor-refantazios-character-designs-lies-in-a-sex-appeal-that-doesnt-reveal-the-artists-gender-says-former-atlus-designer\/","title":{"rendered":"The charm of Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio\u2019s character designs lies in a sex appeal that doesn\u2019t reveal the artist\u2019s gender, says former Atlus designer\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shigenori Soejima, the art director and character designer of the Persona<\/strong> series and Metaphor: ReFantazio<\/strong>, recently participated in a three-way discussion with Denfaminicogamer<\/a> and former Atlus designer LAM. During the conversation, the two creators were asked about what makes the character designs of Persona and Metaphor so memorable, prompting some interesting observations from LAM. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For context, LAM is an independent illustrator who worked for Atlus for five years and was involved in the graphics and UI designs for Shin Megami Tensei, Soul Hackers 2, Etrian Odyssey and Persona 5. He joined Atlus after encountering Persona 3 as a teenager and becoming lovestruck by Soejima\u2019s art style. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked by Denfaminicogamer about what makes Soejima\u2019s character designs so compelling, LAM says, \u201cIn a word, it\u2019s sex appeal. When I saw Soejima\u2019s character designs, it was the first time I found male characters sexy. That goes especially for Yu Narukami in Persona 4 and Joker in Persona 5. When I saw Joker, I remember thinking about how sexy he was.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Persona<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

LAM goes on to call Soejima a \u201cgenius character designer,\u201d highlighting his subtractive approach to design that condenses visual elements of a character in a way that makes them memorable at a single glance. He gives the example of Persona 5\u2019s Ren Amamiya, who is immediately recognizable by his black, unruly hair and glasses, as well as Metaphor ReFantazio\u2019s Gallica, who wears a simple tricolor palette and signature headband.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning to the topic of sex appeal, LAM comments, \u201cIn a good way, [the character design] feels \u201cunisex,\u201d in the sense that you can\u2019t tell the author\u2019s gender. It might not be so good to say in this day and age, but I think that artists can display bias in how they depict the opposite sex. You have artists who draw women in a cute way, and you have artists who draw men in a cool way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Persona<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But according to LAM, such bias cannot be detected from Atlus\u2019s Soejima. \u201cWith Soejima, it\u2019s like he\u2019s looking at the characters from a bird\u2019s-eye view. There\u2019s no difference in the attractiveness of the characters depending on gender. They\u2019re beautiful and cool regardless of age and gender.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to this observation, Soejima chimes in to explain that his distanced, equal treatment of male and female character designs comes from him being conscious of the Persona series\u2019 fan base. \u201cObviously, there are many male Persona fans, but there are also many female fans. That’s why I think it’s important to draw female characters in a way that won\u2019t be disliked by female fans. After all I\u2019m, a guy myself, so I do get the urge to draw cliched\u00a0bish\u014djo from time to time, but still, I place an importance on this approach.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Metaphor<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to LAM, while Soejima drafts his character designs, he flexibly consults with other staff members, including asking female team members for feedback on his female character designs. On the other hand, he doesn\u2019t hesitate to add his personal \u201cfetishes\u201d to his designs for Atlus games either, one of which is giving characters headbands. Apparently, Soejima loves headbands enough for it to be a running joke in the studio, and he fully embraced it when designing Metaphor: ReFantazio\u2019s protagonist.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atlus art director Shigenori Soejima and former designer LAM talk about the “sex appeal” of characters in the Persona series and Metaphor: ReFantazio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":40473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-40459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe charm of Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio\u2019s character designs lies in a sex appeal that doesn\u2019t reveal the artist\u2019s gender, says former Atlus designer\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Atlus art director Shigenori Soejima and former designer LAM talk about the "sex appeal" of characters in the Persona series and Metaphor: ReFantazio.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/the-charm-of-persona-and-metaphor-refantazios-character-designs-lies-in-a-sex-appeal-that-doesnt-reveal-the-artists-gender-says-former-atlus-designer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The charm of Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio\u2019s character designs lies in a sex appeal that doesn\u2019t reveal the artist\u2019s gender, says former Atlus designer\u00a0 - 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