On March 10th of this year, the artist Mutsumi Inomata died at the age of just 63. In this country it is mainly for their character designs for the various episodes of the Talesseries, among other things she designed figures for Tales of Destiny, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Graces and both parts of Tales of Xillia.
But actually that's only a small part of their work. She has been present in the anime scene as an animator and designer since the 80s and has helped shape numerous trends with her work, including her design work on anime such as “Leda: The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko”, “Windaria” and “The Weathering Continent “ influenced countless other artists and works and she was also involved as a key animator in classics such as “Urusei Yatsura”. She designed costumes for characters Tekkenseries, illustrated novels for the cult role-playing game Dragon Quest and also created many artworks for Sega classics such as Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers. Above all, the large, expressive eyes of her characters are a trademark of Inomata's style.
The official announcement of Mutsumi Inomata's death stated: “It happened so suddenly… There were even unfinished sketches, but she has to draw these now in heaven. Surrounded by her beloved cats, she hopefully continues to create characters with cute and strong eyes. We would like to thank everyone who loved and supported Mutsumi Inomata from the bottom of our hearts.”
We can only agree with that.