Successfully maintaining the existence of a franchise across generations of platforms, with a community that continues to stay loyal and even succeeds in attracting new gamers is indeed an achievement worthy of celebration. In the JRPG realm, this is what Bandai Namco has succeeded in doing with the “Tales of” series, which always manages to look stunning in every series. However, many gamers don't seem to know that behind every main character and companion they love, there is a Mutsumi Inomata who, unfortunately, is no longer with us.
Sad news comes again from the gaming industry. This time it comes from the JRPG franchise that we love so much – the Tales of series from Bandai Namco. It was the illustrator and main character designer for many of the Tales series – Mutsumi Inomata who reportedly passed away on March 10 2024. Inomata died at the age of 63.
During his career, Inomata was the main character design for the series: Tales of Destiny, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Rebirth, Tales of the Tempest, Tales of Innocence, Tales of Hearts, Tales of Graces, Tales of Xillia , Tales of Xillia 2, Tales of Zestiria, Tales of Berseria, and Tales of Crestoria.
To all fans and related parties
Inomata is Mutsumi's younger sister. pic.twitter.com/yp6BCTzXcS— Mutsumi Inomata (@inomatanekomata) March 18, 2024
There is no information about the cause behind his death. How about you? Which Tales series main character's design do you like the most?