HK Magazine: You’re so famous for character design - are any of the characters you created based on anyone you know?
Yoshitaka Amano: All the characters I’ve designed are completely imaginary and mostly based on the storyline itself. For example, the storyline of the “Final Fantasy” series would be given to me, and I’ll design the characters based on the plot.

HK: You’ve got studios all over the world. Any chance you’ll be designing something inspired by Hong Kong, or setting up a studio here?
YA: Sure - got any good locations to recommend? Bruce Lee’s movies were actually great hits in Japan, and the character Hurricane Polymar was actually inspired by him.

HK: What inspires you to create such fairytale designs?
YA: I enjoy thinking about a world that doesn’t really exist, but exists completely in my mind. It’s all about free-running imagination and then putting that image on paper.

HK: Anime/manga/RPGs (role-playing games) are mostly aimed at the younger set. Now, forgive me Amano-san, but you’re not exactly in that age-range yourself. How do you know what the kids want?
YA: To tell you the truth, I don’t understand either! I’ve been in the industry for a long time, and the people around me constantly change, but they’re mostly young people. My assistant is really young at heart as well, so that makes things easier for me.

HK: What do you think you would be doing now if you didn’t start illustrating for Tatsunoko Productions at the tender age of 15?
YA: Well, I think I would still be painting, drawing, designing - I would probably still be in this industry, just not working for Tatsunoko! I might also dabble in architecture instead. To be honest, as long as I had some place to live, something to eat, some clothes to wear, I would be grateful.

HK: If you could turn back time on your life, what would you change?
YA: I wouldn’t want to change anything - I don’t want to turn back time. If anything, I would want to go 300 years ahead, even a week would be fine, as long as I’m ahead. We already know history, why would we want to go back?

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