Slashdot Mirror

He invented moogles, for chrissake!

Regardless of the other qualities of the feature, I have a question; Where is Yoshitaka Amano? While Nabuo gets extensive mention and a bio, I don't think I saw Amano's name more than twice the whole time; and only briefly in the two biographies! Ever since his first character designs on FFIV, I believe his illustrations have shaped the entire franchise into something extraordinary, giving the designers inspiration and providing a truly unique flavor to the series.

The omission of his contributions isn't just bad; it should be immediately corrected. Here's some help.

You can find his anime version artwork (probably drawn later) at http://www.amanosworld.com/html/work/animation/kas haan/kashaan.html

Apart from his fame from being the visual concept designer for the Final Fantasy series (including the logo for each of the games), Amano is a well-respected artist in the anime/sci-fi/fantasy world genres as well (Vampire Hunter D springs to mind...)

His website can be found at www.amanosworld.com .

I have several of his art books, some calendars, and a few prints... I feel they are all well worth the money spent on them.

Imagine the mess that would cause. There are already far too many "professionally" designed web sites that refuse to work without Internet Explorer, such as Amano's World. Can you imagine the nightmare for users of other browsers if IE became actually required? What about proxy servers? I currently use bfilter, which blocks out the worst of the web before it gets to me. I imagine that it wouldn't be allowed. So we limit proxies to... whatever microsoft provides? That and approved versions of squid if these "control the way you look at my web site even if it is completely anathema to the web's philosophy" people are feeling generous. And what about plugins for proxies that have such an architecture? Would it be necessary to disallow third party plugins/modules/whatever, therefore destroying the hard-earned flexibility that programmers are always striving for?

Actually, I think that alone would pretty much kill those W33 0wn j00 web sites. Still, I much prefer to give power to the users, since that's what I am. Control freaks give me the willies.

If you've read Gaiman before, and absolutely hated him, avoid this book. If you've seen Amano's work before and hated it, avoid this book.

I'm gonna sound like a raving fanboy here, but how can anyone hate Neil Gaiman? I've seen people who are indifferent to his tales, but hatred?

Truly, Gaiman is one of the greatest fantasy writers ever. The fact he writes comicbooks usually distracts people to that fact, but let it not be said that geniuses are recognised by the mainstream while alive.

That's not to say I liked everything Gaiman wrote, but I never hated any part. The Sandman series in its entirety is a moving, magnificent story; a story for adults, and not a story for violent, sex-crazed children in men's bodies as most so-called "adult" stories are. I'm proud to say the ten hardcovers spanning the story of the Sandman sit on my shelf and are a delight to read to this day.

For those who don't know Neil Gaiman: for gods' sake, do yourself a favour. The Sandman is available in softcovers, so picking one every two weeks or so will definitely not break your budget. I suggest you either start at the beginning ('Preludes and Nocturnes'), although the style was not as defined back then. (The stories remain great, though, just not entirely mature.) Otherwise, try picking Fables and Reflections or The Doll's House. If that doesn't hook you, nothing will.

To get you in the mood for Gaiman's style, here's a short story he wrote for The Matrix . Too good to be true? You bet.

Finally, Yoshitaka Amano. This guy is a god. Check out his artwork. I have to say, he has to be the best artist to come to the Sandman world ever, and that's saying a lot.

"The wages of sin is death but so is the salary of virtue, and at least the evil get to go home early on Fridays."