Shigenori Soejima – Persona 4
Mollie: What is your earliest memory of the Megami Tensei series?
Shigenori Soejima: I still have strong memories of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, since it was the very first title that I worked on.
Mollie: You’re known for your RPG art, but we’ve heard that you didn’t play a lot of RPGs growing up. What types of games did you play, and how do you feel they influenced your artwork?
Soejima: I played everything—shooting games, fighting games, racing games, etc. I liked RPGs too, but I tended to keep playing the same game for a long time, so I didn’t play that many titles. As for RPGs, I really liked Wizardry. I also played Ultima Online for quite a while, so I guess I favor the classics.
Mollie: Did you initially want to become a mangaka, or were you always focused on illustration? What lead you to Atlus?
Soejima: When I was little, I dreamed of becoming a comic book artist, and that’s what motivated me to draw. Later in high school, I started getting into games. I wanted to design fighting game characters, so I started focusing on illustrations.
Mollie: Tell us about your senpai Kazuma Kaneko. Did you feel pressure taking over the Persona character design reins from him? Have you tried to consciously emulate elements of his design? Has he had a large influence on your work?
Soejima: I definitely felt some pressure, but it was more from my sense of responsibility to create something that could be accepted by the existing Persona fans, rather than taking over Mr. Kaneko’s work. Naturally, he had a large influence on me, since I was his assistant for a long time. So when I approached the designs, I thought I didn’t need to consciously emulate his style, and if I explored what my own strengths were instead, I could come up with something new.
Mollie: How does total art direction on a game differ from character design? Do you begin with the world design and weltanschauung (overall world framework), or the characters? What is the process?
Soejima: An art director controls the visuals of the entire game, whereas a character designer creates the designs of just the characters; they are two completely different roles. Whether the character design comes to life or not solely depends on the overall art direction, so I put more weight into the world view and work on it first.
Mollie: Blue seemed to be the theme color for Persona 3, and yellow for Persona 4. Are theme colors a conscious choice? What do they represent?
Soejima: When I work on a title, its theme color is very important to me. I think when a person remembers things unconsciously, what leaves the strongest impression isn’t words or shape, but color. Persona 3’s theme color, blue, symbolizes adolescence; Persona 4’s yellow is the color of happiness. Both meanings are tied to Japanese culture, so it might be hard for western audiences to understand.
Mollie: Did your approach to design differ in any way between Persona 4 and Persona 4?
Soejima: They were basically the same. I tried a lot of different things in Persona 3 to strive for originality and freshness, but in Persona 4, I expanded on the same method of art direction for the existing fans of Persona 3.
Mollie: What are the difficulties of designing characters to appeal to a broad range of tastes? Which P4 characters were easy to design, and which difficult?
Soejima: There are some opposing elements when designing a unique character and designing a character that’s appealing to many people. Fortunately, there are many characters in Persona 4, and I designed them so any type of player could find at least one favorite character. This tendency is especially strong in the design of the female characters. Supporting roles were easy to draw since they were very unique. The protagonist, however, is the player’s alter ego in the game, so I had a lot of trouble making his design appealing to everyone’s tastes.
Mollie: Was there any particular inspiration for all the Persona 4 party characters to wear glasses? Do you wear glasses yourself?
Soejima: I imagined how the characters would look if they all wore glasses, and it became very interesting so I decided to go ahead and use that idea. From the story’s point of view, the glasses signify the danger of seeing events through a filter, and what that really means. Because I don’t wear glasses myself, I had a personal interest in wearing glasses as fashion as well.
Mollie: Do any special difficulties arrive from imbuing characters all wearing the same uniform with personality?
Soejima: It does make it difficult to express personality. But wearing the uniform is a school rule, so the personality is expressed in the design by thinking about how each character would react to that rule. One character may strictly follow regulations, while another wears it casually. Some may defy the rules and not wear the uniform at all… It’s similar to how the soldiers wear their uniforms differently in war movies.
Mollie: You’ve said that Fujio F. Fujiko’s Doraemon was your greatest inspiration to become an illustrator as a child. Would you say his design had an influence on Persona 4‘s Teddie?
Soejima: Even now, Doraemon is loved by people all over Japan, despite the character being designed over thirty years ago. Since Teddie’s design concept was “a retro character from an older era,” I think Doraemon was a big influence on him.
Mollie: Tell us about the Persona design. All of the Persona 4 Personae have names from Japanese myth, but don’t look very Japonesque.
Soejima: Japanese youth nowadays aren’t too familiar with Japanese legends and history. (I’m sure no student anywhere in the world enjoys studying…) So I designed the Personas as images that would come to their minds when they hear the name of the Japanese gods. This is in keeping with the game’s conceit that a Persona is the other self that one imagines oneself to be.
Mollie: Which do you enjoy more, character or Persona design? Which is more taxing?
Soejima: They each are fun in their own way. For the Personas, creating the design itself is fun and difficult. And for the characters, having to animate the designs I made is both taxing and rewarding.
Mollie: Would you say the root concept of Personae is influenced by Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure‘s Stands? Has Hirohiko Araki influenced your work?
Soejima: When I started working, Persona and JoJo both existed as separate entities, so I never quite compared the two. Mr. Hirohiko Araki’s art style is very unique and fascinating, but I don’t think I’ve received any direct influence.
Mollie: Who is your favorite Persona 4 character, and which is your favorite Persona?
Soejima: My favorite character is the protagonist, and my favorite Persona is Yukiko’s Konohana Sakuya.
Mollie: Walk us through the process of creating a piece like our cover. How long does it take? At what point does the analog process on paper become digital? What tools and software do you use?
Soejima: When I’m designing a character, I can’t summon my inspiration while staring at a monitor, so I always draw a ton of sketches on paper. But once the design is set, I do the character illustrations digitally from start to finish. I use a Wacom tablet, drawing software called SAI, and Photoshop for digital painting. The time it takes varies depending on the magnitude of the piece, but it usually takes about three to four days to complete.
Mollie: Tell us about your experience with Trinity Soul. What was the extent of your involvement? What was it like to see your characters animated on television?
Soejima: I designed the protagonist and a number of the main characters, as well as the school uniform. Seeing the characters move is like breathing life into them, and it makes me very happy.
Mollie: What sort of high school student were you, Mr. Soejima?
Soejima: I was a plain, normal student who enjoyed everyday life. Though I did tend to come up with some ideas and think about them all day.
Mollie: What sort of Persona do you wish you had?
Soejima: I’d like a Persona that can reproduce the images I have in my head directly onto paper. The creative part of my work is to imagine the design, and from that point on it’s just a matter of recreating that design onto another medium.
Mollie: How does it feel to know that, thanks to Persona, you now have many fans all over the world? When you were starting out as an artist, did you ever give much thought to the idea that you artwork would be seen and appreciated by people outside of Japan?
Soejima: I’ve never been that conscious about it, but now that you mention it, it does stir some deep emotions in me. I’m not an artist; I don’t draw for myself. I’m always thinking about whether the people who see my work will enjoy it or not. From now on, I’d like to think of the overseas fans—including those in the U.S.—when drawing, and I believe that doing so will lead to my own growth as well.
Mollie: Finally, do you have a message for all of your fans, and the fans of Persona, in the West?
Soejima: Thank you very much for playing Persona, and for appreciating my artwork. Since I live in Japan, I don’t get to hear your comments and criticisms directly, so please send me messages. I will try and do my best to create games that you can all enjoy. Thank you very much.