I admit, one of the first things that I dug of the AA/GS series was the character design. Bold lines, a few vibrant colors, one or more characteristic items, gestures or whatever, and a new, shiny character is ready: that's the formula used all throghout GS1-3. Detail is absolutely not the key word here: if there was more detail, the design would lose focus on what's really important-be it Phoenix's spiky hair, Edgeworth's cravat, Mia's...huh, let's skip this one , the Judge's stereotyped biblical patriarch figure , Zenitora's "fiery redness"-you name it. Surely, in many cases there is more than one element that stands out (Max comes to mind), but they are never excessive for the sake of it, never baroque. The GBA's limited palette (only 16 colors per sprite, or something similar) and the necessity to use sprite animations made it compulsory to have a character design that comes, without frills, straight to the point-paradoxically, the limitations crafted its expressive strength.

And now, with limitations being lifted off by the DS's superior capabilities, the design-in my opinion- is suffering. Nura, the character design responsible for GS1 case 5 and GS4, is stiffing his characters with rendundant details, and makes too much use of (serious) stereotypes to define his characters (the Garyuu brothers, with their bishonen looks). Sure, stereotypes were abundantly used in GS1-3 too( , ), but came out as amusing self parody. Another gripe I have is that in 1-5, or in GS4( which, yes, I've poiled for myself), the "gag" characters don't even look human, while the "serious" characters are all handsome; the line was way more blurred in the previous games.

To make a case about what I said before, I'll take a look at young Ema Skye, the one present in GS1-5. Her whole character screams "Look! More colours, more details than before!": seriously, with all her "scientific equipment", pins, glasses, bowtie, vest, patterned skirt...she is more detailed than the whole GS1 crew before her. And yet, what does she convey with her character design? The vague image of a teenage girl, maybe interested in chemistry because of her coat and chemicals. Not too effective.
Another case is ...ok, we've understood he's a "cowboy". You, Nura, don't have to stiff him with yet another cowboy clichè to get the message across. Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster he doesn't have a friggin' cactus in his pocket anymore. That would be just ridiculous.
Not casually, Nura's best designed characters IMHO, Gant and Odoroki, are much more streamlined than his usual ones.

I could go on, but I don't feel like it. I don't know why Nura took the lead as the GS designer, I sure don't like him and the path the GS series has taken since he arrived. I might, of course, enjoy GS4 in spite of his character design, but, from some comments I've read and what I've gathered on the story, it retains some of the themes and topoi from 1-5, and (spoilers about Phoenix's character developement and returning characters) .

Sorry for the mega rambling rant.

Well first off his name is "Nuri" not "Nura". Kazuya Nuri.

I haven't played through all of GS4 yet and seen everyone, but I like the characters I've seen so far. I'll admit some of his work in GS:YG kind of irritated me (Jake the uber cowboy is not one of my favorite designs by any means, nor Angel). But Gant, the Zeus in an orange suit, is pretty damn fantastic in my opinion.



I don't understand your criticism here. Ema *is* a teenage girl interested in chemistry. I think her design is very effective - she's got the lab coat, the preppy attire that screams "I'm smart, but I'm also cute!" The bag of chemicals she lugs around but never uses. I wish she could have looked a little less like Maya but that part rests with the script writers, as well.

As for the Garyuu brothers, I happen to like their bishonen looks. How many *actual* bishies has the series had? Going by the classic definition, there really aren't any. A lot of people would consider Edgeworth or even Engarde handsome, and Yuusaku is adorable, but the bish look, and more importantly the attitude, were under-represented in the series until now.

They're certainly not any more campy than Fransizka, the whip-wielding teenager out for revenge, or Godot, the...whatever he is. I'd rather look at Kirihito's purple pimp suit than Mia's breasts hanging out of various outfits, thanks much.

Maybe I'll have a different opinion when I see these "gag" characters, but for now I think Nuri's doing a good job. Plus, I love his comments about Odoroki in the interviews I've read. I think he's a great addition to the team.

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Oh, thank you FranziskaD00, I thought I was the only one who've also noticed this. I, too, have come to love the series because of the loveable characters, as I'm interested in character designing... and I study hard on those things, you know. Now let's hear my opinion...

Case 1-5: I've smelled this "change of character design" already in case 1-5, that something doesn't quite make me happy. First off, Lana and Ema, two total ripoffs. I don't like it. It may have been Takumi's decision to rip Mia and Maya but I still don't like it. Ahh, I'm out of words about this, anyways...
All of the 1-5 characters were quite good looking and balanced except for Meekins. He didn't look like he belonged to the cast, it felt more like he was created to only be a comic relief. And that's what he is --- 100% TYPICAL comic relief, physically and mentally. Oldbag may had been a complete comical relief or the real terminator of fun, but she was damn unique and well thought out, in character design, not overhyped, yet only there to destroy us.

GS4: I'm so far impressed with Minuki's, Odoroki's and Phoenix's designs, but since they're pretty much the main characters, Nuri must have had concentrated on them a lot. Now let's talk about our lovely prosecutor...
Kyouya Garyuu: First look at didn't please me at all. I don't like the idea of him being both a rock star and a lawyer. Sure, here in Finland we have a pop band called The Crash and the vocalist is a lawyer, but...
But yet I don't find anything lawyerish about Kyouya Garyuu at all. He's just a bishounen with tightpants and leatherjacket on, charming the fangirls. He should wear some proper work clothes like Edgeworth, god. Garyuu make it look like anyone could go to the prosecution stand and piss people. I've always thought lawyer business should look like lawyer business, yet Garyuu totally changes it.
And I'd really want to say Bishounen's has nowadays turned into a stereotype, yet I can't actually specify that.

I've also thought of Broom Lady (sorry, have no time to dig the name) she looks way too weird to fit into the cast... she's pretty much this "old overweight mama" stereotype. I imagine her to be more like a forgettable character rather than a character we'll discuss and love or hate. I've also seen some minor characters and they don't seem memorable at all. I've always thought that all Pw characters so far have been taken very well cared of, don't we love discussing them? I'm afraid this won't happen with the Gs4 cast...

Maybe the GS team has run out of ideas, creating a new style perhaps ---? But if by any chance, they are making drastic changes to the character roster, it may be risky, so risky that can cause even fans to depart from the series.

Please don't shoot me...

Actually, I think Nuri is doing a fantastic job. It might just be that the art is higher quality than before, but I like his art even just as illustrations more than Edayan's. Edayan has a very soft spot in my heart as one of my first (if not the first) art idols ever, so I'm surprised that I'm liking Nuri's GS stuff a bit more.

I agree with Croik on the bish look. Capcom is notorious for having the hot rugged men (Godot), but not quite the pretty-boy types. Edayan is definitely not that great at making pretty, non-buff men, as evidenced with all his other work on Street Fighter, Rival Schools, etc.. so it's about time this aspect of character design was introduced to GS.

Also, I think the Skye/Houzuki sisters being rip-offs has very little to do with the character designer, but 99% to do with the director. They probably knew they were going to "phase out" the Naruhodou arc, so they wanted someone to replace an immensely popular character. And really, that's tough... you either get gripes that the character is just a huge rip off, or you get gripes that she isn't as cool as Maya. It always goes both ways in situations like these.

*EDIT: My mistake, I thought that it was Edayan who helped design the GS1-3 people...

Last edited by ener on Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

Greg Graffin = Punk Rock Singer/University Teacher.



Weren't the early SF designs done by Akiman? And if you're talking about Third Strike, Remy disagrees with you.

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Ah, I was referring to his Rival Schools stuff a bit more than the SF ones. He did help design a few of the Zero/Alpha characters if I'm not mistaken, though.

I rather enjoy Nuri's designs, even some of the more abstract ones. I really don't see much of a problem with most of them, though if you really have all this hate for them, perhaps you should stop playing the games from now on if it really bugs you all that much.

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Of his designs, I personally like Meekins the best. He always made me smile, even if he was just comic relief. Saying someone doesn't fit in the GS universe...really doesn't make much sense.

When I first started playing PW:AA, i thought I'd seen it all when I saw Yanni Yogi for the very first time. While in the middle of AA, I get the GS3 ROM from a friend, and then I meet Aiga. Then JFA came out and I'm staring down Max Galactica and Moe.

Anything goes in the GS universe, really. I believe this is the guy who designed the...



Right?

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