Support NeoGAF

[Gsak]

Ayami Kojima is one of the great artists who graced the world of videogames with her art. Her style combines Manga, Renaissance, Romantic and Gothic aesthetics and influences. She is self-taught, and considering her work, that's one amazing fact. She is responsible for beautiful masterpieces like this one:

She is mostly known for her work on the Castlevania franchise, beginning with Symphony Of The Night. Here's a list of the games she has worked on, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Konami, 1997)[1]
Söldnerschild (Koei, 1998)
Castlevania Chronicles (Konami, 2001)
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Konami, 2002)[1]
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Konami, 2003)[1]
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (Konami, 2003)
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (Konami, 2005)
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Konami, 2007)
Samurai Warriors 3 Artbook (Koei, 2009)
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (Konami, 2010)
Dynasty Warriors 7 Artbook (Koei, 2011)

She has also done illustrations for novels. Here are some links where you can find out more about her and her paintings.

Info and Artwork - http://kelesis.free.fr/hp/gallery/kojima/index_eng.htm
Info and Artwork - http://www.creativeuncut.com/profile_kojima.html
Artwork - http://castlevania.neo-romance.net/kojima.php
Artwork - http://www.lavilladicauchemar.it/vampiri/kojima.htm
Artwork - http://art.alphacoders.com/galleries/view/487/Ayami-Kojima
Artwork - https://www.pinterest.com/persephone666/ayami-kojima/
FB Community Page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ayami-Kojima/117062578366126

So, whether you're a long time fan of hers or liked what you saw here, share your favorite art and info about her and show this legend of an artist some love!

 

[Casimir]

Ah, was never aware of her work outside Castlevania. Thanks for the links to her work OP!

 

[Neon_Icarus]

So how many posts before complaints about girly men?

Anyway...her artwork is gorgeous, especially the men (and Shanoa).
I hope she gets to work on Castlevania again some day.

 

[Ashodin]

The move away from her art to traditional anime art (Portrait of Ruin ugh) made me wince.

 

[Gsak]

The move away from her art to traditional anime art (Portrait of Ruin ugh) made me wince.

It was because they wanted to reach a younger target audience, if I recall correctly.

 

[SMK]

I always thought that they never did her artwork any justice in the two ps2 games. It's sort of the same problem I have with MGS because I look at Yoji Shinkawa's artwork, and I'm almost always disappointed with how the in game models look.

 

[Shion]

Such a great artist.

I'd love to see her art in a game with stylized graphics.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I love her paintings.

 

[Just take it with you.]

She's great.

 

[Phediuk]

It still amazes me how thoroughly the artwork of Castlevania jumped the shark in the DS/Wii era.

We went from this:

To this:

 

[1st Course]

She did great in Samurai/Dynasty Warriors

Fantastic artist.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

Looooooooooove her style.

 

[sublimit]

Definitely one of the best artists who have worked for games along with Amano and Shinkawa.

 

[Usobuko]

I really like her style too.

 

[Tenki]

I hope she works with Iga again.

 

[Kaldea]

Yes, please. I can't get enough of her art style.

 

[fvng]

I feel like all the artists that become synonymous with a series gets dropped for unknown reasons, same thing happened with Amano & FF.

I miss Kojima's artwork.. They sell an imported collection of her work on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004L7F7PG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Kaldea]

I feel like all the artists that become synonymous with a series gets dropped for unknown reasons, same thing happened with Amano & FF.

I miss Kojima's artwork.. They sell an imported collection of her work on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004L7F7PG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Holy crap, I need this in my life.

 

[injurai]

So how many posts before complaints about girly men?

Anyway...her artwork is gorgeous, especially the men (and Shanoa).
I hope she gets to work on Castlevania again some day.

nah that was the soundtracks... allegedly...

 

[fvng]

It still amazes me how thoroughly the artwork of Castlevania jumped the shark in the DS/Wii era.

We went from this:

To this:

This is a fucking sin. This might as well be a phantasy star game, not Castlevania

 

[Dabookerman]

So how many posts before complaints about girly men?

Anyway...her artwork is gorgeous, especially the men (and Shanoa).
I hope she gets to work on Castlevania again some day.

She wasn't the artist on Ecclesia.

But yeah, I own her artbook. It's a must have to anyone who's a fan.

 

[Lernaean]

I'm here to pay my respects as well.
I'd love to see a new high budget console Castlevania with these (the classic CV actually) aesthetics. I miss all that so much.

 

[fvng]

I'm here to pay my respects as well.
I'd love to see a new high budget console Castlevania with these (the classic CV actually) aesthetics. I miss all that so much.

I just want modern 2D remakes of those GBA games because I never got to play them, and blowing up the image of a gba game on an emulator to a tv always makes it look ugly, GBA games in particular.

 

[Kaldea]

She wasn't the artist on Ecclesia.

But yeah, I own her artbook. It's a must have to anyone who's a fan.

She did some art of Shanoa for Harmony of Despair. Would have loved to see what she'd do for Ecclesia though.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I wonder what her stretch goal will be for IGA's kickstarter

 

[Holykael1]

My current desktop wallpaper.. Beautiful, love her style. It's a bummer they didn't use her for certain Castlevania titles...

Love this one aswell, my favourite take on Simon Belmont:

 

[Holykael1]

I feel like all the artists that become synonymous with a series gets dropped for unknown reasons, same thing happened with Amano & FF.

I miss Kojima's artwork.. They sell an imported collection of her work on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004L7F7PG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Does this include her Castlevania works?(Sorry for the double post, wanted to edit and posted reply by mistake)

 

[BOTEC]

I bought Söldnerschild and the strategy guide only because her work was on the cover. Game is total crap.

I also bought this. I'm assuming this is Kojima's work? It's also crap.

 

[thesolidshark]

Her work has probably sold a lot of people on Castlevania games, before players knew they were good. Me included sometimes.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

It still amazes me how thoroughly the artwork of Castlevania jumped the shark in the DS/Wii era.

We went from this:

To this:

Judgment art and designs were by the Death Note guy, not Kojima

(Didn't include art because it needn't be seen)

 

[braves01]

I've always loved that Castlevania artwork, though I never knew who it was making it. If there's ever a big art book like The Sky with her Castlevania stuff, I'll buy it.

 

[Gsak]

It still amazes me how thoroughly the artwork of Castlevania jumped the shark in the DS/Wii era.

We went from this:

To this:

And,,, to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SyYIo03X0E

 

[B_Boss]

What a great topic. We need one for much of the older NES/SNES Konami artworks. I don't believe that person/s have been found lol.

 

[RadioHeadAche]

Wonderful artwork. I haven't played much from the series, but I always liked that art-style.

I bought Castlevania: Lament of Innocence for the box art.

 

[spyhunterzero]

God, I love her art. It's just so beautiful to me.

 

[fvng]

Does this include her Castlevania works?(Sorry for the double post, wanted to edit and posted reply by mistake)

Hi yes, it does, I updated the photo in the previous post. It's probably my favorite art book, I own a few but it's the one I enjoy flipping through the most

 

[fvng]

And,,, to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SyYIo03X0E

They completely shit on the Castlevania franchise, jesus christ

 

[BocoDragon]

I remember how strange it was at first... Remember when Konami used a CG render of the castle for the American SotN box art?

Of course it grows on you quick. Really lent the series some artistry. It had kind of a "Universal Monsters" feel in the early days.

 

[manipulate]

She's straight up awesome.

 

[EvilKatarn]

Yesss.

I really like Shanoa's design as well though. That was a good direction for Castlevania to go in.

 

[Nudull]

And,,, to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SyYIo03X0E

Oh what the fuck, Castlevania Judgement?

Anyway, I adore the hell out of Kojima's work. It's one of the best things about Castlevania. :3

 

[Ezalc]

I feel like all the artists that become synonymous with a series gets dropped for unknown reasons, same thing happened with Amano & FF.

I miss Kojima's artwork.. They sell an imported collection of her work on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004L7F7PG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Love art like this. Recently got The Sky for that Amano, this will be mine as well. So good.

 

[GhostTrick]

Great artist, among my favorites with Yoshida, Amano and Nishimura.

 

[Dabookerman]

She did some art of Shanoa for Harmony of Despair. Would have loved to see what she'd do for Ecclesia though.

Ahhhh! I've never seen these o_o..

Good stuff.

 

[fvng]

Is there a GAF thread on art books from Japan

 

[Gsak]

 

[Holykael1]

Damn, she is very talented and super pretty.

 

[TnK]

My current desktop wallpaper.. Beautiful, love her style. It's a bummer they didn't use her for certain Castlevania titles...

Love this one aswell, my favourite take on Simon Belmont:

She did great in Samurai/Dynasty Warriors

Fantastic artist.

Where can I find high res artwork for both of these?

Also, her art is fantastic. Was a fan since 2004/05 when I first started this series with SotN.

 

[Tizoc]

Has Ayami's art become less 'sameface' now? I like her art but some characters share the same face heh.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Love this one aswell, my favourite take on Simon Belmont:

Favorite Simon too