Akihiro Yamada

Akihiro Yamada
Native name	山田 章博 Yamada Akihiro
Date of birth	February 10, 1957
Place of birth	Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation(s)	Illustrator, manga artist
Resumé	Castlevania: Dracula X
Website	kirakuya-honpo.hustle.ne.jp/yamada-akihiro

Akihiro Yamada (山田 章博, Yamada Akihiro^?) is a Japanese illustrator and manga artist. Mostly known by Castlevania fans due to his work as the character designer and illustrator for Castlevania: Dracula X for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Portfolio

Among his known works, some of the most known outside Japan are his illustrations of Fuyumi Ono's long-running The Twelve Kingdoms light novel series, and the manga Record of Lodoss War: The Lady of Pharis, who he made in conjunction with writer Ryo Mizuno.

He has also worked as a designer for several video games, being very prolific during the 1990s. A short list of them includes:

• Black Rainbow (PC-98) [1990] - Cover art, character designer
• Black Rainbow II (PC-98) [1992] - Cover art, character designer
• Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (PC Engine) [1993] - Cover art (Japanese ver.)
• Ancient Magic (Super Famicom) [1993] - Cover art, character designer
• Gaiapolis (arcade) [1993] - Promotional art
• Wizardry I・II (PC Engine) [1993] - Cover art
• Wizardry III・IV (PC Engine) [1994] - Cover art
• Kingdom Grand Prix (arcade, Sega Saturn) [1994/1995] - Cover art (Sega Saturn), character designer
• Mystic Ark (Super Famicom) [1995] - Cover art, character designer
• Castlevania: Dracula X (Super Famicom) [1995] - Cover art, character designer
• Terra Phantastica (Sega Saturn) [1996] - Cover art, character designer
• Milandra (Super Famicom) [1997] - Cover art
• Front Mission 3 (PlayStation) [1999] - Character designer
• Mystic Ark (PlayStation) [1999] - Cover art, character designer
• Meremanoid (PlayStation) [1999] - Cover art, character designer
• Saiyuki: Journey West (PlayStation) [1999] - Cover art, character designer
• Fire Emblem Heroes (Android, iOS) [2017] - Character designer (Jagen, Ogma, Zephiel, Gunter)

Further reading

• Yamada, Akihiro. Fantasy Art Works. Tokyo: Soft Bank Publishing, 2006.
• Yamada, Akihiro. A Collection of Paintings. Tokyo: Chuoukouron Shin Sha, 2004.
• Yamada, Akihiro. Souvenir. Tokyo: Nihon Editors, 2004.
• Yamada, Akihiro. RahXephon Artworks. Tokyo: Soft Bank Publishing, 2003.
• Yamada, Akihiro. Mystic Ark Art Works. Japan, 2000.