Our chronicle of the most interesting panels of Lucca Comics and Games (@luccacomicsandgames) 2024 continues and this time it’s Yoshitaka Amano’s turn.
His love for drawing began when he was a kid. He never imagined that his passion could become a job.
Still middle-school aged, he went to visit a friend who had moved to Tokyo. His house was near Tatsunoko and then Amano decided to bring his portfolio with him, saying: “Well, let’s try to bring my works there” ; He didn’t think for a moment that he was there to get a job.
Pinocchio was fundamental, it was his first job as character design manager where he made the transition from animator to character designer. “Prisoner” of the character room:
“Every time I had the chance, I ran away. Seeing you and seeing the love you feel for the characters I created, maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t run away completely“.
After some time, he was offered the opportunity by a magazine to do the covers ; this meant that Amano could draw what he wanted each month, giving him a lot of freedom. He has fond memories of Vampire Hunter, his debut in publishing, and is still very proud of his work.
More recently, he collaborated with Neil Gaiman on “Sandman the Dream Hunter” and “White Duke”.
