Ken Sugimori

File:Ken Sugimori.png

Ken Sugimori in September, 2010

Ken Sugimori (Japanese: 杉森　建, born January 27, 1966) is a friend of Satoshi Tajiri and illustrator of the original artwork for Pokémon games. He also has developed conceptual artwork for the movies, and illustrates TCG cards and merchandising.

Sugimori's change of style over the years has been noticeable. Initially, he used a stiff, lightly shaded style that was very reminiscent of the early works of Akira Toriyama. However, in recent years, his drawings of people and creatures have had more muscle definition, shading, and more natural and fluid poses.

The character in the Pokémon anime, Kenji (called Tracey Sketchit in the dub), may be an homage to him, especially as both enjoy creating art. This is similar to the way Satoshi (called Ash Ketchum in the dub) is named after Satoshi Tajiri.

Works

Games

This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: more credits. This list is very bare and is missing many credits

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Legend:

• FC: Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System)
• SFC: Super Famicom (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)
• MD: Mega Drive (Sega Genesis)
• GB: Game Boy
• GBC: Game Boy Color
• GBA: Game Boy Advance
• N64: Nintendo 64
• PM: Pokémon mini
• GCN: Nintendo GameCube
• DS: Nintendo DS

Game Title	System	Sale Date	Position
Mendel Palace (Quinty in Japan)	FC	1989-06-27	Character Design/Character Digitalize
Jelly Boy	SFC	1991-09-13	Character Design
Magical Fantastic World	MD	1992-04-24	Director
Mario & Wario	SFC	1993-08-27	Graphics
Pulseman	MD	1994-07-22	Character Design/Artist
Pokémon Red and Green Versions	GB	1996-02-27	Character Design/Pokémon Design
Pokémon Blue	GB	1999-10-10	Character Design/Pokémon Design
Pokémon Yellow Version	GB	1998-09-12	Character Design/Pokémon Design
Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions	GB	1999-11-21	Graphic Designer/Pokémon Design/Package & Manual Illustrations
Pokémon Puzzle Challenge	GBC	2000-09-21	Pokémon Supervisor
Pokémon Crystal Version	GBC	2000-12-14	Graphic Designer/Pokémon Design/Package & Manual Illustrations
Pokémon Party Mini	PM	2001-12-14	Supervisor
Pokémon Pinball mini	PM	2001-12-14	Supervisor
Pokémon Tetris mini	PM	2002-03-21	Supervisor
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Versions	GBA	2002-11-21	Art Director/Pokémon & Graphic Design/Package & Manual Illustrations
Pokémon Box Ruby & Sapphire	GCN	2003-05-30	Designer
Pokémon Channel	GCN	2003-07-18	Supervisor
Pokémon Colosseum	GCN	2003-11-21	Pokémon Games Designer
Pokémon Dash	DS	2004-12-2	Pokémon & Package Graphic Design
Drill Dozer	GBA	2006-02-06	Designer/Character Designer
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Versions	DS	2006-09-28	Art Director/Pokémon & Graphic Designer
Pokémon Platinum Version	DS	2008-09-13	Art Director/Pokémon Designer & Graphic Designer
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions	DS	2009-09-12	Pokémon Design/Graphic Supervisor
Pokémon Black and White Versions	DS	2010	Pokémon Design/Graphic Supervisor

Trading Card Game

For a list of cards illustrated by Ken Sugimori, go here.

Animation

• 1998-07-18 Pikachu's Vacation (Character Concept Art)
• 1998-07-18 Mewtwo Strikes Back (Character Concept Art)
• 1999-07-17 Pikachu's Rescue Adventure (Character Concept Art)
• 1999-07-17 The Power of One (Character Concept Art)
• 2000-07-08 Pikachu & Pichu (Character Concept Art)
• 2000-07-08 Spell of the Unown (Character Concept Art)
• 2001-07-07 Pikachu's PikaBoo (Character Concept Art)
• 2001-07-07 Celebi: Voice of the Forest (Character Concept Art)
• 2002-07-13 Camp Pikachu (Character Concept Art)
• 2002-07-13 Pokémon Heroes (Character Concept Art)
• 2003-07-19 Gotta Dance! (Character Concept Art)
• 2003-07-19 Jirachi: Wish Maker (Character Concept Art)
• 2004-07-17 Destiny Deoxys (Character Concept Art)

Trivia

• Sugimori's favorite Pokémon of Pokémon Black and White is Zekrom.

External Links

• Personal blog at Game Freak official site (Japanese)
• Sugimori's Twitter page (Japanese)