Yoshinori Kitase
{{Short description|Japanese game director (born 1966)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Yoshinori Kitase
| native_name = 北瀬 佳範
| image = Square-enix dissidia yoshinori-kitase.jpg
| alt =
| caption =Kitase at the 2009 E3
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|9|23}}
| birth_place = Japan
| alma_mater = Nihon University
| occupation = Video game director, game producer
| title =
| employer = Square Enix
| years active = 1990–present
| spouse =
| children =
| notable works = Final Fantasy series
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
}}
{{nihongo|Yoshinori Kitase|北瀬 佳範|Kitase Yoshinori|born September 23, 1966}} is a Japanese game director and producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X, and the producer of the Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII series.
He is currently the head of Square Enix's Creative Studios I and II, the Final Fantasy series Brand Manager, an executive officer at Square Enix and a member of the board of directors at both Square Enix Co, Ltd and Square Enix Holdings.{{cite web |date=2019 |title=Board of Directors |url=http://www.jp.square-enix.com/company/en/officer/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513103638/http://www.jp.square-enix.com/company/en/officer/ |archive-date=13 May 2016 |access-date=14 May 2016 |publisher=Square Enix}}
He was the head of Square Enix's Creative Business Unit 1 as well as Business Division 1 during their entire respective existences as well as a Corporate Executive. He is also part of the Final Fantasy Committee that is tasked with keeping the franchise's releases and content consistent.{{cite web|url=http://app.famitsu.com/20140627_400900/|title=【インタビュー（完全版）】『ファイナルファンタジーVII Gバイク』 いま明かされる開発秘話|publisher=Famitsu|date=2014-06-27|access-date=2015-05-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430103819/http://app.famitsu.com/20140627_400900/|archive-date=30 April 2015|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.siliconera.com/2014/03/25/square-enixs-final-fantasy-committee/ |title=What Does Square Enix's Final Fantasy Committee Do? |publisher=Siliconera |date=25 March 2014 |access-date=2 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306033421/http://www.siliconera.com/2014/03/25/square-enixs-final-fantasy-committee/ |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url-status=live }}
Biography
In July 1978, at the age of 11, Kitase watched the movie Star Wars for the first time and was deeply impressed with it. He later examined the making-of video to it and became interested in the creative process of the film industry. Kitase decided to attend the Nihon University College of Art and studied screenwriting and filmmaking. Although he enjoyed filming, he showed a much greater passion for post-production editing as he felt it allowed him to give the footage a completely new meaning and to appeal to the viewers' feelings. In his first year after the graduation, Kitase worked at a small animation studio that produced animated television programs and commercials. When he played Final Fantasy for the first time, he considered a switch to the game industry as he felt that it had potential when it came to animation and storytelling.{{Cite web |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/Everything-we-know-about-man-behind-final-fantasy-7-remake/ |title=Everything we know about the man behind the Final Fantasy 7 remake |date=14 August 2015 |access-date=13 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513223545/https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/Everything-we-know-about-man-behind-final-fantasy-7-remake/ |archive-date=13 May 2019 |url-status=live }} Despite having no software development knowledge, he applied at the game development company Square and was hired in March 1990. In the ten years to follow, he gathered experience as an "event scripter", directing the characters' movements and facial expressions on the game screen as well as setting the timings and music transitions. He has compared this work to directing film actors.{{cite web|script-title=ja:「ハリウッド映画に負けていますか？」 スクウェア・エニックスプロデューサー北瀬 佳範|url=http://gendai.ismedia.jp/articles/print/54|publisher=Kodansha|access-date=5 April 2013|language=ja|date=25 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045049/http://gendai.ismedia.jp/articles/print/54|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}} Kitase continued directing cutscenes in spite of filling other roles in later projects; for example, he directed part of the event scenes in Final Fantasy VIII and was event planner for the Nibelheim section of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.
File:Isamu Kamikokuryo and Yoshinori Kitase.jpg (left) at HMV's Final Fantasy XIII launch event in London in March, 2010]]
When many players responded to the sci-fi world of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII by requesting a "simple fantasy world", Kitase tried to expand the definition of the word "fantasy" beyond that of a medieval European setting. This led to Southeast Asia being the backdrop for Final Fantasy X.{{cite web|title=Beyond FINAL FANTASY – Interviews|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tzf-baZ1Bc|work=FINAL FANTASY X Bonus DVD| date=26 January 2007 |publisher=Square Enix Co., Ltd|access-date=4 April 2011|quote=Yoshinori Kitase: For Final Fantasy VII and VIII, the setting was sci-fi and many players responded by saying that they preferred a simple fantasy world. They seemed to have a fixed notion of what fantasy means to them, and to them, it consisted of a medieval European world. I wanted to change that idea. I wanted to expand the definition of what the players thought the word "fantasy" implied.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523052221/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tzf-baZ1Bc|archive-date=23 May 2014|url-status=live}} Kitase referred to Final Fantasy VII and its protagonist Cloud Strife as his favorite game and character, respectively.{{cite web|url=http://www.videogamer.com/psp/dissidia_final_fantasy/news/yoshinori_kitase_on_ffxiii_ffvii_and_dissidia.html?page=2|title=Yoshinori Kitase on FFXIII, FFVII and Dissidia|publisher=VideoGamer.com|date=8 May 2009|access-date=1 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222857/http://www.videogamer.com/psp/dissidia_final_fantasy/news/yoshinori_kitase_on_ffxiii_ffvii_and_dissidia.html?page=2|archive-date=2 December 2013|url-status=live}} In an interview, he said that he loves first-person shooters.{{cite web| author=Cheng, Justin| date=19 May 2005| url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/617/617474p1.html| title=E3 2005: Yoshinori Kitase Interview| publisher=IGN| access-date=19 July 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629134438/http://ps2.ign.com/articles/617/617474p1.html| archive-date=29 June 2011| url-status=live}} Kitase supervised the Final Fantasy VII: Technical Demo for PS3. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi feels that he "handed the torch to" Kitase as far as heading the series is concerned.{{cite web |url=http://www.famitsu.com/matome/ff15/2016_05_13_eng.html |title=Hironobu Sakaguchi and Hajime Tabata Discuss Their Passion for the Series and Behind-the-Scenes Episodes from the Final Fantasy XV Reveal Event |publisher=Famitsu |date=13 May 2016 |access-date=13 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611060519/http://www.famitsu.com/matome/ff15/2016_05_13_eng.html |archive-date=11 June 2016 |url-status=live }}
Works
=Video games=
=Other media=
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||
| Year | Title | Credit(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Final Fantasy VI The Interactive CG Game | Director |
| 1999 | Party from Final Fantasy VIII | Director |
| 2001 | Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within | Thanks |
| rowspan="3" |2005 | Final Fantasy VII Technical Demo for PS3 | Producer |
| Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | Producer | |
| Last Order: Final Fantasy VII | Executive producer | |
| rowspan="2" |2009 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete | Producer |
| On the Way to a Smile - Episode: Denzel | Executive producer | |
| 2016 | Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV | Special thanks |
=Additional credits=
Notes
- {{Note label|Time as producer|A|A}}Kitase was a producer on Final Fantasy XV until the end of 2013.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110605014329/http://www.1up.com/do/contributionIndex?publicUserId=6049935&type=blogs&Dispatch=Iframe Yoshinori Kitase's official English blog]
- {{IMDb name|id=nm0457592}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Square Enix}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitase, Yoshinori}}
Category:Japanese video game designers
Category:Japanese video game producers
Category:Japanese video game directors