Thread by @MbKKssTBhz5

The latest issue of Famitsu also contained an interview with Soejima, Oribe and Wada on the series’ art work. A full translation will be available shortly.

Question: “When it comes to the artwork of the series, it is my understanding that outside of Soejima, there have been many team members involved in the art design process for the series. First of all, please tell us about your current structure.”

Soejima: “During the time when Persona 4 was released in 2008, there were mainly two people who worked on the artwork for the Persona series: myself and Oribe.”

“Since then, the number of spin-offs and other derivative media for the series has continued to increase, and in turn, new staff members have been added to the team to handle them. As a result, each of us has accumulated experience.“

“Speaking of, Oribe, you were in charge of designing side characters such as the teachers in Persona 4, right?”

Oribe: “Yes. Those were some of my first designs, in fact. I didn’t want the characters to look out of place when they were placed alongside Soejima’s designs. I try to match the general sense of design when I am in charge of these types of projects.”

Wada:
“In the case of the Persona series, I was first responsible for overseeing the designs of side characters such as the teachers. I often start with the side characters such as the teachers, then move on to Social Link characters, and then finally, main character design.”

“Maintaining consistency in how designs are expressed and presented within a series or title is very important when dividing up the artwork, so we find the right staff who can do that and assign them.”

“What was your approach to Persona 5 Tactica, which has its own unique touch?”

Oribe: “The art direction when it comes to the more chibi-style design reminded many of the PQ series of games. However, Tactica is not a sequel to PQ, and the genre of the game is different.”

“So, I aimed to create artwork that I felt was the most emblematic of this title. In the seven years since Persona 5 was released, there have been many spin-off projects.”

“And if we were going to release another new game, we felt it should be challenging both in content and its appearance. I think this was something that the development team as a whole was aware of, not just myself.”

Question: “As Wada mentioned in his interview, the characters move with a sense of aggression in the battles featured in Tactica, so you aimed to create visuals that would express that, right?”

Oribe: “Yes. In Persona Q, the silhouettes were more rounded with small arms and legs, which is a type of style more familiar to Japanese people. But in Tactica, the 3D models are intentionally taller with the arms and legs being longer to emphasize this.”

“If anything, it may seem more like an American comic-like deformed style. This may not be to everyone’s liking, and some members of the development team expressed their concerns that the models might come off as too ‘strong.’

Soejima: “If you design something that appears too strong, the response will be even stronger. So we are always prepared for that type of reaction.”

Oribe: “I also came at this with clear intentions, so I prepared materials to explain it. If the battles were to be viewed from an overhead view, the usual height would make the characters look almost like a bundle of matchsticks in comparison.”

“And the height of models alongside their head would make it much more difficult to depict dynamic types of gestures, so I felt this style of deformed design was a good choice for this project. I strongly empathized this point, and Wada supported my idea.”

“Also, among the staff in charge of 3D modeling, there were members who had been involved with the series since the days of Persona 4, and they greatly encouraged me to vividly design the characters to make full use of both 2D and 3D.”

Question: “Did you design the new character Elle as well?”

Oribe: “Yes. The theme in this project is ‘revolution,” and the premise was that Elle would be a powerful character who would lead a revolution.“

“In previous entries in the series, the focus has often been on the individual growth of each character, but Elle is more of a girl who leads amongst her allies and raises the morale of those around her, even if she herself is hurt. I was very conscious of this when designing her

Question: “The image of her holding up the flag was also very impressive.”

Oribe: “As I had mentioned, it is an almost indispensable prop when representing the theme of revolution. The flag in Elle’s hand is used as a spear in battle.“

“We chose it for its high degree of visibility, even when viewed from a distance through an overhead view.”