![Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 8
Special Feature: You Ask, Nomura Answers! (Part 2)
Square’s Tetsuya Nomura returns for his fan-favorite column full of Tosa flair. This month sees the artist answering more questions from readers, and offers an exciting glimpse into his private life!
Tetsuya Nomura - Profile
A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Born October 8th, 1970. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Lately obsessed with The Future Diary.
Q1: Who do you use for reference models when drawing characters? (M, Tokyo)
Almost always foreigners. And not celebrities or anything, just total strangers. If they’ve got a distinctive face or eyes, I’ll take a feature and use it as reference. There ends up being a lot of collaging, so it’s really rare I use an individual actor or someone as the sole model. Oh, and I place particular emphasis on the eyes, even compared to the rest of the face.
Also, I wouldn’t say there’s any character that really matches my image, but according to Nojima, our scenario writer, Seifer evidently comes close [in terms of personality] [laughs]. Whenever I draw a protagonist, there’ll be people who point out a resemblance, but it’s not something I’m purposely trying to do, and I really don’t think there is any. It’s probably the same with the other characters, too, though I do think there’s some cross-influence with the hairstyles. In which case, I guess I’m like Selphie right now [laughs].
With the character modeling, it’s basically never the case you look at them and go, “Oh, that’s so-and-so!” At best you might think, “Huh, maybe that’s so-and-so…” I actually don’t really think it’s a good thing if you can figure out who the model is. Yet whenever I come out with a new character, everyone’s like, “This guy must be modeled after so-and-so” [laughs]. The guesses are usually wrong, but then again, it’s up to](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nswouy7gwa5nyag4shprsjob/bafkreid66gwr6o7qyqualmigtomq2tccgn5hds2f7mymj3frr44vhtvmwa@jpeg)
Tetsuya Nomura’s Super-Special Journey with Square, Vol. 8 Special Feature: You Ask, Nomura Answers! (Part 2) Square’s Tetsuya Nomura returns for his fan-favorite column full of Tosa flair. This month sees the artist answering more questions from readers, and offers an exciting glimpse into his private life! Tetsuya Nomura - Profile A graphic designer on Square Co, Ltd.’s development team. Born October 8th, 1970. Hails from Kōchi Prefecture. Known for his work on FFVII, FFVIII, Parasite Eve, and more. Likes to watch TV in his free time. Lately obsessed with The Future Diary. Q1: Who do you use for reference models when drawing characters? (M, Tokyo) Almost always foreigners. And not celebrities or anything, just total strangers. If they’ve got a distinctive face or eyes, I’ll take a feature and use it as reference. There ends up being a lot of collaging, so it’s really rare I use an individual actor or someone as the sole model. Oh, and I place particular emphasis on the eyes, even compared to the rest of the face. Also, I wouldn’t say there’s any character that really matches my image, but according to Nojima, our scenario writer, Seifer evidently comes close [in terms of personality] [laughs]. Whenever I draw a protagonist, there’ll be people who point out a resemblance, but it’s not something I’m purposely trying to do, and I really don’t think there is any. It’s probably the same with the other characters, too, though I do think there’s some cross-influence with the hairstyles. In which case, I guess I’m like Selphie right now [laughs]. With the character modeling, it’s basically never the case you look at them and go, “Oh, that’s so-and-so!” At best you might think, “Huh, maybe that’s so-and-so…” I actually don’t really think it’s a good thing if you can figure out who the model is. Yet whenever I come out with a new character, everyone’s like, “This guy must be modeled after so-and-so” [laughs]. The guesses are usually wrong, but then again, it’s up to
![Q2: How would you describe your cubicle at work? (F, Aichi)
Right now it’s nice and tidy, but it usually looks like a dump [laughs]. I actually don’t do a whole lot of personal work at my cubicle. I do most of my drawing at home, so the cubicle has kind of turned into a storage unit. And then I’ve decorated it with all sorts of things up top, but it’s almost all stuff other people have given me. So I’ve kind of just scattered everything around without much thought [laughs]. And now because of the projects I’m on, I’ve actually got two cubicles, which means twice the headache.
Q3: How do you come up with ideas for stuff like summoning scenes? (Kanagawa, F)
I guess I think it through as I write… Like, “What comes next after this?” Anything can turn into a new idea—nothing’s locked in, you know? So for example, I’ll be watching a movie or TV show or reading a book. Whenever I’m doing that, I’m trying to predict what’ll happen next. But my predictions are usually wrong [laughs]. So in those cases when things turn out differently, I’ll take that prediction and the process I went through coming up with it and sort of stockpile it as an idea.
But I never actually jot that stuff down when it comes to me, and I eventually end up forgetting it [laughs]. So when inspiration does strike, I try to talk about it with whatever staff or friends are around. That way, the person I talk to can remember it for me. And then whoever hears those ideas will sort of expand on them with their own touches. That back-and-forth pretty often gives rise to more new ideas.
[Image caption:] Nomura: When I was coming up with the summoning scenes for FFVII, I figured I’d use the first one I made—Leviathan—to sort of set the standard for the rest, and I decided to have just two other ones be more elaborate than that.
Q4: You’ve said you like to watch TV in your free time. What shows are you into? (F, Saitama)
I’ve got a list of programs I watch each week, including lots of variety shows. I’ll s](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nswouy7gwa5nyag4shprsjob/bafkreif2ztwttstffqsvelk5ppindrkjna7pqz3brglrgjxc3ghpx5jfga@jpeg)
Q2: How would you describe your cubicle at work? (F, Aichi) Right now it’s nice and tidy, but it usually looks like a dump [laughs]. I actually don’t do a whole lot of personal work at my cubicle. I do most of my drawing at home, so the cubicle has kind of turned into a storage unit. And then I’ve decorated it with all sorts of things up top, but it’s almost all stuff other people have given me. So I’ve kind of just scattered everything around without much thought [laughs]. And now because of the projects I’m on, I’ve actually got two cubicles, which means twice the headache. Q3: How do you come up with ideas for stuff like summoning scenes? (Kanagawa, F) I guess I think it through as I write… Like, “What comes next after this?” Anything can turn into a new idea—nothing’s locked in, you know? So for example, I’ll be watching a movie or TV show or reading a book. Whenever I’m doing that, I’m trying to predict what’ll happen next. But my predictions are usually wrong [laughs]. So in those cases when things turn out differently, I’ll take that prediction and the process I went through coming up with it and sort of stockpile it as an idea. But I never actually jot that stuff down when it comes to me, and I eventually end up forgetting it [laughs]. So when inspiration does strike, I try to talk about it with whatever staff or friends are around. That way, the person I talk to can remember it for me. And then whoever hears those ideas will sort of expand on them with their own touches. That back-and-forth pretty often gives rise to more new ideas. [Image caption:] Nomura: When I was coming up with the summoning scenes for FFVII, I figured I’d use the first one I made—Leviathan—to sort of set the standard for the rest, and I decided to have just two other ones be more elaborate than that. Q4: You’ve said you like to watch TV in your free time. What shows are you into? (F, Saitama) I’ve got a list of programs I watch each week, including lots of variety shows. I’ll s
Moving on to Vol. 8 of Tetsuya Nomura's Game Walker column!
Nomura dives into his creative process:
-He rarely uses singular model references
-Nojima thinks Seifer takes after him (personality-wise)
-He draws late into the night watching VR'd TV shows
Thanks to moku_moku131459 for the photo!
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