The person I have chosen as my idol is Katoki Hajime (カトキハジメ)
About Katoki Hajime :
He is a popular Japanese mecha designer. He was born in 1963. Also, he is a member of the studio called Sunrise, he is highly noted for his work on the Gundam series as well as his work on video games, such as the Virtual On series and Policenauts. For additional information, the Gundam FIX figuration toys' Series are also produced by him. His major style is applying long straight lines on his design. He love to make everything looks longer and plus some slight curves in this mecha design.
A quote from wikipedia on Katoki’s philosophy:
"In his art book Gundam Fix Katoki said, "Do people, like myself, spend time imagining what it would be like if Gundam robots were actually present on the streets of our cities? Are you sure you're not limiting yourself to the images that were offered in the animated series? One of the reasons that I fell in love with Gundam was that it excites me to imagine what it would be like if these machines actually existed, and I worry that other fans may be losing out..." He said he hopes his work will catch peoples' attention"...then people who had never before been drawn in by the magic of these giant robots may discover their attraction for the first time."
About his work:
Katoki gained fame with his designs for the graphic novel Gundam Sentinel. He then designed the famous RX-78 GP03 Dendrobium Orchis mobile weapon in the OVA series Gundam 0083. After that he was the main designer for V Gundam (this included the mecha named Victory Gundam, V2 Gundam and the hefty V2 Assault Buster Gundam..etc) He then worked in Gundam W on some minor mobile suits, but in Gundam W Endless Waltz he designed all of the mobile suits, and re-designed the Gundams with a more fantastic style, creating one of his most famous mechs: the XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero Custom. To correspond with these new designs, he also redesigned the 5 original Gundams from Gundam W, as a result, his redesign of Wing Gundam has become a popular model kit.
Here is some sample of Katoki Hajime's mecha design:
MSA-0011[Ext] Ex-S Gundam
original sketch of Ex-S Gundam
[picture retrieved from:http://www.mahq.net/MECHA/gundam/sentinel/msa-0011-ext.htm]
LM314V21 Victory 2 Gundam
[picture retrieved from:http://www.mahq.net/MECHA/gundam/v/lm314v21.htm]
XXXG-01D2 Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom
[picture retrieved from:http://www.mahq.net/MECHA/gundam/endlesswaltz/xxxg-01d2.htm]
Bibliography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajime_Katoki
http://www.mahq.net/MECHA/gundam/index.htm
PR
