Very nice video explaining the history and life story of Sugimori.
I’m sure many of you would enjoy watching this!
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Really well made doc. Loved it. Wonderful artists who made it all happen.
It really explains him well and shows just how and why things changed so much after gen 2.
Ah. The tragic life of the dreaming artist. A common fable of gratitude for success but disappointment at not getting that true aim you didn’t quite get.
But we love you deeply Ken.
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Unbelievable talent that most manga artists could only dream of. Drill Dozer is a fantastic game too. Extremely polished. And one of the few GBA games with a built in rumble pack!
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That got profundly deep and sad by the end.
It reminds me of creating a piece of art. Whenever I draw something, usually using a reference picture or multiple, I’m always able to notice some things that are every so slightly off, no matter how tiny or not from what I was trying to do. Some lines could have been done a bit cleaner, some shading didn’t quite turn out the way I intended. When I show someone else the piece of art, they’ll say they love it and how well it turned out but they don’t know what I originally had in mind as I was drawing.
I look at Sugimori’s art with the utmost respect. His art style IS pokemon to me. I don’t care for pokemon that isn’t in his art style nearly as much as stuff that is. But I wonder if its common for most artists to have their art to never quite live up to what they envisioned. Nonetheless, it shows even the best artists are often the ones most critical of their own work.
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I understand his struggle of self-fulfillment, and he has lived a life of irreplaceable service to all who love and cherish his art - I hope that is enough solace for him.
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Man that was a lot. Sugimori is one of the greatest artists to me and its a shame to hear that he never really got to achieve his dream. I will be forever grateful to him and hope that he can find solace in the fact that he touched many lives with his art.
Someday I intend to check out his non Pokémon art/games and hope to appreciate them fort he heart he put into them.
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Wow that was bittersweet. The pressure cooker that is Japan has produced quality, but its not uncommon to suffer in stress and doubt. Sugimori will never fully grasp how influential and cherished his artwork is for multiple generations of people around the world. Meanwhile all of the “better” trained artists that he compares himself to will die in complete obscurity. This was such a somber video.
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Damn feel kinda sad around the end. Hearing that he never wanted to be known as the “Pokemon Man”. Feeling embarrassed about his work and not becoming an anime/manga creator. Kind of feel like he low key dissing us and others that like the games or cards. IDK I guess im going too deep. I do own the Ken art book they showed, and wish i could read japanese to read it.
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I remember watching this video from that channel.
It made me like Lugia even more - such a weird story attached to it.
Many 90s-early 00s creators gave a strong foundation to this franchise for sure.
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After watching this I immediately turned on my Switch and booted up Pulseman on NSO.
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fun game. just wish they made this compete with megaman.
I agree. It is very somber and so disturbing. I love this hobby and all the positives it can bring. yet, there truly seems to be a darkness in how artist and their creativity and design is treated in the early days and even now. TPCI owns everything an artist creates. Every Pokemon artist gives up all rights to their work. There is another e4 thread of how Yuka Morlis doesn’t own the art .
Think about this. The creator of Pikachu, Charizard some of the most recognized and known characters in the world . More popular than Mickey Mouse get limited financial gain from their own creations!
Sugamai’s creative depression is real. I wish he could break free to find himself. His work with game freak will stand thru time, yet he doesn’t see his greatness. If I could do one thing I would wish to help him realize his value as an artist. He has been ground breaking. If he chose to do magna he would have blown that away with his talent and creativity
Sorry for the rant. I just find it so disturbing that this creative and talented person feels undervalued and unimportant… if I ever have the opportunity I will go to an event that features Ken Sugamori just to tell them I appreciate and value all they have contributed.
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I’ve got this missing the obi, great book.
Such an icon to the hobby deserves all the accolades he gets
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For some reason i didnt see this posted on the forum and created another thread (deleted it lol).
And yes, that’s extremely common within artists. Me being an artist it is an eternal struggle you have about how “useless” or how “underskilled” you are, despite it being so far away from what the reality is.
You can find hundreds of examples of huge influential artists throughout history feeling this way or how art is the only thing keeping their sanity.
Some might say this struggle is actually needed it to thrive, that old cliche that without darkness you can’t achieve great art seems like a common theme with great artists.
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The general narrative of the video is that Ken Sugimori built something that was so big that he would perpetually stand in it’s shadow.
It’s written like a tragedy but it also just rings as ungrateful. Like he’s forced to carry this burden of being one of the most recognized living artists on the planet. And that he mostly got there through good timing and luck rather than skill. I also get the vibe that he just doesn’t like Pokemon that much or at least doesn’t take ownership of his important role in it’s creation.
But of course this is just a video trying to tell a story so maybe he doesn’t feel this way at all kn reality.
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i’m sure there’s a lot of personal/ cultural expectations and standards that I couldn’t pretend to understand.
i’d personally give him the benefit of the doubt that this video doesn’t convey every aspect of his feelings towards pokemon. (and pokemon enjoyers aren’t typically known for their great communication skills lol.)
Seemed like a lot of the conclusion came from his general feelings on his manga dream and the writings in his illustration books. We all have our good and bad days and good and bad feelings. I’m sure Sugimori understand at least some of the extent the weight of his work has, but still has regrets over certain areas.
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I thought that as well. A lot of the interviews were from years ago.
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What do people think about collecting work from artists who publicly said they actually don’t like themselves? I’ve started to notice this trend mostly among voice actors, who in panels and interviews said they just did it as a job and not as into it as the fans expect them to be. There’s no wrong in that, but it bumps me out when I hear that personally. Suddenly I feel like my collection means nothing. “Never meet your heroes in person” couldn’t be more true.
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totally understand your feelings, although i would add that this is a more common mentality among creators than you might expect.
there have been countless popular artists, VAs, musicians, and even athletes who have expressed dissatisfaction with their careers. sure it hurts the parasocial relationship a bit, but i’m still thankful that their endeavors exist rather than not.
i think of it more as their reflections upon realizing that they pursued what was successful and popular instead of achieving or creating what they truly wanted, which is understandable, even though the phrasing could use some work.
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