Hope everyone is enjoying Valentines day. Today, also happens to be the birthday of one of the first illustrators to work for Creatures Inc. on the TCG back in 1995. If not for his untimely death in 2002, this year Mr. Kinebuchi would have been 70 years old.. only a couple of weeks before the franchise turns 30.
Relationship with Arita:
Mr. Kinebuchi met Mr. Artia on a computer bulletin board (similar to a forum). Kinebuchi connected Arita with Mr. Ishihara late 1995 when development of the TCG project was underway. According to Mr. Arita, Kinebuchi praised his 2D and 3D drawing skills and recommended him as an illustrator since it was not yet decided which direction the illustrations would be. Mr. Artia would later claim that the energy symbols were designed by him but the energy cards themselves were designed by Mr. Kinebuchi afterwards.
Bonus: His cat’s name is Kunya, and she was named by Kagemaru Himeno.
Closing words:
Although his illustrations are typically not fan favorites, many of the supporters by Kinebuchi from base through gym sets are super nostalgic, at least for me! The simple and charming CGI models of clefairy doll, switch, or potion, just to name a few, will forever be classics. Although he is often forgotten, we remember Mr. Kinebuchi and thank him for his instrumental work on the TCG that we continue to love everyday here. Let me know which cards of his you enjoy.
Thank you for the history. Not much to choose from, though much of his work is iconic. I remember thinking this was really cool as a kid. I think this card also looks cool as an adult.
Happy 70th birthday and rest in peace Mr Kinebuchi. Mr Kinebuchi’s passing and original cards predate me, but I was able to experience his work through XY evolutions. I remember always being intrigued by the sharp contrast between Mr. Sugimori’s water color style and Mr. Kinebuchi’s 3d creations. Later on I discovered older cards of his. My personal favorite is this grimer. Thanks again @rtas for the history.
I hope that Pokemon will continue honoring his legacy through reprints of his work so that new collectors and future generations can appreciate Mr. Kinebuchi’s work
His work was amazing and especially at the time his art style was very unique and future-esque. Great memories looking through old binders and seeing his work. Just looking at the card was enough to recognize that it was his work.
He’s the greatest of all. I love seeing a good new thread every once in a while praising the don. My all time favorite illustrator and massive inspiration to me.
This is actually my favorite of his as well and I might go on to say the greatest pokemon card of all time. That and Imakuni’s porygon of course. This grimer is profound. It goes to show he got better and better and better than suddenly left this world at his artistic peak. I can only imagine how phenomenal and masterful his future works would have been had he not passed.
This old style CGI is super nostalgic to me, I’ve always thought it worked so well with Pokemon, giving it an ethereal look that perfectly complement the mysterious nature of these creatures.
But even not considering that, I genuinely think Mr. Kinebuchi was indeed a great artist.
One of my favorite is this Oddish: I love when he added the background on its works. It’s a great angle to showcase Oddish roaming during the night. Incredibly charming.
He was also capable of being extremely expressive, not a easy task when considering the limitations of CGI, especially back in the days. It’s unfortunate that he’s associated mostly with trainer cards which aren’t usually loved by fans, cause it’s undeniable how he greatly influenced the TCG aesthetic. I love these!
The 3D artwork he was responsible for is one of the key things that pulled me into Pokemon and made it feel real and tangible to me as a child. Its hard to explain how mystical energy cards looked to me as a kid!
That might be my favorite thread of the year so far. Shows just how special E4 is. Love this great tribute to one of the original artists that passed away way too early.
Base Set Diglett will always be one of the most nostalgic cards ever to me.
The only artist that can stand in his 3D shadow is Ueda in my opinion. Somehow gave a ton of charm despite the simplistic design in a lot of his work. These are some favorites with Porgyon being one of my favorites as a child - I imagined you receiving Porygon in a box when you won him from the game.
It wasn’t love at first sight but after it grew on me this has been my favourite grimer artwork and part of the unbeatable aquapolis/town on on map slime duo. Glad to see it has already gotten recognition in this thread, Brendan has been a legend for years for loving this card so much
After receiving an impact of a bolt, Jigglypuff searched Magnemite. Both go to space to rescue an injured friends. However, he warns them about something that is going to happen. They have to work together to save the day
