Yoshinori Kitase (北瀬 佳範, Kitase Yoshinori, born September 23, 1966) is a Japanese game director and producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X, and the producer of the Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII series.
Yoshinori Kitase | |
|---|---|
| 北瀬 佳範 | |
 Kitase at the 2009 E3 | |
| Born | September 23, 1966 |
| Alma mater | Nihon University |
| Occupation(s) | Video game director, game producer |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Employer | Square Enix |
| Notable work | Final Fantasy series |
He is currently the head of Square Enix's Creative Studios I and II, the Final Fantasy series Brand Manager, an executive officer at Square Enix and a member of the board of directors at both Square Enix Co, Ltd and Square Enix Holdings.[1]
He was the head of Square Enix's Creative Business Unit 1 as well as Business Division 1 during their entire respective existences as well as a Corporate Executive. He is also part of the Final Fantasy Committee that is tasked with keeping the franchise's releases and content consistent.[2][3]
Biography
editIn July 1978, at the age of 11, Kitase watched the movie Star Wars for the first time and was deeply impressed with it. He later examined the making-of video to it and became interested in the creative process of the film industry. Kitase decided to attend the Nihon University College of Art and studied screenwriting and filmmaking. Although he enjoyed filming, he showed a much greater passion for post-production editing as he felt it allowed him to give the footage a completely new meaning and to appeal to the viewers' feelings. In his first year after the graduation, Kitase worked at a small animation studio that produced animated television programs and commercials. When he played Final Fantasy for the first time, he considered a switch to the game industry as he felt that it had potential when it came to animation and storytelling.[4] Despite having no software development knowledge, he applied at the game development company Square and was hired in March 1990. In the ten years to follow, he gathered experience as an "event scripter", directing the characters' movements and facial expressions on the game screen as well as setting the timings and music transitions. He has compared this work to directing film actors.[5] Kitase continued directing cutscenes in spite of filling other roles in later projects; for example, he directed part of the event scenes in Final Fantasy VIII and was event planner for the Nibelheim section of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.[6][7]
When many players responded to the sci-fi world of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII by requesting a "simple fantasy world", Kitase tried to expand the definition of the word "fantasy" beyond that of a medieval European setting. This led to Southeast Asia being the backdrop for Final Fantasy X.[8] Kitase referred to Final Fantasy VII and its protagonist Cloud Strife as his favorite game and character, respectively.[9] In an interview, he said that he loves first-person shooters.[10] Kitase supervised the Final Fantasy VII: Technical Demo for PS3. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi feels that he "handed the torch to" Kitase as far as heading the series is concerned.[11]
Works
editVideo games
editOther media
edit| Year | Title | Credit(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Final Fantasy VI The Interactive CG Game | Director |
| 1999 | Party from Final Fantasy VIII | Director |
| 2001 | Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within | Thanks |
| 2005 | Final Fantasy VII Technical Demo for PS3 | Producer |
| Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | Producer | |
| Last Order: Final Fantasy VII | Executive producer | |
| 2009 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete | Producer |
| On the Way to a Smile - Episode: Denzel | Executive producer | |
| 2016 | Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV | Special thanks |
Additional credits
editNotes
edit- A Kitase was a producer on Final Fantasy XV until the end of 2013.
References
edit- ^ "Board of Directors". Square Enix. 2019. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ a b "【インタビュー（完全版）】『ファイナルファンタジーVII Gバイク』 いま明かされる開発秘話". Famitsu. 27 June 2014. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
- ^ "What Does Square Enix's Final Fantasy Committee Do?". Siliconera. 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ^ "Everything we know about the man behind the Final Fantasy 7 remake". 14 August 2015. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^ 「ハリウッド映画に負けていますか？」 スクウェア・エニックスプロデューサー北瀬 佳範 (in Japanese). Kodansha. 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ a b Studio BentStuff. Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania (in Japanese). Square Enix. p. 464.
- ^ a b Martin, Joe (26 April 2008). "Crisis Core: Interviewing Yoshinori Kitase". Interview. bit-tech. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Beyond FINAL FANTASY – Interviews". FINAL FANTASY X Bonus DVD. Square Enix Co., Ltd. 26 January 2007. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
Yoshinori Kitase: For Final Fantasy VII and VIII, the setting was sci-fi and many players responded by saying that they preferred a simple fantasy world. They seemed to have a fixed notion of what fantasy means to them, and to them, it consisted of a medieval European world. I wanted to change that idea. I wanted to expand the definition of what the players thought the word "fantasy" implied.
- ^ "Yoshinori Kitase on FFXIII, FFVII and Dissidia". VideoGamer.com. 8 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
- ^ Cheng, Justin (19 May 2005). "E3 2005: Yoshinori Kitase Interview". IGN. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "Hironobu Sakaguchi and Hajime Tabata Discuss Their Passion for the Series and Behind-the-Scenes Episodes from the Final Fantasy XV Reveal Event". Famitsu. 13 May 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ a b Parish, Jeremy (24 February 2010). "Final Fantasy: Kitase's Inside Story". 1UP.com. UGO Networks. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ "Procyon Studio: Interview with Masato Kato". Cocoebiz.com. November 1999. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
- ^ "Interview with Nomura, Kitase and Naora". Shūkan Famitsu. ASCII Corporation. 5 June 1998. Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ "Interview: Final Fantasy X". Core Magazine. 6 March 2001. Archived from the original on 13 April 2001.
- ^ "Interview with Final Fantasy X Developers". The Madman's Cafe. 19 January 2001. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ^ Studio BentStuff. Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega (in Japanese). Square Enix. pp. 192, 476.
- ^ "Talking FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered with YOSHINORI KITASE // Meme Review". YouTube. 8 September 2019. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.