From Street Fighter, King of Fighters, SNK Vs. Capcom, Resident Evil to Marvel Vs. Capcom. The most comprehensive look at the outstanding career of master artist Toshiaki “Shinkiro” Mori. A massive retrospective chronicling his most important and classic works in the past 20 years.

Toshiaki “Shinkiro” Mori, is one of the finest artists in the world. He was born on December 14, 1962, which would make him 48 at the time of writing this. We have been fans of his nearly his entire career, and watched his skills, mastery of his art grow, change, and evolve as we grew up and did the same. We’ve enjoyed playing the classic game franchises he has been a part of. He has without a doubt worked on some of the best games of all time.

We are focusing on some of the most key pieces of his work throughout the past 20 years, from titles such as Kizuna Encounter and Sengoku, to Resident Evil, Capcom Vs. SNK and Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and lots in between. We obviously can’t post everything, so we are focusing heavily on his work during the “SNK Golden Age” primarily the King of Fighters and Capcom Vs. SNK series. Shinkiro was with the original SNK until it closed it’s doors and later became SNK Playmore. After this massive shakeup, (some would say tragedy) former competitor Capcom almost bliblically, and wisely hired him where he’s been working ever since.

A common criticism about Shinkiro’s mid career work is that all of his characters look the same. All of his male characters would seem to resemble certain hollywood stars, particularly George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Tom Cruise. His characters have a very iconic “look” to them, striking eyes with dark shadows, almost as if the men were wearing eyeliner, and very smooth, soft transitions and edges. Combined with dynamic and dramatic poses, this certain “sameness,” we feel is not a negative. Quite the oppostite, it is a tremendous positive. Because when you look at a Shinkiro, you KNOW it’s him. These faces and the way they’ve been rendered have a certain reassuring, and comforting quality to them, as if you were looking at an old friend.

As you look through the progression of Shinkiro’s work, you can see changes from certain mediums, towards primarily digital imagery. This mirrors the common evolution for illustration and the games industry as a whole. We can spot Airbrushing, Watercolors, Gouache, Inks, Pencils, Acrylic, Charcoals, Oils, and of course Digital.

Throughout the “SNK Golden Age” Shinkiro was producing arguably the most iconic work of his career, and with traditional mediums. His mastery of tangible mediums gave him a certain edge over his often digital competitors and helped him achieve his iconic look, and as a result helped SNK thrill millions of gamers worldwide with their hit Neo-Geo game series.

We would hesitate to categorize his work as “Anime” it is more similar to fine art and other traditional illustration. His characters are not overly stylized, are fully rendered, have fairly accurate/realistic athletic proportions, they often have long legs implying that they are tall and powerful, and are not generally “Big Eyed.” The female characters have enlarged eyes to make them slightly cuter/moe and loveable, but the men are realistic.

As far as we know Shinkiro has not had a major physical retrospective of his work in a gallery setting, but it’s difficult to know because most of what’s written about him is in Japanese. He has been featured in many game art books (Such as the Art of Street Fighter, and numerous other SNK/Neo Geo Art Books), but as far as we know he has not had entire book devoted to his work and only his work.

His work is sporadically spread across the internet without a central hub, and is often miscredited or uncredited.

Urban-Muse has compiled what we feel are some of his most important works spanning his entire career, and as a result hope to provide one of the most comprehensive looks at this powerful, and influential artist. This retrospective is likely the most in depth analysis of this artist in the world.

Please Enjoy!

Online Retrospective Curated by: Curt Anderson (Decimus) – Founder of Urban-Muse.com

CREDITS:

SNK



* The King of Fighters series (KOF 94, KOF 99, KOF 2000)

* Fatal Fury series

* Art of Fighting series

* Metal Slug series (Metal Slug X, Metal Slug 3)

* Samurai Shodown series (Samurai Shodown, Samurai Shodown II, Samurai Shodown 64 – aka Samurai Spirits)

* SNK vs Capcom series (Capcom vs SNK, Capcom vs SNK 2)

* King of the Monsters series

* Kizuna Encounter

* The Last Blade

* Riding Hero

* Sengoku

* Alpha Mission II

* The Super Spy

* Quiz Dai Sousa-sen

* Baseball Stars 2

* Ghost Pilots

* Super Baseball 2020

* Eight Man

* Robo Army

* Football Frenzy

* Soccer Brawl

* 3 Count Bout

* Last Resort

* Mutation Nation

Capcom

* Capcom vs. SNK

* Dead Rising

* Dino Stalker – Box Art

* Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts

* Final Fight One

* Capcom vs. SNK 2

* Resident Evil Dead Aim

* Resident Evil 4

* Garasu no Bara (Glass Rose)

* Capcom Classics Collection

* Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins

* Capcom Fighting Evolution

* Resident Evil: Deadly Silence

* Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

* Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

* SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos

* Bionic Commando Rearmed

* Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

MARVEL

* Ultimate Spiderman

INTERVIEW: (And advice for young artists)

Q&A – (Via: Capcom.co.jp)



Q: Do you play any video games? If so, what are your favorites?

Shinkiro: I don’t play too much, but I like third person shooting games such as Resident Evil series.

Q: What do you feel is different about drawing Capcom or Marvel characters?

Shinkiro: For the Marvel characters, I basically drew them in their original form, but for the Capcom characters, I was able to draw in both realistic and stylized forms.

Q: Which characters do you enjoy drawing the most?

Shinkiro: The character I enjoyed drawing the most was Deadpool. Within the Marvel characters, he has a unique, humorous personality and his facial expressions are visible even through his mask.

Q: Which characters were you drawing for the first time? The most difficult to draw?

Shinkiro: It was the first time for me to draw most of the Marvel characters. For Capcom, I had not drawn C. Viper, Amaterasu, and Tron before. Amaterasu was the most difficult. If you’re not careful when drawing, he can end up looking like a regular dog whose back is on fire.

Q: If you can steal one MVC3 character’s powers/abilities, who’s would it be?

Shinkiro: It would be Super Skrull because he has the abilities of all four members of the Fantastic Four.

Q: Who do you have your money on in a fight- Dante or Deadpool?

Shinkiro: Since they have similar weapons, I think it would be pretty close, but I say Deadpool, because he can’t be killed.

Q: One thing to say to aspiring artists?

Shinkiro: To all the artists of the world? There are too many of them, I can’t address them all. Instead, I’d like to address the younger generation of aspiring artists. It is a wonderful thing to be able to do what you love for a living. But after doing the same work for a long time, it becomes easy to forget why you were doing it in the first place. Please, don’t forget why you began drawing, or how lucky you are to be able to draw for a living. I guess this could be a message for myself…

RETROSPECTIVE 1991-2011

EARLY WORK:

Sengoku 1991

Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle

Mutation Nation

Leona and Heidern – King of Fighters

King of Fighters

Kyo – King of Fighters

The Last Blade

King of Fighters

Kyo and Yuki – King of Fighters

Iori – King of Fighters

Terry Bogard – King of Fighters – Fatal Fury – Real Bout

King of Fighters 97

Kyo

Geese – Billy Kane – Real Bout: Fatal Fury

Haohmaru – Samurai Shodown – Samurai Spirits

Nakoruru – Samurai Shodown II – Samurai Spirits II

Haohmaru – – Samurai Shodown II – Samurai Spirits II

MID CAREER:

Metal Slug 3

Metal Slug 3

Kyo – King of Fighters

King of Fighters

Dino Stalker

Resident Evil

M. Bison – Street Fighter – Capcom Vs. SNK

Akuma – Capcom Vs. SNK

Athena – King of Fighters

Athena – King of Fighters

Blue Mary – King of Fighters

Yamazaki – King of Fighters – Capcom Vs. SNK

Chun Li – Street Fighter – Capcom Vs. SNK

Chun Li – Street Fighter – Capcom Vs. SNK

Mai – King of Fighters – Capcom Vs. SNK

Mai – King of Fighters – Capcom Vs. SNK

Terry – King of Fighters – Capcom Vs. SNK – Fatal Fury

Cammy – Street Fighter – Capcom Vs. SNK

Sakura – Street Fighter

K’ – King of Fighters

K’ – King of Fighters

King of Fighters

King of Fighters 2000

King of Fighters

K’ – King of Fighters

K’ – King of Fighters

K’ – King of Fighters

K’ – King of Fighters

Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins

Athena – King of Fighters

Kula Diamond – King of Fighters

Mai – King of Fighters

Street Fighter – Capcom Vs. Snk – SNK Vs. Capcom (SVC Chaos)

Street Fighter – Capcom Vs. Snk – SNK Vs. Capcom (SVC Chaos)

Street Fighter – Capcom Vs. Snk – SNK Vs. Capcom (SVC Chaos)

Street Fighter – Capcom Vs. Snk – SNK Vs. Capcom (SVC Chaos)

Street Fighter

Morrigan – Darkstalkers

Street Fighter

Capcom Classics Collection (Player 1 from Forgotten Worlds Center)

King of Fighters 2000

Capcom Vs. SNK 2

RECENT:

Morrigan – Darkstalkers – Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

Chun-Li – Capcom Fighting Evolution – Capcom Fighting Jam – Street Fighter

Chun-Li

Chun Li

Ryu – Street Fighter – Capcom Fighting Evolution – Capcom Fighting Jam – Street Fighter – Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

Ryu – Street Fighter – Capcom Fighting Evolution – Capcom Fighting Jam – Street Fighter – Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

Jill Resident Evil

Resident Evil 0

Capcom Fighting Evolution – Capcom Fighting Jam

Capcom Fighting Evolution – Capcom Fighting Jam

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom

Ultimate Spider-Man

Ultimate Spider-Man

Resident Evil

Hunk – Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil

Ada – Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 0

Leon – Resident Evil 4

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 – 2011

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 – 2011

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 – 2011

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 – 2011

Online Retrospective Curated by: Curt Anderson (Decimus) – Founder of Urban-Muse.com

MAKE ART. PAINT THINGS. BE AWESOME.

Special Thanks to:

SNK-Playmore:

http://www.snkplaymoreusa.com/



Capcom:

http://www.capcom.com



and Marvel Comics:

http://marvel.com/

