Yusuke Nakano

Yusuke Nakano is an illustrator and programmer who works for Nintendo.

Biography
Yusuke Nakano joined Nintendo as an artist in 1992, starting as the package artist for . The first game in that Yusuke Nakano contributed towards was. After being disappointed by the results from outsourcing the artwork of to an external studio, Nakano pushed for Nintendo to develop its own 3D graphical renders for the game. Afterwards, Nakano approached 's Character Designer, Yoshiaki Koizumi, and proposed to do all of the artwork himself. After drawing a bust shot of OoT: as an adult and presenting it to Koizumi, Nakano received his approval and officially began work on 's artworks. When designing adult OoT:, Nakano incorporated Koizumi's 3D model of OoT: and designed his face after a "world-famous Hollywood actor". Yusuke Nakano is also responsible for designing the Series:, which joined the from the NaN Shields in  and  and the feathers from the ALttP: in. At the time of its creation, the Series: had no deeper meaning, but later inspired the NaN Loftwings from SS undefined. The Series: was also joined with the Series: to create the Series:, which was adopted as the Series: for Series:.

While illustrating for, Yusuke Nakano was inspired by the comics and incorporated a gritty art style with hard shadows to match the dark atmosphere of the game. Using this motif, Nakano illustrated a piece in preparation for Nintendo Space World '99. This artwork lacked many of the final details of the game, such as the MM:'s face, the presence of the MM:, and the final design for the MM:. After contributing to, Nakano worked closely with Capcom staff to design OoS: in a manner that harmonized with the finished sprite work of the game and the artistic style of and. He also drew from OoT:'s design, giving the new OoS: a shorter nose and white tights. Nakano struggled with communicating OoA:'s beauty and wisdom in her design, taking half a year to finalize it.

Nakano created all of the the illustrations for by using a  texture after being shown Yoshiki Haruhana's cartoonish concept art of TWW:. At the request of Eiji Aonuma, Nakano also illustrated the TWW: for the demo of. Its distinct woodblock texture was created by printing the art onto paper and using to partially remove ink.

In anticipation for its large-scale development, Satoru Takizawa tasked Yusuke Nakano with designing TP: for to assist external artists. To match expectations for a realistic title, Nakano took great care into meticulously detailing TP:'s attire. Nakano's initial designs for TP: depicted him as an adult in his late 20s, but he later revised it to more closely resemble the OoT: from after receiving feedback from Nintendo of America. Using his new designs, Nakano prepared an illustration of TP: and TP: for E3 2004. After the concept of TP: transforming into a TP: was introduced, Nakano attempted to incorporate the "wolf cut" hairstyle into TP:'s design, but was ultimately unable to make him look "wild" enough. When designing the NaN Fused Shadows from, Nakano incorporated themes from bronze artifacts from the. Nakano designed TP:'s TP: by using the themes from the bronze artifacts and sketching shapes that reminded him of Southeast Asia. As Nakano was deeply invested in 's character design, he later approached Satoru Takizawa and insisted that he be the one to illustrate for.

Because of Nakano's work on 's woodblock-style opening, his team was tasked with creating the opening sequences for and. Under Nakano's direction, Yuri Adachi created the artwork for ST:. Nakano is also responsible for SS:'s design in SS undefined, which he submitted for an internal art contest at Nintendo. His winning sketch was used as promotional material for the then-unnamed SS - at E3 2009. According to Nakano, the similiarity in design between SS: and the TWW: was purely coincidental, and the design of both arose from attempting to create a character with metallic features. Yusuke Nakano assisted Takumi Wada in drafting the latter's first illustration for SS -, which was unveiled at E3 2010. At Nakano's request, Wada's designs for SS: specifically featured a detailed set of lower eyelashes.

Yusuke Nakano assumed the role of artist for both and. He was also tasked with creating the "Everyone is Here!" artwork for, which was originally a piece featuring 66 NaN Fighters made for E3 2018.

Trivia

 * According to, some of Yusuke Nakano's favorite artists include , , and the late.
 * Yusuke Nakano's favorite artwork as of 2016 is the artwork created for.