How does Haruhiko Mikimoto rate as a Character Designer?

[Kamjin 639]

Wow. It's been quite a while! It's good to be back...

3) Haruhiko Mikimoto, especially when it comes to Macross, should be considered a freelancer, doing a contract job.

Although what you're saying is completely true, a good number of people who could be considered "premier" character designers in Japan seem to get away with a whole lot for the simple reason that they are respected for their skills and therefore, the directors lay-off as long as the character designs look up to standard. Akira Toriyama certainly doesn't seem to be pressed to make characters look a certain way, for instance; Peter Cheung gets away with whatever he wants; and one of my favourites, Shukou Murase, never seems to push the limits at all, no matter the story.

I'm actually surprised that no one brought-up the video game QuoVadis, for which Mikimoto also got the go-ahead.

For my guess, I'd place my bets on that Mikimoto himself just isn't a very pushy kind of guy, who doesn't like to rock the boat and, ideally, just likes to draw characters so much that it doesn't matter much to him what the producers want. Other character designers might be more egotistical about their work.

[sketchley]

Agreed.

[UN Spacy]

Speaking of Mikimoto what's he been up to the last two years?

ANY chance he'll come back to Macross for the 25th Anniversary series?

[Dio]

Will expressing love for Masami Obari's character designs get me ostracized around here?

I do enjoy the more stylized character drawings like in Fatal Fury and Gravion. The characters are able to convey a lot of emotion (frequently in extreme or over the top ways), but at the same time provide unique and very recognizable personalities. I'd really like to see him exercise his capacity for drawing more muted characters like Toga (from Gravion), who really seemed to have a hidden depth about him.

That being said, his stuff tends to go hand in hand with a lot of fan service and/or blatantly adult material, which I think is a step in the wrong direction for someone with his talent for edgy and stylized characters. Seems like the easy way out to me.