Toshiyuki Itahana Discusses New Final Fantasy IX Key Visuals and Design Philosophy

Final Fantasy IX celebrated its 25th anniversary on July 7, 2025. Square Enix and Weekly Famitsu marked the occasion with retrospective interviews highlighting the game’s development, legacy, and new anniversary content. Weekly Famitsu’s 18-page feature, later expanded online, included interviews with the original staff involved in character design, event design, and music.

Character designer Toshiyuki Itahana played a major role in the anniversary project. He created new key visuals and character illustrations based on the original designs and internal documents, deliberately avoiding strong facial expressions so fans could project their own memories onto the artwork. The 25th anniversary key art, including the Iifa Tree visuals, drew inspiration from early sketches by Hideo Minaba, including one originally considered for the title screen.

He also recalled that Kazuhiko Aoki often left the studio during development in Hawaii to work from cafés near Ala Moana beach, returning with significant progress on his designs.

Itahana also supervised new merchandise, including chibi plushes that capture the essence of his character designs, and a new “Timeless Tale” vinyl. The anniversary recording of Melodies of Life now represents Garnet as a queen, compared to the original version which represented her as a princess.

For the picture book Final Fantasy IX Picture Book: Vivi and Grandpa on the Day of Departure, Itahana focused on the original FFIX designs rather than his own style. His favorite scenes include Quan feeding Vivi and other food-related moments, highlighting Vivi’s innocence.

Source:

famitsu.com

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About FINAL FANTASY IX

FINAL FANTASY IX tells a grand story of love, war and betrayal in a world of incredible magic and larger-than-life characters. Zidane and the Tantalus Theater Troupe have kidnapped Princess Garnet, the heir of Alexandria, but to their surprise, the princess herself yearned to escape the castle and see the world for herself. Together, they explore the world and encounter new friends and enemies to embark on an adventure unlike any other.

FINAL FANTASY IX is available on App Store, Google Play, STEAM, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Windows.