Rui Komatsuzaki (Japanese: 小松崎 類, Hepburn: Komatsuzaki Rui) is a Japanese illustrator and character designer. He is best known for designing and characterizing the cast members from the visual novel adventure games Danganronpa and the anime series Akudama Drive.
Career
editKomatsuzaki was a sculpture graduate before becoming involved with Spike, and Danganronpa was his first experience as a character designer.[1] The word "Danganronpa" originated from Komatsuzaki which was first written in kanji but it was later taken to katakana for the logo.[2]
For most games, he was in charge of designing characters with outstanding designs while the protagonist were meant to look like common people. As a result, Komatsuzaki designed Makoto Naegi character to wear a hoodie to complement his look, thinking the player was going to see his back a lot. After that, the artist added some character to his hair by adding an "antenna", and highlighted his "herbivore nature" by making him short. His coloring is subdued, but Komatsuzaki used a color palette he enjoyed.[3] He also redesigned the older cast members from the first Danganronpa for the anime sequel Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School to make them look more mature, and illustrated the characters for the spin-off novel series Zero, Kirigiri, and Togami.[4]
Besides Danganronpa, Komatsuzaki was one of many artists to design characters for Fate/Grand Order, an RPG mobile game based on the Fate/stay night series. He designed both Edmond Dantès and Cleopatra.[5] He was also the main artist for the anime series Akudama Drive from 2020. Cindy H. Yamauchi adapted Rui Komatsuzaki's original character designs for animation.[6] He also created a collaboration illustration between Danganronpa and the anime Akudama Drive in late 2020.[7]
Works
editVideo games
edit| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 | Background art | [8] |
| 2007 | Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 | Background art | [9] |
| 2009 | Dragon Ball: Raging Blast | Character design | [10] |
| 2010 | Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | Character design | [11] |
| 2012 | Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair | Character design | [12] |
| 2014 | Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls | Character design | [13] |
| 2017 | Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony | Character design | [14] |
| 2020 | Death Come True | Promotion illustrator | [15] |
| 2023 | Master Detective Archives: Rain Code | Character design | [16] |
| 2025 | The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy | Character design | [17] |
| TBA | Tribe Nine | Character design | [18] |
Anime
edit| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School | Character designer | [19] |
| 2020 | Akudama Drive | Character designer | [20] |
| 2022 | Tribe Nine | Character designer | [21] |
References
edit- ^ "全4回に渡ってお届けする『ダンガンロンパ』の特集記事。ラストを飾るのは、本作の開発のキーマン3人のインタビュー！ 開発秘話から本作の魅力までを、3人にアツく語っていただいたぞ。". Famitsu. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- ^ "Danganronpa 10th Anniversary Special - Dangan TV: Hope Keeps on Going! 1st Period". Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021 – via Youtube.
- ^ Danganronpa Visual Artbook. Softbank Creative. 2011. p. 11. ISBN 978-4797363579.
- ^ "完全オリジナルアニメ『ダンガンロンパ３ -The End of 希望ヶ峰学園-』発表！ 苗木くんたちが成長して再び登場!?". Animate Times (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 8, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- ^ "「小松崎類」氏が担当するサーヴァント・礼装一覧". Kamigame (in Japanese). Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (May 14, 2020). "Akudama Drive Anime Delayed to October Due to COVID-19". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
- ^ "Akudama Drive Releases Collaboration Image with Danganronpa". Anime News Network. November 25, 2020. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ "Kazutaka Kodaka". IMDb. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ "Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 - Story Mode Credits Ending/Outro (Final Part 49)【HD】". YouTube. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ "Dragon ball raging blast xbox 360 credits". YouTube. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Credit Information - GameFAQs". gamefaqs.gamespot.com. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ "Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Credit Information - GameFAQs". gamefaqs.gamespot.com. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ "Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls Credits". Giant Bomb. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ "Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017) Windows credits". MobyGames. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ "Tookyo Games". Tookyo Games (in Japanese). Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ "Spike Chunsoft and Too Kyo Games announce dark fantasy mystery game Enigma Archives: RAIN CODE". Gematsu. November 27, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ Romano, Sal. "Aniplex, Too Kyo Games, and Media.Vision announce The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy for Switch, PC". Gematsu. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ "Akatsuki and Too Kyo Games announce new project Tribe Nine, likely for smartphone". Gematsu. 2020-02-18. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ "Danganronpa 3 Anime Will Air Both Arcs Simultaneously in July". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
- ^ "Too Kyo Games announces original TV anime Akudama Drive". Gematsu. 2020-03-13. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ "Rui KOMATSUZAKI - Anime News Network".