Bingo Morihashi (森橋 ビンゴ) is a Japanese novelist. He also contributed to writing the video game franchise Devil May Cry…Bingo Morihashi (森橋 ビンゴ) is a Japanese novelist. He also contributed to writing the video game franchise Devil May Cry, its television anime series, as well as two light novels based on it.
Masayoshi Yokoyama (横山 昌義 Yokoyama Masayoshi, born June 30, 1976) is a Japanese game producer, director and writer for…Masayoshi Yokoyama (横山 昌義 Yokoyama Masayoshi, born June 30, 1976) is a Japanese game producer, director and writer for Sega, more specifically Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, a studio within Sega Development Division 1, where he's been the head of the division and studio since 2021. He is mainly known for his work on the Yakuza series, where he has been working since the very beginning as a writer, and later on as a producer.
Jun Maeda (麻枝 准, Maeda Jun; born January 3, 1975) is a Japanese writer and composer. He is a co-founder of the visual…Jun Maeda (麻枝 准, Maeda Jun; born January 3, 1975) is a Japanese writer and composer. He is a co-founder of the visual novel brand Key under Visual Arts. He is considered a pioneer of nakige visual novels, and has mainly contributed as a scenario writer, lyricist, and musical composer for the games the company produces. After graduating with a degree in psychology from Chukyo University, Maeda contributed to the scripts and scores of games released under the Tactics brand of Nexton: Moon and One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e. He has contributed both to writing music and scripts to most games released under the Key brand, notably writing the majority of Air and Clannad. He also served as a screenwriter and composer for several anime series produced by P.A. Works, such as Angel Beats! and Charlotte.
Motoi Okamoto is a Japanese video game producer, programmer and writer. He joined Nintendo in April 1999. Initially, he…Motoi Okamoto is a Japanese video game producer, programmer and writer. He joined Nintendo in April 1999. Initially, he provided library support on Luigi's Mansion (2001), subsequently assisting other projects like Pikmin (2001), Pikmin 2 (2004), The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002), and Super Mario 64 DS (2004). In 2006 he directed Wii Play. He left the company in May 2008 and founded Entersphere, an independent studio which developed Army Corps of Hell (2011) for the PlayStation Vita. In June 2019 he joined Konami and was put in charge of the Silent Hill series. He subsequently served as series producer for Silent Hill: Ascension, director, producer, designer and writer for Silent Hill: The Short Message (2024), producer for Silent Hill 2 (remake), Silent Hill f, and Silent Hill: Townfall. He also worked on Return to Silent Hill alongside Akira Yamaoka as executive producers.
Daisuke Watanabe (渡辺 大祐, Watanabe Daisuke) is a Japanese video game writer employed by Square Enix. He is mostly known…Daisuke Watanabe (渡辺 大祐, Watanabe Daisuke) is a Japanese video game writer employed by Square Enix. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and the action RPG series Kingdom Hearts.
Kunihiro Nasu (奈須 國広, Nasu Kunihiro; born 28 November 1973), is a Japanese video game developer, and writer. Nasu began…Kunihiro Nasu (奈須 國広, Nasu Kunihiro; born 28 November 1973), is a Japanese video game developer, and writer. Nasu began creating visual novels while in college, making a few small games, visual novels, and pieces of written fiction, before rising to prominence in 2000 with the release of Tsukihime. He went on to work on Fate/stay night in 2004, which quickly became a commercial success and spawned the Fate media franchise. Type-Moon released an adult visual novel spin-off called Fate/hollow ataraxia in October 2005, that expanded on the events of Fate/stay night. Nasu co-founded the Japanese company Type-Moon, where he designed games including Tsukihime and Fate/stay night. The company specializes in production of various media, including video games, anime, and manga.
Sōhei Niikawa (Japanese: 新川宗平, Hepburn: Niikawa Sōhei) is a Japanese video game developer and executive known for…Sōhei Niikawa (Japanese: 新川宗平, Hepburn: Niikawa Sōhei) is a Japanese video game developer and executive known for creating the Disgaea series. He joined Nippon Ichi Software in 1996, and was its CEO and president from 2009 to 2022. In March 2025, Niikawa announced that he had founded a new company, SuperNiche. Two games were listed as them being involved with: an adaptation of Etrange Overlord where they were working with developer Gemdrops in production, and an untitled production. It later emerged that after his resignation in 2022, Niikawa shopped around game pitches, manga scripts, and novels under the pen name "Roman Kitayama". The eventual result was Etrange Overlord, which was credited to Kitayama (really Niikawa) as author.
Gen Urobuchi (Japanese: 虚淵 玄, Hepburn: Urobuchi Gen; born December 20, 1972) is a Japanese novelist, visual novel…Gen Urobuchi (Japanese: 虚淵 玄, Hepburn: Urobuchi Gen; born December 20, 1972) is a Japanese novelist, visual novel writer and anime screenwriter. He is known for being the co-creator of the highly acclaimed and commercially successful anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which earned him the Tokyo Anime Award for Best Scriptwriter, as well as the writer of the 2003 visual novel Saya no Uta, the 2012 anime Psycho-Pass, the light novel and anime Fate/Zero, and the 2013–2014 tokusatsu show Kamen Rider Gaim. He currently works at Nitroplus and Nitro+chiral. Anime written by Urobuchi that have won the Newtype Anime Awards have been Puella Magi Madoka Magica in 2011, Fate/Zero in 2012 and Psycho-Pass: The Movie in 2015.
Noboru Yamaguchi (ヤマグチ ノボル, Yamaguchi Noboru; February 11, 1972 – April 4, 2013) was a Japanese light novel and game…Noboru Yamaguchi (ヤマグチ ノボル, Yamaguchi Noboru; February 11, 1972 – April 4, 2013) was a Japanese light novel and game scenario author from Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. He was well known for being the author of The Familiar of Zero light novels and visual novels by Frontwing.
Natsumi Yanase (やなせ なつみ, Yanase Natsumi; born May 10, 1971) is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo, Japan. She also…Natsumi Yanase (やなせ なつみ, Yanase Natsumi; born May 10, 1971) is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo, Japan. She also goes by the name Izumi Maki (まきいづみ, Maki Izumi) when voicing adult games. Her former stage name was Hiromi Yanase (柳瀬 洋美, Yanase Hiromi).
Yūichi Suzumoto (涼元 悠一, Suzumoto Yūichi; born January 13, 1969) is a male Japanese novelist originally from Shimizu-ku…Yūichi Suzumoto (涼元 悠一, Suzumoto Yūichi; born January 13, 1969) is a male Japanese novelist originally from Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, though he now lives in Osaka, Japan. As of 2006, he works for Aquaplus, known for being the publishing company of Leaf. Before going to Leaf, Suzumoto worked at the publishing company VisualArt's as a scenario writer for brands under the company. He is notable for having had a hand in the production of three Key visual novels: Air, Clannad, and Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet.
Hiroyuki Kanno (菅野 ひろゆき, 8 May 1968 – 19 December 2011) was a Japanese video game designer who wrote and directed…Hiroyuki Kanno (菅野 ひろゆき, 8 May 1968 – 19 December 2011) was a Japanese video game designer who wrote and directed visual novels and eroge adventure games starting in the 1990s. Some of his most well-known games include Desire, EVE Burst Error (at C's Ware) and Yu-no (at ELF Corporation), which had a major influence on the visual novel genre. His games often feature multiple narrative layers, such as different character viewpoints or overlapping mystery story arcs. He was friends with Ryu Umemoto, who often worked closely with him and composed music for the games. In December 1997, he founded Abel corporation and became its CEO. In 2011, Kanno died due to cerebral infarction and brain hemorrhage.
Goichi Suda (須田 剛一, Suda Gōichi; born January 2, 1968), known by his alias Suda51, is a Japanese video game designer…Goichi Suda (須田 剛一, Suda Gōichi; born January 2, 1968), known by his alias Suda51, is a Japanese video game designer and writer. Affiliated with Human Entertainment from 1994 to 1998, he founded Grasshopper Manufacture in 1998 with a number of other Human Entertainment staff to produce their own titles. His best-known work has come from Grasshopper Manufacture, including The Silver Case (1999), Killer7 (2005), the No More Heroes series, and Lollipop Chainsaw (2012). Suda is from Nagano Prefecture, moving to Tokyo at the age of 18 and eventually being hired by Human Entertainment after having a number of other jobs including as an undertaker. His first projects were in the Fire Pro Wrestling and Twilight Syndrome series. At Grasshopper Manufacture, he worked on their debut title The Silver Case as writer and director. The Silver Case helped establish both Suda and his company in Japan, but Suda and Grasshopper gained international attention with the release of Killer7, Suda's first title to be released outside Japan. He has contributed to most of the company's projects, taking on a more managerial role following No More Heroes in 2007. Suda's work is characterized by a focus on themes of crime, and the clash of people with different ideals. While his early works adopted a serious tone, his later projects incorporated elements of humor. Sexual elements have also made appearances in his work to the point where he became worried they would become too heavily associated with him. Aspects of his work have been influenced by film and literature, with one of his favorite authors being Franz Kafka. He frequently incorporates references to pop culture in his games.
Kazushige Nojima (野島 一成, Nojima Kazushige; born January 20, 1964) is a Japanese video game writer. He is best known for…Kazushige Nojima (野島 一成, Nojima Kazushige; born January 20, 1964) is a Japanese video game writer. He is best known for writing several installments of Square Enix's Final Fantasy franchise—namely Final Fantasy VII and its spin-offs Advent Children and Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy X and X-2—in addition to the Kingdom Hearts series, the Glory of Heracles series, and the story to the Subspace Emissary mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Nojima also wrote the original lyrics of "Liberi Fatali" for Final Fantasy VIII and both "Suteki da Ne" and the "Hymn of the Fayth" for Final Fantasy X, as well as "No Promises to Keep" for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. He is also the founder of Stellavista Ltd.
Hironobu Sakaguchi (坂口 博信, Sakaguchi Hironobu; born November 25, 1962) is a Japanese game designer, director, producer…Hironobu Sakaguchi (坂口 博信, Sakaguchi Hironobu; born November 25, 1962) is a Japanese game designer, director, producer, and writer. Originally working for Square (later Square Enix) from 1983 to 2003, he departed the company and founded independent studio Mistwalker in 2004. He is known as the creator of the Final Fantasy franchise, in addition to other titles during his time at Square. At Mistwalker, he is known for creating the Blue Dragon and Terra Battle series among several standalone titles like Lost Odyssey, as well as later moving away from home consoles and creating titles for mobile platforms. Originally intending to become a musician, he briefly studied electronics and programming, joining Square as a part-time employee, then later a full-time employee when Square became an independent company in 1986. He led the development of several titles before helping to create the original Final Fantasy, which proved highly successful and cemented his status within the company. Following the financial failure of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, his debut as a film director, Sakaguchi withdrew from Square's management and eventually resigned in 2003. He continued his game career through Mistwalker, first co-developing projects through external partners and then smaller in-studio mobile projects. Born in Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, Sakaguchi now lives in Hawaii where one of Mistwalker's offices is based. He has also influenced the creation of several other Square Enix projects, such as Kingdom Hearts. Sakaguchi has received several industry awards.
Hiroki Kikuta (菊田 裕樹, Kikuta Hiroki; born August 29, 1962, as Yūki Kikuta) is a Japanese composer and game designer.…Hiroki Kikuta (菊田 裕樹, Kikuta Hiroki; born August 29, 1962, as Yūki Kikuta) is a Japanese composer and game designer. His major works are Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, Soukaigi, and Koudelka, for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other games, and worked as a concept designer in addition to composer for the unreleased MMORPG Chou Bukyo Taisen. He became interested in music at an early age, but earned a degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology from Kansai University. He spent the next few years working first as a manga illustrator, then as a composer for anime series, before coming to work for Square in 1991. After composing the soundtracks for his first three best-known works, he formed his own video game production company, Sacnoth, for which he was the president and CEO. After producing and composing Koudelka in 1999, he left to become a freelance composer. Since his departure he has formed his own record label, Norstrilia, through which he produces albums of his own compositions and collaborations with other artists, as well as his previous scores. His music has been performed in concerts such as the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in Cologne, Germany in September 2009, and selections of his works have been published as piano arrangements in sheet music books.
Hiroshi Nagai (永井 博, Nagai Hiroshi; born March 10, 1941 in Shanghai, China), better known by the pseudonym Yasutaka…Hiroshi Nagai (永井 博, Nagai Hiroshi; born March 10, 1941 in Shanghai, China), better known by the pseudonym Yasutaka Nagai (永井 泰宇, Nagai Yasutaka), is a Chinese-born Japanese novelist, manga author and scenario writer. He is one of the four brothers of manga artist Go Nagai. In 1969, he was a candidate for the Edogawa Rampo Prize for his novel Baptism of Blood (鮮血のバプテスマ Senketsu no Baputesuma), written under the pen name Baku Nagai (the onyomi reading of his birth name), but lost to Seiichi Morimura. He abandoned his activities as a writer, for a time, with the establishment of Dynamic Production. He would re-debut as a writer in 1981 with Shin Devilman (not to be confused with the manga of similar name with which he also collaborated). When working as a comic writer, he usually takes yet another pen name, that of Hiroshi Koenji. He wrote several comics for both his brother Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa, such as Maboroshi Panty, Haru Ichiban and Shinrei Tantei Occult Dan, among others.
