The official Twitter account for Tales of series illustrator and main character designer Mutsumi Inomata confirms that she’s passed away at age 63. The cause of death was not shared.
Inomata passed away on March 10. The announcement was made on March 18 to her fans, colleagues, and followers around the world. Fans may reply with their condolences and well wishes to her family, as noted by Inomata’s younger sister on the Twitter account.
ファン、関係者の皆さまへ
いのまたむつみの妹です。 pic.twitter.com/yp6BCTzXcS— いのまたむつみ (@inomatanekomata) March 18, 2024
The Past Works of Mutsumi Inomata
Before working on the Tales of series, Mutsumi Inomata began as a manga artist. Her GB Bomber manga was featured on Motion Comics, and she also wrote Nyan no Ohanashi, which is based on her love for cats.
Mutsumi Inomata worked in the anime industry as an animator, character designer, and director as well. Her works include Windaria, Plawres Sanshiro, Urusei Yatsura, City Hunter, The Weathering Continent, Future GPX Cyber Formula, Brain Powerd, and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED to name a few.
Inomata is also well-known for her work on the Tales of series, contributing in a majority of the mainline entries. This includes Tales of Destiny, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Rebirth, Tales of the Tempest, Tales of Innocence, Tales of Hearts, Tales of Graces, Tales of Xillia, Tales of Xillia 2, Tales of Zestiria, Tales of Berseria, and Tales of Crestoria.
Inomata contributed to games outside of the Tales of series as well. She worked on Ling Xiaoyu and Jin Kazama’s third costume designs in Tekken 5, Zafina’s third costume design in Tekken 6, and Jaycee’s second costume design in Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Moreover, she brought her Windaria expertise to Compile Heart’s Dungeon of Windaria on Nintendo DS as the game’s character designer.
Inomata’s iconic watercolor paintings and designs may be seen on her official Twitter account, and she also released various artbooks. These artbooks include Voice of the Stars and Dreams of the Moon.
