#naoise

Cú Chulainn

Fer Diad

Been playing Hades II so back at it with the redraws! These are a bit wips idk if I will clean them more up, but I wanted to also do a text box more in the style. Like not as Ulster Cyle characters in Hades but what if supergiant did a game like Hades but with Irish myths instead...

Anyways here are Naoise and Deirdre. I thought like how in Hades you have to reunite Orpheus and Euridice, that could be their role! And they can get the happy ending they deserve :_)

Day 106 - Naoise, Fire Emblem Geneology of the Holy War

I'm sure many of you have seen FE4's official artwork before and have many different feelings toward it. Some positive, some negative, or just some sort of bewilderment toward it. But something I haven't seen people discuss (to my knowledge at least) is... Who's the artist? That would be Naoko Kugo.

Naoko Kugo is credited as a graphic designer for FE4. They were also responsible for designing the box art cover for the game as seen in the second image. They created some concept sketches which were archived from Intelligent System's old website. One of those sketches was eventually used for an advertisement back when FE4's tentative subtitle was 'Heir of Light'.

They made character illustrations for the playable Gen 1 cast, Eldigan, Reptor, Chagall, Lombard, Manfroy Travant, Arvis, and Seliph.

I would like to note that the character designer for FE4 is Katsuyoshi Koya, who you may recognize as the main artist for Fire Emblem Trading Card Game (2001-2004). He also worked as a graphic designer for FE4 along with Kugo, Fumika Noichi, Mitsuru Matsumoto, and Manabu Shimada.

After FE4's release, Kugo would then go on to provide illustrations for novels and manga. These are the titles listed (please note that the English titles are machine translated):

夜叉の恋路: 鏡花あやかし秘帖 (A Yasha’s Love Story: Kyouka Ayakashi’s Secret Books) September 1, 1996, Paperback Novel

鹿鳴館の魔女: 鏡花あやかし秘帖2 (The Witch of Rokumei Hall: Kyouka Ayakashi’s Secret Books 2) February 1, 1997, Paperback Novel

FW猫の棲む島 (FW The Island Where Cats Live) August 1, 2001, Paperback Novel

夢々陰陽師鬼談 (Dream Dream Onmyoji Ghost Stories) December 10, 2001, Manga

魔界転生: 聖者の行進 (Demon World Reincarnation: The March of the Saints) August 1, 2003, Manga

花いのちの詩　夢視師と紅い星 (The Poem of Flowers and Life: The Dreamer and the Red Star) June 10, 2008, Paperback Novel

花いのちの詩　夢視師と氷炎の檻 (The Poem of Flowers and Life: The Dreamer and the Cage of Ice and Fire) August 10, 2008, Paperback Novel

Unfortunately, this is where my research ends. There isn't a lot of information on Naoko Kugo available online. As far as I know, they don't have any social media presence. I can't say if they're still active today or not.

Despite that, I hope this post was informative about one of Fire Emblem's many artists who have contributed to the franchise.

Side note: 夢々陰陽師鬼談 (Dream Dream Onmyoji Ghost Stories) has a fan translation available and Kindle e-books for 花いのちの詩　夢視師と紅い星 (The Poem of Flowers and Life: The Dreamer and the Red Star) and 花いのちの詩　夢視師と氷炎の檻 (The Poem of Flowers and Life: The Dreamer and the Cage of Ice and Fire) are available for purchase on Amazon JP.

If you guys have any more information on Naoko Kugo, feel free to share them in the comments!

Image sources:

Fire Emblem Wiki (character artwork and concept sketches)

Deirdre Meets Naoise