Akihiro Yamada

is a Japanese illustrator and manga artist. He was the character designer and illustrator for the Japanese and PAL versions of Castlevania: Dracula X for the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom.
==Portfolio==
Among his known works, some of the most known outside Japan are his illustrations of Fuyumi Ono's long-running The Twelve Kingdoms light novel series, and the manga Record of Lodoss War: The Lady of Pharis, who he made in conjunction with writer Ryo Mizuno.
He has also worked as a designer for several video games, being very prolific during the 1990s. A short list of them includes:
*Black Rainbow (PC-98) [1990] - Cover art, character designer
*Black Rainbow II (PC-98) [1992] - Cover art, character designer
*Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (PC Engine) [1993] - Cover art (Japanese ver.)
*Ancient Magic (Super Famicom) [1993] - Cover art, character designer
*Gaiapolis (arcade) [1993] - Promotional art
*Wizardry I・II (PC Engine) [1993] - Cover art
*Wizardry III・IV (PC Engine) [1994] - Cover art
*Kingdom Grand Prix (arcade, Sega Saturn) [1994/1995] - Cover art (Sega Saturn), character designer
*Mystic Ark (Super Famicom) [1995] - Cover art, character designer
*Castlevania: Dracula X (Super Famicom) [1995] - Cover art, character designer
*Terra Phantastica (Sega Saturn) [1996] - Cover art, character designer
*Milandra (Super Famicom) [1997] - Cover art
*Front Mission 3 (PlayStation) [1999] - Character designer
*Mystic Ark (PlayStation) [1999] - Cover art, character designer
*Meremanoid (PlayStation) [1999] - Cover art, character designer
*Saiyuki: Journey West (PlayStation) [1999] - Cover art, character designer
*Fire Emblem Heroes (Android, iOS) [2017] - Character designer (Jagen, Ogma, Zephiel, Gunter)
==Further reading==
*Yamada, Akihiro. Fantasy Art Works. Tokyo: Soft Bank Publishing, 2006.
*Yamada, Akihiro. A Collection of Paintings. Tokyo: Chuoukouron Shin Sha, 2004.
*Yamada, Akihiro. Souvenir. Tokyo: Nihon Editors, 2004.
*Yamada, Akihiro. RahXephon Artworks. Tokyo: Soft Bank Publishing, 2003.
*Yamada, Akihiro. Mystic Ark Art Works. Japan, 2000.
==Trivia==
*Mr. Yamada's character illustrations for Castlevania: Dracula X only appeared in the Japanese and PAL versions of the game (titled Akumajō Dracula XX and Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss in those regions, respectively). The North American release reused the artworks from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood instead for unknown reasons.
==External links==
*Fractional Formula "Yamada Dai" (Official website - Japanese)
Category:Illustrators