Former Gainax Member, Dragon Quest Sword Designer Jun Tamatani Dies

Science fiction writer Hiroe Suga reported on her X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday that designer and illustrator Jun Tamatani has died.

Tamatani was one of the first employees at General Products, the store founded by Toshio Okada and Yasuhiro Takeda to sell merchandise, create garage kits, and license intellectual property prior to the founding of Gainax. Revenue from General Products partially funded the formation of Gainax, which Tamatani then joined.

At Gainax, Tamatani was the director for the Princess Maker Q puzzle game spinoff of Gainax‘s Princess Maker game, and was also the director for Neon Genesis Evangelion: Ayanami Raising Project, which also drew from Princess Maker. He was the graphics director for the Nadia – The Secret of Blue Water PC-98 and Sharp X68000 versions, developed by Gainax.

Tamatani is credited for background design on Petite Princess Yucie (based on the Princess Maker games), and special effects on Gunbuster vs Diebuster Aim for the Top! The GATTAI!! Movie and Wish Upon the Pleiades.

Within gaming, Tamatani is perhaps best known as the designer for Erdrick’s Sword/Sword of Kings and other weaponry in the Dragon Quest series. He has also designed costumes, weapons, and items for Princess Maker. He has previously written at length about his inspirations for weapon designs on his X/Twitter account.

Source: Hiroe Suga’s X/Twitter account