Hello everyone!
In today's post I’m going to talk about the creation process behind our protagonist Ayumi. Just like in the game, the idea of making Last Time I Saw You started with a typhoon. An emotional and physical typhoon that hit Osaka (where I live) in 2018. And about the emotional part… we'll talk about that in another post 😉
This typhoon, named Jebi, created a great deal of destruction around me, even destroying the bridge leading to the Kansai airport, cutting the city off from the rest of the world for several days. Seeing my surroundings altered overnight made me reflect on the ephemerality of things. I knew that rain and wind were going to play a very important role in Last Time I Saw You, and so our protagonist had to be properly dressed for the occasion.
The chaos left by the typhoon in the park next to where I used to work at the time.
For this reason, and because the game takes place in autumn, Ayumi's design had to involve rain clothes, raincoats, rain boots, etc. We took paper and pencil and made the first sketches.
I knew I wanted him to wear a poncho-like raincoat, since I like the shape of them, so the design was defined as I went in that direction. Once I decided on the clothes, I wanted him to carry a weapon. Since this is a narrative game with some action elements, having a weapon with which to interact with the environment gives the gameplay some variety and appeal.
Being a young boy, I decided that the most natural thing would be for him to carry a baseball bat, something that could also be a small reference to Earthbound.
I already had the idea, but it needed to be defined. The sketches were good, but such a character would have been too difficult to animate, so, based on the basic designs, we worked on a more polished version, with more defined proportions, so that the animators could bring it to life without much hassle.
Those who know Japanese may have noticed that Ayumi is originally a girl's name. The male version would be Ayumu, but as with other names, like for example Hikaru, it is possible (though not common) to find the name Ayumi applied to boys. I really liked this ambiguity and it gives the character a special identity trait. Feeling disconnected with his surroundings, wanting to know more and having a special name make for a unique blend in Ayumi.
And this is how Ayumi was created! In our next post I will talk about the art style of the game and what movies and games inspired me.
Would you like me to talk about a specific character in future posts? If you want to meet them yourself, the demo is available for download right now on our Steam page!
Until next time! 💙
.Juan
