Born in 1952 in Shizuoka City, Yoshitaka Amano is a legendary artist, character designer, and illustrator. He began his career in 1967 at Tatsunoko Production, contributing character designs to iconic series such as Time Bokan. Amano made his debut as an illustrator in 1982, and in 1987 created the iconic character designs for Final Fantasy. During this period, he also illustrated renowned works including Vampire Hunter D and Guin Saga.

From the mid-1990s, Amano worked between Paris and New York, and in 1997 held the large-scale solo exhibition THINK LIKE AMANO in New York. His recent international appearances include Lucca Comics & Games 2024 in Italy and Além de Fantasia in Brazil in 2025 and 2026.

Amano’s extraordinary contributions have been recognized with multiple Seiun Awards (1983–86, 2007), as well as the Eisner, Dragon Con, and Julie Awards in 2000, and the Inkpot Award in 2018.