In saddening news, Mutsumi Inomata, one of the Tales of Series' major character designers, has passed away at the age of 63, as announced on her official X account.
The announcement was made by her younger sister through Inomata-san's X (formerly Twitter) account.
ファン、関係者の皆さまへ
いのまたむつみの妹です。 pic.twitter.com/yp6BCTzXcS— いのまたむつみ (@inomatanekomata) March 18, 2024
From the Tweet, Inomata-san had passed away last March 10, 2024. Together with the announcement image is an unfinished sketch by Inomata-san of an original character surrounded by cats, likely part or to have been part of her recent artwork that was part of the Odakyu Department Store Cat's Day Exhibit, which was held from February 21 to February 26.
The funeral was held with close family members, and as per family's wished, they are declining condolences offerings or flowers. Her passing seems to have been a sudden event, a per her younger sister's Tweet, given that Inomata-san had just participated in Odakyu's Cat Day Exhibit last February.
Mutsumi Inomata is a major figurehead for Tales, responsible for a big portion of character designs in the series, notably in Tales of Destiny, Eternia, Destiny, Rebirth, Tempest, Innocence, Hearts, Graces, and including Xillia/Xillia 2, Zestiria and Berseria alongside Kosuke Fujishima, Daigo Okumura and Minoru Iwamoto. She has also worked on several anime as character designer, animator and animation director, such as Brain Powerd, City Hunter and The Weathering Continent. She is renowned for her brilliant use of watercolors and the characteristic jewel-like eyes of her characters.
She will be heavily missed. I myself got into the series because of how much I loved her art for Destiny and Eternia.
