Hiroaki

Hiroaki (ヒロアキ), whose full name is Hiroaki Hashimoto, is an illustrator for SNK. He is best known to fans for his work in Buriki One and the more recent The King of Fighters iterations.

Profile
He was born on July 9 in Marugame, Kagawa. He attended Osaka University Arts for a design major but quit after a year to join SNK in 1998. After SNK dissolved, he became a freelancer.

The King of Fighters 2000 was the first title of the series in which Hiroaki participated. He considers Buriki One his most memorable favorite title since he participated in a wide range of activities, from design to motion capture, and was involved since the early stages of development. His favorite SNK characters is Geese Howard dues to his coolness, followed by K' due to how easy it was for him to draw and also commented that he was glad that Mr. Big appeared in The King of Fighters series since in his eyes Mr. Big looks cool with the two women that appear alongside him, being bald and using weapons. From the Samurai Shodown series, his favorite characters are Tam Tam and Neinhalt Sieger.

He's considered by many members of the company to be the protege of Shinkiro. Their teacher-student relationship started when Shinkiro asked him to create a poster for The King of Fighters 2000. He was personally critiqued by the veteran artist on his technique and coloring of the piece, which Hiroaki has taken to heart ever since. They continued to bounce back their thoughts and ideas until the company disbanded. In an interview with the company's artists, he relates his biggest pressure for King of Fighters is "matching Shinkiro's quality" as the latter's art has been in the minds of fans for years.

His works for other companies include Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, God Hand (2006), Spikeout: Battle Street as well additional artwork for Super Street Fighter IV. In 2013, Hiroaki was ordained as an Ambassador for Cultural Tourism at Marugame, Kagawa.

Style
His art is known for its quasi-realistic take on characters, giving them an unique polished look (almost like an oil painting) with humanistic proportions and a metallic feel to them. He strives to sketch the characters he's assigned in "confident and daring poses" so that their fans can feel prouder to use them. His biggest personal lament are the female and popular characters, as he struggles to make them charming as well as not "outshining" the others.

SNK Work

 * Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition (1999)
 * Buriki One (1999)
 * Kizuna Encounter - Character designer for the unreleased Kizuna Encounter Special Edition, promotional art
 * Garou: Mark of the Wolves (1999) - Promotional art
 * The King of Fighters series (2000-2003) - Various promotional art; XI - main illustrator; XIV~XV - promotional art and illustration for the official site
 * SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters 2 (2001) - Card designer for select rare cards
 * The King of Fighters Moe x 2 Fighters + (comic) (2002) - Bros Comics, published by Enterbrain; front cover.
 * The King of Fighters 2001 Anthology Comic 1 (comic) (2002) - Bros Comics, published by Enterbrain; front cover.
 * The King of Fighters 2001 Anthology Comic 2 (comic) (2002) - Bros Comics, published by Enterbrain; front cover.
 * The King of Fighters 2001: More Than Human (light novel by Ureshino) (2002) - Art
 * The King of Fighters 2001: The Gods Themselves (light novel by Ureshino) (2002) - Art
 * The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood (2002) - Promotional art
 * The King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood (2003) - Illustration
 * The King of Fighters - Fighting Evolution 10th (2004) - Published by Futabasha; cover art
 * The King of Fighters '94 Re-Bout (2004) - Main illustrator
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum (2005) - Cover, promotional art
 * Garou Densetsu: The Legend of Wild Wolf (pachinko) (2006) - Label, promotional art
 * SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS (2006) - Guest illustrator (for select rare cards)
 * The King of Fighters Orochi Collection (2006) - Cover, promotional art
 * Garou Densetsu Special (pachinko) (2007) - Label, promotional art
 * The King of Fighters NESTS Collection (2007) - Cover, promotional art
 * The King of Fighters 2 (pachinko) (2007) - Label, promotional art
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match (2008) - Illustrator, covers, promotional art
 * SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 (2009) - Cover for the Japanese PSP version
 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match (2009) - Main illustrator
 * KOF Sky Stage (2010) - Main illustrator
 * Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting (2010) - Artwork for the returning KOF Sky Stage characters and Omega Rugal
 * Garou Densetsu Sougeki (2012)
 * KOF x Garou Densetsu (2013) - Card illustrations
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition for NESiCAxLive (2011) - Promotional art
 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match for NESiCAxLive (2011) - Promotional art
 * Lord of Vermilion RE: 2 (2011) - Art for Kyo's and Iori's cards
 * The King of Fighters XIV (2016) - promotional illustration
 * The King of Fighters XV (2022) - promotional illustration
 * Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection (2020) - Illustrator in Special Artbook.

Other credits

 * Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 (2000) - SNK staff
 * Spikeout: Battle Street (2005) - Character design
 * God Hand (2006) - Jacket graphic
 * Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (2008) - Character design and illustration
 * Super Street Fighter IV (2010) - New character concept designer
 * Lord of Arcana (2010) - Image illustration
 * Street Fighter x Tekken (2012) - 2D artist
 * D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (2014) - Illustrator
 * Soulcalibur VI - Soul Chronicle illustrator, Character portraits
 * Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise - Illustrator
 * Street Fighter V Champion Edition - Promotional art

Trivia

 * He loves western comics. He idolizes the works made by Kent Williams and Mike Mignola.


 * His favorite manga artist is Buichi Terasawa.


 * He likes the manga series Fist of the North Star and Kinnikuman and cites them as an influence for his enjoyment of drawing muscles.
 * On that note, he went to school with two artists that eventually became known in SONY and CAPCOM, and noted that they were obsessed with drawing muscles. He considers them to be his lifelong rivals.


 * He's a huge fan of Bruce Lee and cites him as his another influence. In his college dorm, him and his friends would re-enact Bruce Lee's fights. He used to practice his famous poses in front of the mirror all the time.

Hiroaki