Shigenori Soejima
| Shigenori Soejima | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 副島 成記 |
| Born |
February 24, 1974 Kanagawa Prefecture |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Video game artist |
| Notable work | Persona series, Catherine |
Shigenori Soejima (副島 成記 Soejima Shigenori?, born February 24, 1974) is a Japanese video game artist working for Atlus. Inspired in his work as an artist from an early age, he initially worked in minor roles on several games after joining Atlus. His first major work as an artist was on the strategy role-playing game Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity. He has most notably worked on the Persona series, taking over as main character designer from his mentor Kazuma Kaneko for Persona 3 onwards.
Soejima was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, though his family moved quite often during his childhood due to his father's office work: a month after his birth, his family moved to Machida, Tokyo, and in future moves relocated Fukuoka Prefecture, then back to Machida and then to Suginami. During his time in Fukuoka, Soejima attended kindergarten school. While there, he developed a taste for drawing and practiced his skills by copying the characters from Doraemon, a manga series of which he was fond. As his family went through further moves while he was attending first-grade elementary school, he found the frequent changes in his environment unsettling, and became slightly introverted due to not being able to make friends. His drawing became a conciliatory activity during this period. For these early drawings, Soejima used a notepad and ballpoint pens. Eventually, he made some friends in elementary school, who shared his enthusiasm for Doraemon and encouraged him in his pursuit of a career as a cartoonist.
During junior high, Soejima developed a love of video games of the time: one of the games he saw was Shin Megami Tensei II, which was recommended to him by a friend. This, and seeing the detailed animation in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, helped influence his future ambitions and character design. Upon recommendation, he entered Tama University after completing his junior high education, earning high marks. While there, he began experimenting with painting alongside his cartoons, now wanting to pursue a career as an animator and character designer. In his second year, he was working part-time and used his wages to buy his first PC to play games, which would prove a great influence for him. During his third year in high school, he began dedicated training in painting at Tokyo University of the Arts, then later gained a place at the Illustration Department of the Tokyo Design Academy after failing to qualify for a place at an arts college. It was at this point that he decided to pursue a professional career in illustration. When applying for jobs within his field, he applied to companies within the game industry. During his interview for a job with Atlus, he first encountered Kazuma Kaneko, the main artistic director at Atlus. After impressing Kaneko with his attitude and enthusiasm, Soejima got a job as one of the artists under Kaneko's supervision.
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