I am not going to write a ton, as i never personally knew their work until i got into more of these games as I got older, and sadly have really ONLY played Tales of Arise (which i'm not even sure they worked on?)
I will pull some snippets, and not copy FULL text, as to allow people to read the full articles at will, as my intention isn't to actually copy and paste FULL text but give different sources.
Mutsumi Inomata was an extremely talented illustrator, and while indeed I have trained a lora off of their style, as a design graduate and amateur illustrator (because let's be real I never got my dream of drawing comics lmao) - I appreciate her work beyond AI.
Verity Townsend of Automaton media writes:
On March 18, it was announced that character designer and illustrator Mutsumi Inomata has died. According to a post by her sister on the illustrator’s official X account, Inomata passed away on March 10, aged 63.
News on Japan source:
https://newsonjapan.com/article/141239.php
The news of Inomata's death on March 10th was announced by her sister on Monday, with a private funeral held among close family members.
"Such a sudden event... She left behind some unfinished sketches, and I'm sure she's still drawing in heaven. Surrounded by her beloved cats
Gematsu:
https://www.gematsu.com/2024/03/tales-of-series-character-designer-mutsumi-inomata-dies-at-age-63
Mutsumi Inomata, an illustrator who served as the main character designer on a number of mainline Tales of series titles, passed away on March 10 at age 63, her official Twitter account announced. A cause of death was not shared.
Ollie Barder - Forbes:
In further sad news, the remarkably talented anime and game artist Mutsumi Inomata has died.
According to her official Twitter/X account (shown below), Inomata died on March 10 and her family held a private funeral. The cause of her death has not been disclosed.
As always, my thoughts are with Inomata’s family. It also comes as a shock, as she was only 63 and still working quite actively.
Her Actual Artwork:
RPG Gamer: BY ALEX FULLER
https://rpgamer.com/2024/03/tales-character-designer-mutsumi-inomata-passes-away/
Mutsumi Inomata worked on a variety of anime series since the 1980s, as both a character designer and animator, including Windaria, Plawres Sanshirō, Future GPX Cyber Formula, and Brain Powerd.
Content Inspired By Mutsumi Inomata:
Style:
https://civitai.com/models/89904
Tales of Arise:
https://civitai.com/models/195457/shionne-imeris-tales-of-arise?modelVersionId=219707
https://civitai.com/models/249501/shionne-or-tales-of-arise?modelVersionId=281538
https://civitai.com/models/99925/kisara-tales-of-arise?modelVersionId=106949
https://civitai.com/models/138724/kisara-tales-of-arise-lora-by-artkoikoi?modelVersionId=153316
https://civitai.com/models/85674/rinwell-ft-hootle-or-tales-of-arise?modelVersionId=91108
https://civitai.com/models/109286/kisara-tales-of-arise-character-lora?modelVersionId=117752
https://civitai.com/models/43780/shionne-tales-of-arise?modelVersionId=48419
Tales of Series in general:
(SEARCH TAGS BECAUSE THERES TOO MANY TO MANUALLY LIST AT THIS STAGE)
Search tag: https://civitai.com/tag/tales%20of
Tales series: https://civitai.com/tag/tales%20series
Berseria: https://civitai.com/tag/tales%20of%20berseria
Phantasia: https://civitai.com/tag/tales%20of%20phantasia
Xillia: https://civitai.com/tag/tales%20of%20xillia
Eternia: https://civitai.com/tag/tales%20of%20eternia
Destiny: https://civitai.com/tag/tales%20of%20destiny
Zestiria: https://civitai.com/tag/zestiria / https://civitai.com/tag/tales%20of%20zestiria
Graces: https://civitai.com/tag/tales%20of%20graces
Clearly there is MUCH more series available and not all is on civit.
More reports:
TechRaptor:
By: Giuseppe Nelva
Today we learn that the gaming and anime industry has lost another beloved artist and creator. Mutsumi Inomata has passed away.
The well-known character designer, illustrator, and animator was aged 63 when she passed away on March 10.
Follow up Tweet: https://twitter.com/inomatanekomata/status/1769574475908170182
Mutsumi-Inomata is known among video game fans for her work as one of the main character designers of the Tales of JRPG series by Bandai Namco. Her characters appear in Tales of Berseria, Zestiria, the Xillia series, Graces, Hearts, Innocence, The Tempest, Rebirth, Eternia, and the Destiny series.
She also worked as an animator, animation director, and character designer, and in other roles on many beloved anime including Urusei Yatsura, City Hunter, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Windaria, The Weathering Continent, Future GPX Cyber Formula, and Sacred Seven.
The news comes only days after we learned of the passing of another giant of Japanese animation, Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. JRPG fans also recently mourned the death of Suikoden and Eiyuden Chronicle Creator Yoshitaka Murayama.
Conclusion:
Ai is only one way to remember a style, if you can purchase anything in remembrance of artbooks or physical media such as video games or otherwise in the memory of an Artist, we can keep the divide between AI and traditional forms of media alive without failing to remember that which came before us.
As an artist and designer myself, It is important to let people remember - we don't want to erase an artist's job: we want to give them tools in the future to give them options to aid them in their process. Choices, not forces.
The grace and beauty in Mutsumi Inomata's work reminds us today that AI can't replace artists, because you can't fully replicate a style no matter how well you train it.
But indeed, you can be inspired to replicate it in part, just as you would as an artist with pen and paper, in part you can learn to train an inspired style - flourishing and being different in the future ahead.
(Also remember: Disney's fair game, eat the rich ehehehhehehe.)