Yuji Uekawa

Yuji Uekawa

Company(ies): Sega of Japan
Role(s): Artist, Designer

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Yuji Uekawa's (上川祐司) first major project was cult favorite Ristar, a character of his own design. His first Sonic title was the Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast, where he was a Special Stage artist. Since Sonic R, he's been the main series character designer. His hip, stylized drawings gave Sonic an entirely new visual personality in Sonic Adventure, and he's since loaned his talents to a number of Sonic Team titles, including Samba de Amigo and Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg.

Production history

Ristar (Mega Drive;
1995) — Character Designer
Astal (Saturn;
1995) — キャラクター制作 (as 上川祐司)
Astal (Saturn;
1995) — Character Production
Sakura Taisen (Saturn;
1996) — グラフィックデザイナー (as 上川祐司)
Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (Saturn;
No results
9999) — Artists (SOJ)
Sonic Jam () — Artists
Sonic Jam (Saturn;
1997) — Artists
Sonic R (Saturn;
1997) — Character Designer
Sonic R (Windows PC;
1998) — Character designer
Sonic R (Windows PC;
1998) — Character designers
Sonic Team "PowerPlay" (CD;
1998) — Special Thanks
Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast;
1998) — Character designer
Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast;
1998) — Character motion designers
Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast;
1998) — :qm:CHAOS:qm: character designer
Sonic Adventure "Digi-LOG Conversation" Original Sound Track (CD;
1999) — CG Illustration^[1]
ChuChu Rocket! (Dreamcast;
1999) — Art Director
ChuChu Rocket! (Game Boy Advance;
2001) — Art Director
Samba de Amigo (NAOMI;
1999) — Character Designer
Samba de Amigo (Dreamcast;
2000) — Character Designer
Samba de Amigo Ver.2000 (NAOMI;
2000) — Character Designer
Samba de Amigo Ver.2000 (Dreamcast;
2000) — Character Designer
Sonic Shuffle (Dreamcast;
2000) — Supervisors
Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast;
2001) — Player Character Designers
Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast;
2001) — Product Support
Puyo Pop (Game Boy Advance;
2001) — Art Director
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (GameCube;
2001) — Player Character Designers
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (GameCube;
2001) — Product Support
Sonic Advance (Game Boy Advance;
2001) — Art Director
Sonic Mega Collection () — Illustration
Sonic Mega Collection (GameCube;
2002) — Illustration
Sonic Advance 2 () — Art Director
Sonic Advance 2 (Game Boy Advance;
2002) — Art Director
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (GameCube;
No results
9999) — Art Director
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (GameCube;
No results
9999) — Lead Character Designer
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (GameCube;
No results
9999) — Lead Visual Artist
Sonic Pinball Party () — Art Director
Sonic Pinball Party (Game Boy Advance;
2003) — Art Director
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (GameCube;
2003) — Character Coordinator
Puyo Pop Fever (Dreamcast;
2004) — Art Director
Puyo Pop Fever (Nintendo DS;
2004) — Manager
Sonic Battle () — Design Coordinator
Sonic Battle (Game Boy Advance;
2003) — Design Coordinator
Sonic X: Original Sound Tracks (CD;
2004) — キャラクター原案^[2] (as 上川祐司)
Sonic Advance 3 (Game Boy Advance;
2004) — Art Director
Sega Superstars (PlayStation 2;
2004) — Special Thanks
Sonic Gems Collection () — Illustrator
Sonic Rush (Nintendo DS;
2005) — Art Director
Sonic the Hedgehog () — Publicity Artwork
Sonic the Hedgehog Original Sound Track (CD;
2007) — Cover Art^[3]
Sonic the Hedgehog Vocal Traxx: Several Wills (CD;
2007) — Special Thanks to^[4]
Sonic Rush Adventure Original Soundtrack (CD;
2007) — Art Director^[5]
Sonic Rush Adventure (Nintendo DS;
2007) — Art Director
The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return (Wii;
2008) — Promotional Visuals
True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2 (CD;
2009) — Artworks^[6]
Sonic the Hedgehog CD Original Soundtrack 20th Anniversary Edition (CD;
2011) — Artworks^[7]
Sonic Generations (Nintendo 3DS;
2011) — Sonic Character Supervisors
3D Sonic the Hedgehog (Nintendo 3DS;
2013) — Special Thanks
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric () — Character Supervisors
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U;
2014) — Character Supervisors
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (Nintendo 3DS;
2014) — Character Supervisors
3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Nintendo 3DS;
2015) — Special Thanks
Sonic Adventure Music Experience (CD;
2016) — Artwork^[8]
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (Nintendo 3DS;
2016) — Character Supervisors
Maximum Overdrive - Team Sonic Racing Original Soundtrack (CD;
2019) — Special Thanks^[9]
Sega Ages Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Nintendo Switch;
2020) — Special Thanks
Sonic the Hedgehog DJ Style "Party" (CD;
2020) — Illustrator

Sonic 3D Blast (1996) — Artist
Sonic Jam (1997) — Artist
Sonic R (Saturn version) (1997) — Character Designer (Sega Enterprises Ltd.)
Sonic R (PC version) (1998) — Character designer (Sega Enterprises Ltd.) (Sega)
Sonic Adventure (1998) — Character designer, Character motion designer, "Chaos" character designer
Sonic Shuffle (2000) — Supervisor (Sonic Team)
Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) — Player Character Designer, Product Support
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (2001) — Player Character Designer, Product Support
Sonic Advance (2001) — Art Director
Sonic Mega Collection (2002) — Illustration (Compiled Under The Supervision of SONICTEAM, LTD.)
Sonic Advance 2 (2002) — Art Director
Sonic X (2003) — Original Character Design
Sonic Pinball Party (2003) — Art Director
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003) — Art Director (Sonic Adventure DX Staff), Lead Character Designer (Sonic Adventure DX Staff), Lead Visual Artist (Sonic Adventure DX Staff), Character Designer (Sonic Adventure Original Staff), Character Motion Designer (Sonic Adventure Original Staff), "Chaos" Character Designer (Sonic Adventure Original Staff)
Sonic Battle (2003) — Design Coordinator
Sonic Heroes (2003) — Menu Screen Artist, Product Support
Sonic Advance 3 (2004) — Art Director
Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) — Illustrator (Sega Corporation)
Sonic Gems Collection (2005) — Illustrator (Sega Corporation)
Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) — Special Thanks
Sonic Rush (2005) — Art Director
Sonic Riders (2006) — Character Art Director
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) — Publicity Artwork
Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007) — Promotional Visuals
Sonic Rush Adventure (2007) — Art Director
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007) — Sonic Family Character Supervisor
Sega Superstars Tennis (2008) — Special Thanks
Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360 & PS3 versions) (2008) — Publicity Artwork
Sonic and the Black Knight (2009) — Cut Scene Artist, Promotional Visuals
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2009) — Sonic Family Character Supervisor
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (2010) — CS2 R&D (Sega Japan)
Sonic Free Riders (2010) — Scenario Supervisor, Sonic Character Supervisor
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I (2010) — Artist
Sonic Colors (2010) — Sonic Character Supervisor (Sega)
Sonic Generations (2011) — Sonic Character Supervisor (Sega)
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (2011/2012) — Sonic Character Supervisor
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II (2012) — Character Artist
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012) — CS2 R&D (Sega Corporation)
Sonic Lost World (2013) — Sonic Character Supervisor
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (2013) — Sonic Character Supervisor (Sega Development Team)
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (2014) — Supervisor (Original Games)
Sonic Boom (2014) — Sonic Character & Universe Supervision
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (2014) — Character Supervisor (Sonic Team) (Sega of Japan) (Sega)
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (2014) — Character Supervisor (Sega of Japan CS2) (Sega of Japan)
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014) — Supervisor (Original Games)
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (2016) — Sonic Character Supervisor (Sega Games Development Team)
Sonic Forces (2017) — Sonic Character Supervisor

Interviews

Some or all of the following content should be mirrored on Sega Retro (or Retro CDN).

Yuji Uekawa interview by Sonic Channel (April 3, 2006)

Photographs

Main article: Photos of Yuji Uekawa

References

[:File:SADLCOST_CD_JP_booklet1.pdf_p2-1] File:SADLCOST CD JP booklet1.pdf, page 2

[:File:SonicXOST_CD_JP_booklet.pdf_p3-2] File:SonicXOST CD JP booklet.pdf, page 3

[:File:StHOST_CD_JP_booklet.pdf_p6-3] File:StHOST CD JP booklet.pdf, page 6

[:File:SeveralWIlls_CD_JP_booklet.pdf_p15-4] File:SeveralWIlls CD JP booklet.pdf, page 15

[:File:SRAOST_CD_JP_booklet.pdf_p3-5] File:SRAOST CD JP booklet.pdf, page 3

[:File:TrueColorsTray.jpg_p-6] File:TrueColorsTray.jpg

[:File:SonicCD_OST_Tray.jpg_p-7] File:SonicCD OST Tray.jpg

[:File:SonicAdventureMusicExperience_CD_JP_Box_Tokyo.jpg_p-8] File:SonicAdventureMusicExperience CD JP Box Tokyo.jpg

[:File:MaximumOverdrive_CD_JP_inlay_front.jpg_p-9] File:MaximumOverdrive CD JP inlay front.jpg

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Yuji Uekawa

From Sega Retro

Contents

Production history

Interviews

Photographs

References