Yuji Uekawa

Yuji Uekawa

Employment history: Sega of Japan Divisions: Sega CS3 Sega Software R&D Dept. 8 Sonic Team (company) Sega of Japan Divisions: Global Entertainment R&D Dept. 1 Sega CS2
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

Games

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; 1996) — Artists (SOJ)
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 Adventure (Dreamcast; 1998) — Character designer
Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast; 1998) — Character motion designers
Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast; 1998) — "CHAOS" character designer
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 Advance (Game Boy Advance; 2001) — Art Director
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (GameCube; 2001) — Player Character Designers
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (GameCube; 2001) — Product Support
Sonic Mega Collection (GameCube; 2002) — Illustration
Sonic Advance 2 (Game Boy Advance; 2002) — Art Director
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (GameCube; 2003) — Art Director
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (GameCube; 2003) — Lead Character Designer
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (GameCube; 2003) — Lead Visual Artist
Sonic Pinball Party (Game Boy Advance; 2003) — Art Director
SonicN (N-Gage; 2003) — Art Director
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (GameCube; 2003) — Character Coordinator
Puyo Pop Fever (NAOMI; 2003) — Art Director
Puyo Pop Fever (Dreamcast; 2004) — Art Director
Puyo Pop Fever (PlayStation 2; 2004) — Art Director
Puyo Pop Fever (GameCube; 2004) — Art Director
Puyo Pop Fever (Windows PC; 2004) — Art Director
Puyo Pop Fever (Game Boy Advance; 2004) — Art Director
Puyo Pop Fever (Nintendo DS; 2004) — Manager
Puyo Pop Fever (PlayStation Portable; 2004) — Art Director
Sonic Battle (Game Boy Advance; 2003) — Design Coordinator
Sonic Heroes () — Menu Screen Artists
Sonic Heroes () — Product Support
Sonic Advance 3 (Game Boy Advance; 2004) — Art Director
Sega Superstars (PlayStation 2; 2004) — Special Thanks
Sonic Mega Collection Plus () — Illustrator
Sonic Gems Collection () — Illustrator
Sonic Rush (Nintendo DS; 2005) — Art Director
Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (PlayStation 2; 2005) — Artwork Section Manager
Shadow the Hedgehog () — Special Thanks
Sonic Riders () — Character Art Director
Sonic the Hedgehog () — Publicity Artwork
Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii; 2007) — Promotional Visuals
Sonic Rush Adventure (Nintendo DS; 2007) — Art Director
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii; 2007) — Sonic Family Character Supervisors
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo DS; 2008) — Sonic Family Character Supervisors
Sega Superstars Tennis (PlayStation 3; 2008) — GE1
Sega Superstars Tennis (Wii; 2008) — GE1
The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return (Wii; 2008) — Promotional Visuals
Sonic Unleashed () — Publicity Artwork
Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii; 2009) — Cut Scene Artists
Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii; 2009) — Promotional Visuals
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii; 2009) — Sonic Family Character Supervisors
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Nintendo DS; 2009) — Sonic Character Supervisors
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Xbox 360; 2010) — CS2 R&D
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Wii; 2010) — CS2 R&D
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I () — Artists
Sonic Free Riders (Xbox 360; 2010) — Sonic Character Supervisors
Sonic Colours (Wii; 2010) — Publicity Artwork
Sonic Colours (Wii; 2010) — Sonic Character Supervisors
Sonic Generations (Nintendo 3DS; 2011) — Sonic Character Supervisors
Sonic Generations () — Sonic Character Supervisors
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii; 2011) — Sonic Character Supervisors
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS; 2012) — Sonic Character Supervisors
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II (Xbox 360; 2012) — Character Artist
3D Sonic the Hedgehog (Nintendo 3DS; 2013) — Special Thanks
Sonic Lost World (Wii U; 2013) — Sonic Character Supervisor
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Windows PC; 2013) — CS2 R&D
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (Nintendo 3DS; 2014) — Character Supervisors
3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Nintendo 3DS; 2015) — Special Thanks
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (Nintendo 3DS; 2016) — Character Supervisors
Sonic Forces () — Sonic Character Supervisor
Sega Heroes (Android; 2018) — ChuChu Rocket
Sega Heroes (Android; 2018) — Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega Ages Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Nintendo Switch; 2020) — Special Thanks

Music

Sonic Team "PowerPlay" (CD; 1998) — Special Thanks
Sonic Adventure "Digi-LOG Conversation" Original Sound Track (CD; 1999) — CG Illustration^[1]
Sonic X: Original Sound Tracks (CD; 2004) — キャラクター原案^[2] (as 上川祐司)
Sonic the Hedgehog Vocal Traxx: Several Wills (CD; 2007) — Special Thanks to^[3]
Sonic the Hedgehog Original Sound Track (CD; 2007) — Cover Art^[4]
Sonic Rush Adventure Original Soundtrack (CD; 2007) — Art Director^[5]
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 Adventure Music Experience (CD; 2016) — Artwork^[8]
Maximum Overdrive - Team Sonic Racing Original Soundtrack (CD; 2019) — Special Thanks^[9]
Sonic the Hedgehog DJ Style "Party" (CD; 2020) — Illustrator

Sonic X (2003) — Original Character Design
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
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)

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) [Translated]

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:SeveralWIlls_CD_JP_booklet.pdf_p15-3] File:SeveralWIlls CD JP booklet.pdf, page 15

[:File:StHOST_CD_JP_booklet.pdf_p6-4] File:StHOST CD JP booklet.pdf, page 6

[: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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