Fumikane Shimada

Japanese illustrator & character designer

Fumikane Shimada
Born	(1974-01-26) January 26, 1974 (age 50) Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Known for	character design, illustration

Fumikane Shimada (島田フミカネ, Shimada Fumikane, born January 26, 1974), is an anime and video game illustrator and character designer from Okayama Prefecture.

Biography

Fumikane is well known for sparking the mecha shoujo boom of the 2000s with his line of mecha musume illustrations. During this time Fumikane provided illustrations for various dōjin and commercial hobbyist magazines some of which were turned into popular figurines and model kits by Toranoana and Konami. Since then he has worked as a character and mechanical designer for various military-themed anime television series and video games.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

In July 2013, Fumikane was responsible for designing military recruitment posters and other promotional material for the Japan Self-Defense Forces.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Art style

Fumikane's designs commonly combine bishōjo characters, moe elements, and mechanical systems such as military-style weapons, armor, or vehicles. Some of his most iconic character designs in this style come from the Strike Witches franchise. In it young girls with Kemonomimi use machines that attach to their legs to fly and fight aliens with weapons as part of a military force.

Main works

Anime

Sky Girls (2006-2007): Conceptual mechanical design, Original character design
Strike Witches (2007-present): Original character design
Busou Shinki (2011-2012)
Girls und Panzer (2012-present): character design
Kantai Collection (2015)
Frame Arms Girl (2017-2019)
Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise (2019): Mobile Doll May design
Midnight Fun Nora Version (2021)^[8]
Alice Gear Aegis: Expansion (2023)

Videogames

Hayate the Combat Butler: Nightmare Paradise: mechanical design
Busou Shinki video games (2006-present)
Dariusburst (2009): character design
Kantai Collection (2013-present): character design and in-game sprite illustrations
Alice Gear Aegis (2018-present)
Sakura Wars (2019): guest character design for the Berlin Combat Revue (Elise and Margarethe)
Strike Witches (2020-present): character design
Fate/Grand Order (2021): Galatea Design

Commercial magazines

MC Akushizu
Spiegel Series

Figures and Model Kits

Mecha musume: character design
Busou Shinki: character design
Frame Arms Girl: character design
Megami Device: character design
30 Minutes Sisters: character designer

Dōjinshi

(幻の歩兵戦)
Strike Witches: Witches of Africa (ストライクウィッチーズアフリカの魔女): illustrations

Artbooks

『島田フミカネ ART WORKS』, published by Kadokawa Group Publishing. ISBN 9784048542210.

Other

Senpai mo kōhai mo osananajimi mo tsundere de nemurenai CD (先輩も後輩も幼なじみもツンデレで眠れないCD)
MCTCG Fairy Lore (MCTCG妖精伝承)
Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase
Bio-station Mars (火星生物局) (original narrative/illustration work)^[9]^[10]

References

^ 2013-10-10, 「艦これ」に“島田フミカネ艦娘”が登場！！　提督100万人突破の発表も, ITmedia.co.jp
^ 2009-10-27, 島田フミカネさんがパイロットをキャラデザ！『ダライアスバースト』新情報, Dengeki Online
^ 2012-01-26, 『武装神姫』島田フミカネ氏描き下ろしイラストブックマーカープレゼントキャンペーン開催決定, Famitsu
^ 2006-06-15, 岛田文金倾力打造激萌机械娘动画, 北方网
^ 2013-07-29, "Strike Witches" Creator Designs Military Recruitment Character, Crunchyroll
^ 2014-01-14, 萌女兵漫畫爆紅自衛隊考生增3成, The Liberty Times
^ 2014-01-13, 日自衛隊"萌女兵"受捧自衛官及防衛大學報名人數大增 Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, People's Daily
^ "Midnight Fun Nora Version | Native Online Global Shop". ap-com.gsls. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
^ https://twitter.com/humikane/status/1620730985922035712 ^{[bare URL]}
^ https://twitter.com/humikane/status/1574422188488212481 ^{[bare URL]}