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Macross Director/Designer Shoji Kawamori Designs Reaper Skin for Call of Duty: Mobile
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Anime director and mechanical designer Shōji Kawamori designed a Reaper character skin for Season 7 of the Call of Duty: Mobile game. The anime-inspired "Ashura" skin was made available in-game last Thursday.
“When I was thinking about the mecha design of the robot weapons in Call of Duty: Mobile, which has a military-style worldview, I incorporated an 'anime feel' to achieve a balance that is more human, while still retaining a mecha vibe here and there,” Kawamori said in a video message. “I hope you'll enjoy playing with the special skin I designed.”
Kawamori is perhaps most famous for being a key creative planner in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross anime series. He designed most of the franchise's iconic transforming "variable fighter" mecha, and oversaw most of the main installments in the franchise, including the latest, Macross Delta.
Kawamori has also created the Aquarion, AKB0048, and Arjuna series, and most recently was chief director on Jūshinki Pandora at Satelight, the anime studio for which he serves as a board director. He has contributed mechanical design work to Patlabor: The Movie, Patlabor 2: The Movie, Eureka Seven, Outlaw Star, Ghost in the Shell, and more. He is credited as the original creator of The Vision of Escaflowne, Basquash!, and Nobunaga The Fool. He has worked in anime production as a director, screenwriter, mechanical designer, and storyboarder.
Outside anime, he designed one of Sony's Aibo robot dog variants and contributed to the designs of Takara's Diaclone Car Robot toys, which eventually became Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ironhide, and other toys in Hasbro's Transformers line. His game contributions include the original mechanical designs for the Armored Core franchise and the Devil Breaker weapons in Devil May Cry 5. SMALL WORLDS, the company behind the world's largest indoor theme park of scale miniatures, appointed Kawamori as its chief creative officer.
Sources: Call of Duty blog, Email correspondence
