Summary
Masahiro Ito is among the best-known names when it comes to video game art. Ito was the art director forSilent Hill1, 2 and 3 and a creature designer on the recentSilent Hill 2 Remake.
Ito is an active user on X, and has produced a couple of famous posts over the years. In a recent Q&A held for his followers, Ito talked about some of his background and where his life was when he was working on the original Silent Hill (thanks,PC Gamer).
That Damned Town
“I wanted to learn oil painting, but majored in graphic design at my art university, studying oil on my own. I was born in a needy family, I had no money to buy oil colours/mediums, so I was picking them up on the corridors. I learned 3D modelling and animation developing the first Silent Hill,” Ito wrote. “However, I could model/build all of the creatures and all their animations by Silent Hill 2, and I also thought of all of Pyramid Head’s cutscenes and built them by myself. Practice makes perfect.”
He then goes on to speak about hislove life, which was nonexistent because he was investing all his time in mastering his craft and developing Silent Hill - “As a side note, I was attending my art university or was developing Silent Hill 1/2/3 and a cancelled title. I never had any girlfriends, because I had no time for it.”
Ito doesn’t seem to regret the personal opportunities he missed out on. After all, dedicating oneself to something entirely is a noble goal. As Ito puts it, “I’ve never thought I was a genius, but I’m terribly competitive. The only way to beat geniuses is giving yourself up entirely to what you want to accomplish.”
One replier suggests that Ito’s “rags to riches” story is an inspiring one, but Ito wasquick to point out"I’m not rich. Also, I’m not the copyright holder of Pyramid Head or Bubble Nurse." Another supportive fan suggests that even if he isn’t rich, he’s famous and his family is certainly proud of him. Itoonce again replies, saying “I have no family, but thanks so much!”
While these replies could suggest that Ito isn’t happy with how things turned out, it’s difficult to tell if this is the case, or if it’s just the artist’s characteristic dry style. Either way, he doesn’t seem to regret his work or the time he spent mastering his craft.
