In the LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII Contest, we asked you to create a complete customization of Lightning in a first-of-its-kind challenge. The three winners were selected by none other than Final Fantasy legend, Tetsuya Nomura. Not only did the winners get their art displayed in a billboard on the deviantART homepage, but they will also receive $1,000 USD, a LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII customized Xbox360, an assortment of memorabilia associated with the game, and a signed original sketch from main character designer, Tetsuya Nomura. We would like to congratulate our winners and thank everyone who participated in this contest.
At first glance it looks like a CG, and it has a level of quality that makes it look like it was captured as a screenshot. While there were many heroic costumes for Lightning, I was drawn to the femininity of this costume and her hairstyle.
With one look I was hooked. The costume itself is sophisticated, and it's also very well done as an illustration. The background that reminded me of the Japanese flag (Hinomaru) matched well with the piece and was beautiful. As an artist, when I look at different works of art, I think to myself "If it were up to me, I would do it differently," but that thought didn't cross my mind once when I saw this picture.
It's wonderful as an illustration, but in addition to that, the artist drew in both the front and back views, so I felt the artist's clear intent when they created this piece. The red and blue color scheme was very beautiful, too.
© 2013, 2014 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
CHARACTER DESIGN: TETSUYA NOMURA
LIGHTNING RETURNS, FINAL FANTASY, SQUARE ENIX and the SQUARE ENIX logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Square Enix Group.
