Square Enix Bids Farewell to Legendary Final Fantasy Artist

Veteran Final Fantasy character designer Toshiyuki Itahana has officially left Square Enix. Itahana has worked at Square Enix for the last three decades, and while he’s best known for being Final Fantasy 9‘s character designer, that’s just scratching the surface of Itahana’s contributions to the RPG genre over the years.

While Final Fantasy 9 is the entry that Toshiyuki Itahana is often most associated with, he also worked on Final Fantasy 11, Final Fantasy 13-2, Final Fantasy 14, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13. Itahana also developed art and characters for the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series, the Final Fantasy Fables series, and a handful of other Final Fantasy entries such as Final Fantasy Explorers and Mobius Final Fantasy.

“What We’re Creating Is Being Stolen From Us” Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Briana White Discusses the Impact of AI on Creativity

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth actress Briana White explains why creators are worried about AI and how performers risk losing control over their likeness.

FF9 Character Designer Toshiyuki Itahana Has Officially Left Square Enix

On January 5, 2026, Toshiyuki Itahana posted on the Japanese blogging platform Note.com. Itahana’s post begins with the Final Fantasy veteran announcing that he’s officially left Square Enix, and that he decided to leave the company at the end of 2025 following the 25th anniversary celebrations of Final Fantasy 9. Explaining his decision to leave Square Enix, Itahana said the following:

“Last year marked a major milestone with the 25th anniversary of FINAL FANTASY IX, a truly significant event, and I was deeply grateful to see so many people celebrating FFIX. With the illustration work and supervision related to the 25th anniversary now complete, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment in having fulfilled the role entrusted to me. At the same time, I felt this was the right moment to draw a line under this chapter and take on new challenges.”

Toshiyuki Itahana isn’t retiring for good, however. In the second part of Itahana’s announcement, the creator confirms that he’ll be working as a freelance illustrator and character designer and looks forward to creating a “wide variety of new artwork” in the future. Itahana makes no mention of his next project, but he hopes that if fans come across his work they’ll support him. Itahana’s announcement ends with him giving a heartfelt thanks to anyone who’s played the games he’s worked on over the years and to his former Square Enix colleagues.

Where Is The Long-Rumored Final Fantasy 9 Remake?

All the way back in September 2021, an infamous GeForce Now leak surfaced online, potentially revealing the existence of over 50 PC games that hadn’t been officially announced yet. While many of these leaked games have appeared in an official capacity over the last four years, many still haven’t. Final Fantasy 9 remake is one such game.

Though Square Enix has never officially confirmed or denied the existence of a Final Fantasy 9 remake, several leaks surrounding the alleged project have appeared online over the years. The most recent wave of Final Fantasy 9 remake rumors surfaced back in March 2025, when Square Enix launched the official website for Final Fantasy 9‘s 25th anniversary alongside new artwork of its characters. Of course, Square Enix didn’t announce a Final Fantasy 9 remake during the game’s 25th anniversary. Instead, on the game’s 25th birthday (July 7,2025), leaker NateTheHate claimed that although the FF9 remake was in development it may have recently been canceled.

While a full ground-up remake of Final Fantasy 9 may still be just a pipe dream, there has been some recent movement on another long-rumored Final Fantasy 9 project. In 2021, Square Enix officially announced an animated series based on Final Fantasy 9 that was set to be produced by Cyber Group Studios, a French developer that entered liquidation back in April 2025. With Cyber Group Studios’ closure last year, this Final Fantasy 9 animated series was believed to have been canceled, but as of December 2025 that may not be the case.

On December 22, 2025, French magazine Écran Total reported that the Final Fantasy 9 animated series has been revived and is now being worked on by Euro Visual. The report claims that the show will feature 2D animation and will contain 13 episodes, each one having a runtime of around 22 minutes. The series will reportedly release in 2028 and will follow six Black Mages who are all the children of FF9‘s Vivi.