Ino

It seems the CG artists directing the art of eroge often fail to receive the credit they might be due in more visible artistic roles; one such case is that of Ino (also known as 猪野誠 / Ino Makoto), an artist of colossal skill, who still seems not to have accrued the celebrity aura attaching to the likes of Tony, despite equalling or even surpassing him.

Here I present a comprehensive introduction to his works, and also a fascinating making of video showing him in the act of creating one.

Player 1

Here he shows us the process by which one of his fine works, in this case a headphone musume, is created. Via Nico.

Player 2

And another, where he illustrates Vocaloid Meiko.

His artbook, INO アートワークス Velvet Skin / Ino Artworks Velvet Skin, where this illustration features, is said to be of a very high standard, and so may well be of interest; however, the bulk of his works are CG, featuring in what is now an impressive portfolio of eroge. Perhaps this is a factor in his comparative obscurity.

If Juuzoh Minazuki can be said to be the undisputed master of drawing feet, and Satoshi Urushihara the master of nipples (I hesitate to say what Tony is master of), then Ino is undoubtedly the foremost illustrator of breasts. More authentically and erotically illustrated mammaries you will not find, I’d wager.

His upcoming game, 乙女ファンクション / Otome Function, to be published by Mu-soft, looks to be magnificent. Unfortunately, the publisher has announced a delay due to quality issues, so it is unlikely we will see it this year; mortifying, but better than it turning into a Summer Days…

十六夜の花嫁 / Izayoi no Hanayome, a 2003 eroge by Mink. Easily one of his best works, with a high standard of quality despite being an earlier title.

Alea / アレア, a 2007 eroge by Caligula.

きみはぐ / Kimihagu, another 2007 title, this time by FrontWing.

ニセ教祖 / Nisekyouso, a 2004 eroge by Nomad, the art of which he was partially responsible for.

永劫回帰 / Eigoukaiki (Eternal Recurrence), published in 2004 by D.O.

KISS×400 懐かしき日々の連続 / Kiss x 400 Natsukashiki Hibi no Renzoku, a 2005 title by Winters.

This is a small selection of the works he has been involved in. You can find more on the Channel, especially collected into pools.

I should point out that though we are here focussed on his art, many of the eroge he has illustrated are superb all round, so you may be well rewarded should you check them out.

The comparison which springs to mind is between Ino and Tony (Taichi Kiriyama probably isn’t  really prolific enough to qualify, despite his amazing style); whilst they operate in slightly different fields, with Tony having a broader portfolio extending to doujinshi and straightforward character design, I think one of the criticisms I am prepared to level at Tony, that his subject matter and art is at times overly unadventurous (although he seems to be improving in this regard), does not hold true of Ino despite his CG focus. Ino instead seems to manage to keep his works quite varied.

Subjectively, about the only real point of difference in mastery between the two is that Ino is most probably the better illustrator of breasts, but I would be hesitant to call him superior because of this, especially considering his narrower CG focus.

Whatever interesting comparisons we might care to draw, it seems undeniable that Ino is one of the foremost artists operating in his field, and nobody could reasonably fail to recommend his superb works.