Hitoshi Ariga started working as illustrator from the second year of high school for video game-related magazines, books and strategy books. In parallel, he was hired as a part-time employee by Winds, a company that frequently collaborated with Masaya. There he learnt graphic design under the supervision of the late Tomoharu Saitō, the future character designer of Ketsui, who also worked on Streets of Rage 2 with him.
Ariga worked on 2 games at Winds: Kaizō Chōjin Shubibinman 3 and Dragon Egg. Rather than continue working full-time at Winds, he decided to become freelance to continue working as both illustrator and graphic designer. (Source: Source)
He also worked as an assistant to the mangaka Shigeto Ikehara (Source).
Games
Other video game related works
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Gallery Part 2
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Gallery Part 4
Actraiser 2 / アクトレイザー2 (Super Famicom - 1993)
Graphic design:
.main character, enemies, bosses, effects (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.objects (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.hidden staff portrait (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Animetic Story Game - Card Captor Sakura / アニメチックストーリーゲーム カードキャプターさくら (PS1 - 1999)
Graphic design: main character, some of the mini games (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Dragon Egg! / どらごんEGG! (PC Engine - 1991)
Graphic design: some of the opening illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Gaia Gensōki / ガイア幻想紀, AKA Illusion of Gaia, AKA Illusion of Time (Super Famicom - 1993)
Graphic design:
__main character (Tim, Freedan, Shadow) (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
__Enix logo (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.sketches made before working on the graphics
Gekitou! Car Battler Go!! / 激闘! カーバトラーGO!!, AKA Car Battler Joe (GBA - 2001)
Graphic design: character portraits, main character (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
GötzenDiener / ゲッツェンディーナー (PC Engine CD - 1994)
Graphic design: several monsters (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Kaizō Chōjin Shubibinman 3 / 改造町人シュビビンマン3 (PC Engine CD - 1992)
Cover art: draft (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Manual illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Character design: Demon Captain (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Mecha-design: in-game version of the Demon Airship (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Graphic design: some of the in-game illustrations, including the ones with the Demon captain (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter: 1, 2, 3)
Kateikyō Hitman REBORN! Battle Arena / 家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN! バトルアリーナ (PSP - 2008)
(Unused?) character design (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Loading screens / illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Kateikyō Hitman REBORN! Battle Arena 2 / 家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN! バトルアリーナ2 (PSP - 2009)
Loading screens / illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Metalgun Slinger / メタルガン・スリンガー (GBA - 2002)
Character illustration (Source: in-game credits)
"helped with the illustrations and the original game demo drawings" (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Pokémon Masters EX / ポケモンマスターズEX (iOS, Android - 2019)
Illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist in a blog post)
Pokémon Sword and Shield / ポケットモンスター ソード・シールド (Switch - 2019)
Pokémon design: Corviknight (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Ranma ½: Bakuretsu Rantō Hen / らんま1/2 爆烈乱闘篇, AKA Ranma ½: Hard Battle (SFC - 1992)
Cover art proposal (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Graphic design:
.Ukyo (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.Gosunkuji (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.Mousse (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.Happosai (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.female Ranma, Ryoga, Genma, Pantyhose Taro (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.Mousse's character portrait from the select screen (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.SD characters from the ending (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Ranma ½: Chōnai Gekitō Hen / らんま1/2 町内激闘篇, AKA Street Combat (SFC - 1992)
Graphic design: Ranma (male), Ranma (female), Shampoo, Cologne, Happosai and the SD characters in the ending (Source: mentioned in a blog post by the artist)
.Note: Ariga wasn't involved in the version remade for the US market - Street Combat. (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Rockman & Forte / ロックマン&フォルテ, AKA Mega Man & Bass (SFC - 1998)
Cover art: line art (Color by Ayano Koshiro) (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Character design: Burner Man and Dynamo Man (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection, AKA Samurai Spirits NeoGeo Collection / サムライスピリッツネオジオコレクション (PS4, Switch - 2020)
Illustration featured in the artbook from the limited edition (Source: mentioned on the game's official website)
Story of Thor / ストーリー オブ トア (Mega Drive - 1994)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Manual illustrations, short comics (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Character illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Graphic design: characters (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Original drawings for the in-game illustrations of the opening (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter: 1, 2)
Misc:
.early sketch
.Itar, an unused character
.Ditto sketch
.sketch
.enemy sketch
.early enemy designs
Streets of Rage 2, AKA Bare Knuckle II / ベアナックルII (Mega Drive - 1992)
Graphic design:
.Jack (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.Abadede (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.Mr. X (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.alternate color for Barbon (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
.ending illustrations x2 (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter: 1, 2)
Thor ~Seirei Ō Kiden~ / トア 〜精霊王紀伝, AKA The Story of Thor 2 (Saturn - 1996)
Illustrations (Source: in-game credits)
Graphic design: main character, some characters (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter. unused illustrations)
Vatlva / バトルバ (Saturn - 1996)
Cover art: line (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Promotional illustration (Source: mentioned by the artist on DeviantArt)
Character design (Source: mentioned by the artist on DeviantArt)
Original drawings for the character select screen and the victory screens (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Graphic design: character that pops out when the car is destroyed (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Beep! Mega Drive (Magazine - 1994)
Illustrations and short comic for the Ancient Park column (Source: credited in the magazine)
Klonoa animated movie (cancelled)
Character design, scenario, co-production (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter and in an article published by ANN)
Mega Man Tribute (artbook)
Illustration + cover art for the limited edition (Source: credited in the book)
Pokemon Fossil Museum / ポケモン化石博物館 (exhibition - 2021)
Main visual, costume design (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
R20 - Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works (artbook)
Illustration (Source: credited in the book)
R20+5 - Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works (artbook)
Illustration (Source: credited in the book)
Shovel Knight - The Definitive Soundtrack (OST - 2016)
Cover art (Source: credited in the booklet)
Shovel Knight: King of Cards + Showdown - The Definitive Soundtrack (OST - 2021)
Cover art: line art. Color by Ayano Koshiro (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows - The Definitive Soundtrack (OST - 2017)
Cover art (Source: credited in the booklet)
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment - The Definitive Soundtrack (OST - 2019)
Cover art: line art. Color by Ayano Koshiro (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Streets of Rage 2 Original Soundtrack (OST - 2000)
Illustrations (Source: credited in the booklet)
.sketches drawn for some of the booklet illustrations)
Streets of Rage 4 The Definitive Soundtrack (OST - 2020)
Cover art + Limited edition cover art (color by Ayano Koshiro) (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Symphonic Shades – Hülsbeck in Concert (Album - 2008)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
The Scheme (OST)
Cover art for one of the reissue (Source: credited in the OST booklet)
The Story of Thor: A Successor of the Light - Original Soundtrack (OST - 2024)
Additional illustration (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Thor ~Seirei Ō Kiden~ Perfect Guide Book - Gamest Mook Ex Series Vol.6 / トア 精霊王紀伝 攻略本 パーフェクトガイドブック - ゲーメストムック EXシリーズ Vol. 6 (Guide book - 1996)
Character and object illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter: 1, 2, 3)
Short comic (source: credited in the book)
Games
Other video game related works
Gallery Part 1
Gallery Part 2
Gallery Part 3
Gallery Part 4