VGDensetsu - Kensuke SUZUKI / 鈴木健介, AKA Hiroshi KAJIYAMA / 梶山浩

Kensuke SUZUKI / 鈴木健介, AKA Hiroshi KAJIYAMA / 梶山浩

Kensuke Suzuki started his career in the 80s as an illustrator, designing cover art and illustrations for games, tabletop RPGs, books and magazines such as Warlock and Logout. In parallel with his Western-influenced style - he took inspiration from artists such as Frank Frazzeta and Jeffrey Catherine Jones - he developed another style in the early 90s and signed these works under a pen name: Hiroshi Kajiyama. He used both names in his early years in the video game industry (where he also worked as a graphic designer), then signed all of his works Hiroshi Kajiyama.

He is mostly known in the West for his work on the Shining Force series but also worked on games such as Golden Sun as a chara-designer (the character illustrations were made by Shin Yamanouchi).

He ran the video game company Rit's and worked on many 18+ games produced under its adult label Ringer Bell. Suzuki was also active as a mangaka and drew several mangas as well as dozens of fanzines and a few doujin games.

On July 14, 2018, his son posted a message on Twitter saying that his father passed away. According to his editor, he died from illness on July 12, 2018; he was 54 years old. He was working on the second volume of Curse Blood (he had already completed more than 70 pages) as well as on a comic based on the Chinese game 'The Soul of Hunter'.

Games
Other video game related works
To be confirmed
Other works
Gallery Part 1
Gallery Part 2
Gallery Part 3

Games (in alphabetical order)

Blue Garnet / ブルー・ガーネット (PC-98 - 1994)
Original drawings for the in-game illustrations (Source: HQ's A-WORKS)

Chō Heroine Senki / 超ヒロイン戦記 (PS3, PS Vita - 2014)
Character design: K-86X (Source: mentioned in an article published by Dengeki Online)
Enemy design, graphic design (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)

Cyber Dodge / サイバードッジ (PC Engine - 1992)
Cover art, character design (Source: in-game credits)

Dark Wraith / ダークレイス (PC-98 - 1989)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)

Dragon Master Silk - Ryuu Shoukan Musume - Episode II / ドラゴンマスターシルク～龍召還娘～Ｅｐｉｓｏｄｅ２ (PC-98 - 1992)
Planning, scenario, character design, graphic design (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)
Game design (Source: credited in the manual)

Dragon Master Silk / ドラゴンマスターシルク (Saturn - 1995)
Planning, scenario, character design, graphic design (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)
Poster illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter as well as on his website)

Dragon Master Silk II / ドラゴンマスターシルクII (PC-98 - 1995)
Cover art (Source: Half Quarter Book One)
Planning, scenario, character design, graphic design (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)

Dragon Master Silk 1&2 / ドラゴンマスターシルク1&2 (Windows - 2002)
Cover art (Source: see credits for the 2 PC-98 episodes)

Dragon Warrior II, AKA Dragon Quest II / ドラゴンクエストII (Famicom - 1987)
Cover art for the US version (1990) (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter, picture of the original painting)

From the Darkness ～Injuu Genmu～ / From the Darkness ~淫獣幻夢~ (Windows - 2002)
Cover art, Original drawings for the in-game illustrations (Source: RB Works 4 - from THE Darkness ＆ Darkness Again)
Poster illustration (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)

Injuu Genmu / 淫獣幻夢 (PC-98 - 1993)
Cover art, original drawings for the in-game illustrations (Source: RB Works 1 - Genm & Brainburst!! Injuu Genmu Gengashuu)

Injuu Genmu 2 ~Brain Burst / 淫獣幻夢2 ～BRAIN BURST (PC-98 - 1994)
Cover art, original drawings for the in-game illustrations (Source: RB Works 1 - Genm & Brainburst!! Injuu Genmu Gengashuu)

Injuu Genmu 1&2 / 淫獣幻夢1&2 (Windows - 2000)
Cover art, original drawings for the in-game illustrations (Source: RB Works 1 - Genm & Brainburst!! Injuu Genmu Gengashuu)

Injuu Genmu III: Nasty Angel / 淫獣幻夢III～Nasty Angel～ (Windows - 2001)
Cover art, original drawings for the in-game illustrations (Source: RB Works 3 - Injuu Genmu III ~Nasty Angel~)

Magicians Dead / マジシャンズデッド (Arcade - 2016)
Enemy design (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)

Moldorian / モルドリアン (Game Gear - 1994)
Character design, graphic design, producer (Source: in-game credits)
Character illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)

Ōgon no Taiyō: Hirakareshi Fūin / 黄金の太陽開かれし封印, AKA Golden Sun (GBA - 2001)
Character design, enemy design (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)

Ōgon no Taiyō: Shikkokunaru Yoake / 黄金の太陽漆黒なる夜明け, AKA Golden Sun Dark Dawn (DS - 2010)
Character design, enemy design (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)
Djinn design, monster design (Source: in-game credits)

Ōgon no Taiyō: Ushinawareshi Toki / 黄金の太陽失われし時代, AKA Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA - 2002)
Enemy design (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)
Illustrations (with Masanori SATO / 佐藤正徳 and Shin YAMANOUCHI / 山内真) (Source: in-game credits)

Panzer Dragoon Mini / パンツァードラグーンMini (Game Gear - 1996)
3D model of the dragoon (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)

Queen's Gate ~ Spiral Chaos ~ / クイーンズゲイト〜スパイラルカオス〜 (PSP - 2011)
Last boss design, CG (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)

Queen's Blade ~ Spiral Chaos ~ / クイーンズブレイド〜スパイラルカオス〜 (PSP - 2009)
Middle boss design, in-game illustrations (Source: mentioned in the artist's bio on his publisher's website)

Raika ~Kasenkyuu~ / 蕾花～花仙宮～ (PC-98 - 1994)
Cover art, original drawings for the in-game illustrations (Source: RB Works 2)

Shining Force CD / シャイニング・フォースCD (Mega-CD - 1994)
Cover art for the Japanese version (Source: Half Quarter Book One)
Character illustrations (originally made for Shining Force Gaiden 1 & 2)

Shining Force Gaiden / シャイニング・フォース外伝遠征・邪神の国へ (Game Gear - 1992)
Cover art for the Japanese version, character design (Source: Half Quarter Book One)

Shining Force Gaiden: The Sword of Hajya / シャイニング・フォース外伝II 邪神の覚醒 (Game Gear - 1993)
Cover art for the Japanese version, character design (Source: Half Quarter Book One)

Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict / シャイニング・フォース外伝ファイナルコンフリクト (Game Gear - 1995)
Cover art, character design (Source: Half Quarter Book One)

Shining Force III Scenario 1: Ōto no kyoshin / シャイニング・フォースIII シナリオ1 王都の巨神 (Saturn - 1997)
Character design and illustrations (with Shin YAMANOUCHI / 山内真) (Source: in-game credits)

Shining Force III Scenario 2: Nerawareta Miko / シャイニング・フォースIII シナリオ2 狙われた神子 (Saturn - 1998)
Character design and illustrations (with Shin YAMANOUCHI / 山内真) (Source: in-game credits)

Shining Force III Scenario 3: Hyōheki no Jashingū / シャイニング・フォースIII シナリオ3 (Saturn - 1998)
Character design and illustrations (with Shin YAMANOUCHI / 山内真) (Source: in-game credits)

Shining Force III: Premium Disc / シャイニング・フォースIII プレミアムディスク (Saturn - 1998)
Character design and illustrations (with Shin YAMANOUCHI / 山内真) (Source: in-game credits)

Shining Wisdom / シャイニング・ウィズダム (Saturn - 1995)
Character design (Source: in-game credits)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)
Character illustrations (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter: 1, 2)

Stronghold ~Kōtei no Yōsai~ / ストロングホールド ~皇帝の要塞~ (PC-98, FM-Towns - 1994)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)

Sugoventure: Dragon Master Silk Gaiden / すごべんちゃー〜ドラゴンマスターシルク外伝 (Saturn - 1998)
Character design, in-game illustrations (Source: in-game credits)
Promotional illustration (Source: credited on the illustration)
Graphic design (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)

The Darkness Again (Windows - 2003)
Cover art (Source: RB Works 4 - from THE Darkness ＆ Darkness Again)

Wardner no Mori / ワードナの森 (Mega Drive - 1991)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)

unreleased Dungeon crawler (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter: 1, 2, 3, 4)

unidentified iOS game (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter: 1, 2, 3, 4)

To be confirmed

Dark Wraith II / ダークレイスII (PC-98 - ~1990 - unreleased)
Promotional illustration, in-game illustrations (Source: )

Other works

Brain's Gate (artbook)
Compilation of some of his early works, signed under his real name (Source: )

Log Out / ログアウト (Magazine - March 9, 1993 issue)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)

Role Playing Game no tatsujin / ロールプレイング・ゲームの達人 (Book - 1989)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by the artist on Twitter)

Warlock / ウォーロック (Magazine - october and december 1987 issues)
Illustrations (Source: credited in each issue 1, 2)

Games
Other video game related works
To be confirmed
Other works
Gallery Part 1
Gallery Part 2
Gallery Part 3