Asako KUMURA / 玖村麻子

Asako KUMURA / 玖村麻子, AKA Yorozu-Ichi / よろず壱 / R.KIDS!

Profile (aussi disponible en français)
Games
Other video game related works
Gallery

Related companies:
Seta
Millennium Kitchen

Profile

After joining Seta as a graphic designer in the second half of the ’80s, Asako Kumura occasionally worked as an illustrator on one of the company’s main series: Super Real Mahjong. From its second episode, this erotic series was mainly illustrated and chara-designed by Kumura’s former classmate Ryō Tanaka (it’s not unlikely that she served as a link between him and her company).
Another person to have been in the same vocational school class as Tanaka and Kumura is Kaz Ayabe, creator of the Boku no Natsuyasumi series. The date on which Kumura joined Ayabe’s company – Millenium Kitchen – is not known, but Kumura worked as background designer on all episodes of this series.
It should be noted that it was because of his connection with Tanaka that Ayabe used the same background design company for the Boku no Natsuyasumi series as the one already at work on Super Real Mahjong: Kusanagi, which assisted Ayabe and Kumura in their work.

In Makeruna Makendō (also known as Kendo Rage in the West), Kumura is credited as “Asako Kumura R KIDS”. R KIDS / R-KIDS! is the name of the doujin circle that published a series of fanzines under the same name back in 1989, in which she drew under the pseudonym Yozoru-Ichi. She used this pseudonym when she was involved in works of an erotic nature, whether in video games or comics. In 2024, voice actress Yumiko Shibata, in charge of one of the characters in Super Real Mahjong, posted several illustrations by Kumura on Twitter, crediting her under her real name. As it happens, all these illustrations match the profile of Yozoru-Ichi in the book ‘Super Real Mahjong Visual Fan Book Perfect Collection’.

Sources:
Tweets written by Kaz Ayabe: 1, 2

Games (in alphabetical order)

Boku no Natsuyasumi / ぼくのなつやすみ (PS1 – 2000)
Backgrounds (Art Design, genga, Paint Edit) (Source: in-game credits)

Boku no Natsuyasumi 2: Umi no Bouken-hen / ぼくのなつやすみ2海の冒険篇 (PS2 – 2002)
Backgrounds (Setting, Paint Edit), System Graphics (Source: in-game credits)

Boku no Natsuyasumi 3: Kitaguni Hen – Chiisana Boku no Daisōgen / ぼくのなつやすみ3 -北国篇- 小さなボクの大草原 (PS3 – 2007)
Backgrounds (Setting), System Graphics (Source: in-game credits)

Boku no Natsuyasumi 4: Setouchi Shōnen Tanteidan – “Boku to Himitsu no Chizu” / ぼくのなつやすみ4 瀬戸内少年探偵団「ボクと秘密の地図」 (PSP – 2009)
Backgrounds (Art Design), System Graphics (Source: in-game credits)

Bokura no Kazoku: My Family Growing Up in the 21st Century / ぼくらのかぞく (PS2 – 2005)
Background (Setting/Layout, Paint Edit) (Source: in-game credits)

Cacoma Knight / カコマナイト , Cacoma Knight in Bizyland (SFC – 1992)
Graphic design (Source: in-game credits)

Caliber.50 (Arcade – 1989)
Graphic design (characters / objects) (Source: in-game credits)

Crayon Shin-chan: Ora to Hakase no Natsuyasumi ~ Owaranai Nanokakan no Tabi / クレヨンしんちゃん『オラと博士の夏休み』～おわらない七日間の旅～ (Switch – 2021, PS4, Windows – 2022)
Settings Support (Source: in-game credits)

Doko Doki Pretty League / ドキドキプリティリーグ (PS1 – 1998)
Character design (with Hisashi Kagawa) (Source: )

Gals Panic S: Extra Edition / ギャルズパニックS – Extra Edition (Arcade – 1997)
Character Design (Source: in-game credits, as Yorozu-ichi)

Gdleen / ガデュリン (SFC – 1991)
“Graphic Map & Mini Character” (Source: in-game credits)

Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku / 偽典・女神転生　東京黙示録 (PC-98 – 1997)
Graphic design (Source: in-game credits)

Kaijū ga Deru Kinyōbi / 怪獣が出る金曜日, AKA Attack of the Friday Monsters! (3DS – 2013)
Background Design / UI Graphics, Background / Scene Design (Source: in-game credits)

Makeruna Makendō / 負けるな！魔剣道, AKA Kendo Rage (SFC – 1993)
Graphic design (Source: in-game credits)

Mokugeki / 目撃, AKA Downtown (Arcade – 1989)
Graphic design (characters, backgrounds) (Source: in-game credits)

Silva Saga II: The Legend of Light and Darkness / シルヴァ・サーガ２ (SFC – 1993)
Graphic design (Source: in-game credits)

Super Real Mahjong PII & Ⅲ / スーパーリアル麻雀PII･PIII (FM Towns – 1993)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by Yumiko Shibata on Twitter)

Super Real Mahjong PII & Ⅲ / スーパーリアル麻雀PII･PIII (PC-98 – 1993)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by Yumiko Shibata on Twitter)

Super Real Mahjong PII & Ⅲ / スーパーリアル麻雀PII･PIII (X68000 – 1993)
Cover art (Source: mentioned by Yumiko Shibata on Twitter)

Super Real Mahjong P II.III Custom / スーパーリアル麻雀PII･PIIIカスタム (PC Engine CD – 1994)
Manual illustration (Source: credited on the back of the manual, as Yorozu Ichi / よろず壱)

Super Real Mahjong P IV Custom / スーパーリアル麻雀 PⅣ カスタム (PC Engine CD – 1993)
Manual illustration (Source: credited on the back of the manual, as Yorozu Ichi / よろず壱)

Super Real Mahjong PIV / スーパーリアル麻雀PIV (FM Towns, X68000 – 1994)
Jewel case back cover (Source: )

Super Real Mahjong Special: Miki Kasumi Shoko no Omoide / スーパーリアル麻雀スペシャル　ミキ・カスミ・ショウコの思い出 (PC Engine CD – 1992)
Cover art (Line art. Finished by Rumiko Nagai) (Source: credited on the cover, as R. Kids. + mentioned by Yumiko Shibata on Twitter)
manual illustration

Taisen Idol-Mahjong Final Romance 2 / 対戦アイドル麻雀ファイナルロマンス2 (Arcade, Saturn, Neo Geo CD – 1995, 3DO – 1996)
Character Design (Source: in-game credits, as Yorozu-ichi)

Taisen Mahjong Final Romance 4 / 対戦麻雀ファイナルロマンス4 (Arcade, Saturn – 1998, Windows – 2002)
Character Design (Source: in-game credits, as Yorozu-ichi)

Tokushu Butai U.A.G / 特殊部隊UAG, AKA Thundercade (Arcade – 1987)
Graphic design (Source: in-game credits)

Tonari no Princess Rolfee / となりのプリンセスRolfee! (PC-FX – 1997)
Text data creation (Source: in-game credits)

Tongari Boushi to Mahou no 365 Nichi / とんがりボウシと魔法の365にち, AKA Magician’s Quest: Mysterious Times (U), Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry (E) (DS – 2008)
Furniture Designer (Source: in-game credits)

Twin Eagle / ツインイーグル (Arcade – 1988)
Graphic design (characters / objects) (Source: in-game credits)