Tribute to a sensei
3D World UK|August 2024
The team at French visual development and game studio Umeshu Lovers walk us through creating their Akira Toriyama-inspired April Fools' demo
Tribute to a sensei

April Fools’ Day is special for us at Umeshu Lovers. Every year, the team creates a set of visuals based on well-known characters and worlds, all independently of any of our other ongoing projects and for a little fun.

Well, not just for fun to be honest. It’s also proved a great opportunity for us to showcase what we can do, and what we can bring to other worlds and IPs. In the past this served us well. For example, after co-founder and art director Sylvain Sarrailh posted his take on Yoshi’s Island, Illumination reached out to us, which is how we ended up working on The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

A couple of months ago, the Umeshu leadership and the rest of our team gathered to discuss what we could do for this year’s April Fools’. We had several ideas, one of which was based on the manga series Go! Go! Ackman. Its creator Akira Toriyama is one of the main sources of inspiration for several of our team members, including the two founders of the studio. So when he passed away recently, it became obvious that we had to pay tribute to his genius.

Our project turned into something of a crossover between Go! Go! Ackman and Dr. Slump, another classic manga from Toriyama. At this point, we also decided that we wouldn’t only be creating visuals, but a full demo for a video game in the style of the classic side-scrolling platformer games based on Go! Go! Ackman, which were released in Japan on the SNES in the early 1990s. Because Umeshu Lovers isn’t your typical visual development studio, we also make games thanks to our in-house development team.

1. IDENTIFYING THE TOPIC

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM 3D WORLD UKView all
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super Founders Edition
3D World UK

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super Founders Edition

On the surface, the GeForce RTX 4080 Super is barely any different from the vanilla GeForce RTX 4080 that was launched in 2022.

time-read
1 min  |
December 2024
MCU VFX moments
3D World UK

MCU VFX moments

Pros choose their favourite CG shots from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2024
Nosing around on Fallout
3D World UK

Nosing around on Fallout

We sniff out the story of how FutureWorks brought The Ghoul to life with the creation of his iconic noseless face

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2024
DISCOVER RED GIANT GEO'S HANDY TOOLS
3D World UK

DISCOVER RED GIANT GEO'S HANDY TOOLS

Heather Sterland introduces one of the newest additions to Maxon's suite of Red Giant VFX plugins with an atmospheric lunar creation

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2024
BUILD AND ANIMATE A FUN-FILLED ROBOT
3D World UK

BUILD AND ANIMATE A FUN-FILLED ROBOT

Expand your horizons with Julio Benavides, who reveals his workflow for creating a charming hard-surface character

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2024
DESIGN STRIKING SCULPTS AT SPEED
3D World UK

DESIGN STRIKING SCULPTS AT SPEED

Learn how to build 3D characters that balance visual quality and efficient workflow with pro advice from Oh Holy Mary

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2024
CREATE A CANYON ENVIRONMENT
3D World UK

CREATE A CANYON ENVIRONMENT

Build a stunning desert setting with an expert walkthrough from Romain Eboli, who uses high-quality Quixel assets

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2024
TURN A 2D CONCEPT INTO AN INCREDIBLE 3D-PRINTED FIGURE
3D World UK

TURN A 2D CONCEPT INTO AN INCREDIBLE 3D-PRINTED FIGURE

Concept artist Emily Chapman shares her process for sculpting, printing and painting an outstanding model to put on display

time-read
8 mins  |
December 2024
Goodbye SAIGON
3D World UK

Goodbye SAIGON

Trevor Hogg gets held captive by multiple versions of Robert Downey Jr.while uncovering the visual effects of HBO's spy series The Sympathizer

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2024
IMPRESSIONISTIC REALISM
3D World UK

IMPRESSIONISTIC REALISM

Trevor Hogg learns how the artisan aesthetic came to be for The Wild Robot

time-read
6 mins  |
December 2024