Final Fantasy 9 character designer leaves Square Enix

Experienced final fantasy Character designer Toshiyuki Itahana has officially left Square Enix. Itahana has been working at Square Enix for the past three decades, and that's when she's best known Final Fantasy 9's character designer, that's just scratching the surface of Itahana's contributions to the RPG genre over the years.

While Final Fantasy 9 Toshiyuki Itahana is the entry most often associated with Jaso, he also worked Final Fantasy 11, Final Fantasy 13-2, Final Fantasy 14and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13. Itahana also developed the art and characters Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Series, The Final Fantasy Stories series, and a handful of others final fantasy Entries like Final Fantasy Explorers and Moebius final fantasy.

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FF9 character designer Toshiyuki Itahana is officially with Square Enix

On January 5, 2026, Toshiyuki Itahana posted on Japanese blogging platform Note.com. Starting with Itahana's post final fantasy The veteran announced that he has officially left Square Enix, and that he decided to leave the company after the 25th anniversary celebration in 2025. Final Fantasy 9. Explaining his decision to leave Square Enix, Itahana said the following:

“Last year marked a major milestone with the 25th anniversary of FINAL FANTASY IX, a truly significant event, and I'm deeply grateful to see so many people celebrating FFIX. With the illustration work and oversight associated with the 25th anniversary now complete, I feel responsible to fulfill my role. It was the right time to draw the line under this chapter and take on new challenges.”

However, Toshiyuki Itahana is not retiring for good. In the second part of Itahana's announcement, the creator confirms that he will work as a freelance illustrator and character designer and looks forward to creating “a wide variety of new artwork” in the future. Itahana won't mention anything about his next project, but he hopes that fans will support him if they see his work. Itahana's announcement ends with a heartfelt thank you to anyone who has played the games he's worked on over the years, as well as his former Square Enix colleagues.

Where is the long-rumored Final Fantasy 9 remake?

All the way back in September 2021, an infamous GeForce Now leak appeared online, potentially revealing the existence of over 50 PC games that had not been officially announced. Many of these leaked games have appeared in an official capacity over the past four years, but many have yet to see them. Final Fantasy 9 Remake is one such game.

However, Square Enix has not officially confirmed or denied its existence Final Fantasy 9 A remake, several leaks surrounding the alleged project have appeared online over the years. The latest wave of Final Fantasy 9 Remake rumors surfaced back in March 2025, when Square Enix launched an official website. Final Fantasy 9Its 25th anniversary with new artwork of its characters. Of course, Square Enix didn't make the announcement Final Fantasy 9 A remake in time for the game's 25th anniversary. Instead, on the game's 25th birthday (July 7,2025), leaker NateTheHate claimed that although FF9 A remake was in development it may have been canceled recently.

While a complete ground-up remake Final Fantasy 9 While it may still be a pipe dream, there has been recent movement on another long-rumored one Final Fantasy 9 project. In 2021, Square Enix officially announced an animated series based on Final Fantasy 9 French developer Cyber Group Studios entered liquidation in April 2025. Following the closure of Cyber Group Studios last year, this Final Fantasy 9 The animated series was thought to be canceled, but that may not be the case until December 2025.

On December 22, 2025, the French magazine Ekran Total reported that Final Fantasy 9 The animated series has been revived and is now being worked on by Euro Visual. The report claims that the show will feature 2D animation and consist of 13 episodes, each with a runtime of around 22 minutes. The series will reportedly release in 2028 and will follow six Black Mages who are all children. FF9of Vivi.