Panzer Dragoon Series:

REFERENCES

While the Panzer Dragoon Series has had some of the most original art direction in the history of videogames, there have been many similar "worlds" created by other artists in other fields. While none of these have Team Andromeda "lifted", there are enough interesting similarites that fans of Panzer Dragoon's unique art style might want to discover these as well.

This small group of references are by no means definative, and I welcome any suggestions and recommendations. Some readers have recently suggested Dinotopia, and I would ahve to agree.


Moebius
The role of Moebius in the creation of the Panzer Dragoon Universe has always been something of a mystery. In the credits of the original Panzer Dragoon, SEGA gives a credit to Moebius for "Image Illustrations", but not refering to the "Ending Illustrations", which was done by Ryuichiro Kutsuzawa. Since he did not do those illustartions, what illustrations did Moebius do? The first two illustrations on the Panzer Dragoon I art site are by Moebius, but it seems he would have done more than these to get such credit for the series. Since I don't have the fabled "Panzer Dragoon Book" that the press got a while back, I can only speculate. In any case, here are some more examples of Moebius' work for the curious. In the first picture I have included a picture of an airship to show how design ideas can be formed...

check out Arzach.com for more info....

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Nausicaa
Miyazaki's first masterpiece, suposedly to be re-released by Disney very soon. While Nausica's story synopsis can be found on many places on the internet, which I urge you to seek out, I want to point out the obvious similarities. Both worlds were once "normal" thousands of years back, but now it has been taken over with mutated exoskeleton monsters. There are large airships, two legged riding beasts, and both have a messiah-like main character who flies around to save the world from itself. Original Nausicaa sketches even show her riding a dragon.

check out Nausicaa.net for more info...

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Aura Battler (Dunbine)
Yutaka Izubunchi (Record of Lodoss War, Patlabor, Nu Gundam: Char's Attack) unique bio-organic designs still have not been bettered. While the TV show had "Bandai colorful mass appeal", the OVA (and books) produced some of the most stunning mecha designs ever. It was the first time bio-organic mechs were really done right, with their huge "shell" armor, their internal muscle system, the decaying crumbling look of these breathing mecha.

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SF3D
While Kow Yokoyama SF3D world, with its neo-retro mecha designs, may seem quite unlike Panzer Dragoon's Bio-organic world, there still are some similar shapes and motifs used. Kow also designed mecha for Carnage Heart and the Square's First Front Mission game amoung others.

check out Maschinen Krieger for more info.

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all images copyright their respected owners ,and used thru rights of press.