Another great artist was lost from this world recently. You might not have known the name specifically of Noriyoshi Ohrai, but odds are good you have come across his work at one time. From his work on many projects that reached an international audience, Godzilla, Mazinga, and Star Wars among them, his legacy touched a lot of people. He was an amazing illustrator that captured so much emotion, story, and world-building in his creations. I was a big fan of his art, and while many immediately draw parallels to Drew Struzan, I would also liken his style and incredible compositions along with names of some of the fantasy greats like Frazetta and Vallejo. Among his oeuvre he did posters for nine films from the Goji franchise. I fell in love with his collages for the Star Wars manga books when I first saw them. I have highlighted some of his pieces below, and you can see a few more here. A sad loss, and I wanted to just note it here to acknowledge his work and allow his legacy to be remembered.


via Film on paper


via Noriyoshi Ohrai Exhibition


via Film on paper


via Noriyoshi Ohrai Exhibition


via Noriyoshi Ohrai Exhibition


via Noriyoshi Ohrai Exhibition


via Point Blank

Noriyoshi Ohrai (d. 27 October 2015 ), may he rest in peace and his work never be forgotten.

Thanks for sharing this sad news.

I didn't know his name but of course came across some of his art, if only with the Godzilla posters.

An amazing artist.

One of my favourite more recent Godzilla poster.

Thanks for sharing Steve! A great loss indeed...

Amazing artist. Sad to see him go.

Fun fact about this painting for those that do not know, was that it was originally painted for the 1999 film. Shelved and then used for the Final Wars film.


Another amazing art poster. Another fun fact about the 1993 the colors were darken and shading was added to the movie poster, promotional and commercial posters. A true color representation of the art which is bright was release as a poster as part of a 3 poster set in 2014 for his exhibition.

Oh damn, had no idea he has deceased :/ Was visiting Japan at the time and wondered if I could find his posters somewhere but then just forgot about it... shitty feeling. Just looked through his Godzilla paintings and so amazing.

I've always been in awe by that Biollante poster. There's a sense of magic to it.

I never knew who was behind it's brilliance though. Thanks, Steve. I l'll have to check out more of Ohrai's work.

I recommend the Green Universe Mook that came out about a year ago, its ¥2,000 and it wasn't that hard to find earlier this year. Tons of color images of so much beautiful art.