Final Fantasy 9 Character Designer Leaving Square Enix

Veteran Final Fantasy character designer Toshiyuki Itahana has officially left Square Enix. Itahana has worked at Square Enix for the past three decades, and while he is best known for being Final Fantasy 9s character designs, that's just scratching the surface of Itahana's contributions to the RPG genre over the years.

While Final Fantasy 9 is the post that Toshiyuki Itahana is often most associated with, he also worked on Final Fantasy 11, Final Fantasy 13-2, Final Fantasy 14and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13. Itahana also developed art and characters for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles the series, the Final Fantasy Fables series and a handful of others Final Fantasy items such as Final Fantasy Explorers and Mobius Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Briana White Aerith AI

Family

“What we create is stolen from us” Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Briana White Discusses AI's Impact on Creativity

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth actress Briana White explains why creators are worried about AI and how artists risk losing control of their likeness.

FF9 character designer Toshiyuki Itahana has officially left Square Enix

On January 5, 2026, Toshiyuki Itahana posted on the Japanese blog platform Note.com. Itahana's post starts with Final Fantasy veteran announcing that he has officially left Square Enix and that he has decided to leave the company at the end of 2025 after the 25th anniversary of 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 momentous event, and I was deeply grateful to see so many people celebrating FFIX. With the illustration work and tutorial for the 25th anniversary now complete, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment at the moment that I had fulfilled the right moment for me to draw a line under this chapter and take on new challenges.”

However, Toshiyuki Itahana is not retiring forever. In the second part of Itahana's announcement, the creator confirms that he will be working as a freelance illustrator and character designer and looks forward to creating a “wide range of new artwork” in the future. Itahana hasn't mentioned anything about his next project, but he hopes that if fans come across his work, they will support him. Itahana's announcement ends with him extending a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has played the games he's worked on over the years and to 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 hadn't been officially announced yet. While many of these leaked games have appeared in an official capacity over the past four years, many still haven't. Final Fantasy 9 remake is one such game.

Although Square Enix has never officially confirmed or denied the existence of one Final Fantasy 9 remake, several leaks surrounding the alleged project have surfaced online over the years. The latest wave of Final Fantasy 9 rumors about the remake appeared as early as March 2025, when Square Enix launched the official website for Final Fantasy 925th anniversary along with new artwork of its characters. Of course, Square Enix didn't announce one Final Fantasy 9 remake during the game's 25th anniversary. Instead, on the game's 25th anniversary (July 7, 2025), leaker NateTheHate claimed that although FF9 remake was in development, it may have been canceled recently.

While a complete remake of Final Fantasy 9 may still be just a dream, it has been a new movement on another long rumored Final Fantasy 9 project. In 2021, Square Enix officially announced an animated series based on Final Fantasy 9 which was to be produced by Cyber Group Studios, a French developer that went into liquidation back in April 2025. With Cyber Group Studios closing last year, Final Fantasy 9 animated series was thought to have been canceled, but as of December 2025, this may not be the case.

On December 22, 2025, French magazine Écran Total reported that Final Fantasy 9 animated series has been revived and is now being edited by Euro Visual. The report claims that the show will feature 2D animation and will feature 13 episodes, each with a runtime of around 22 minutes. The series will reportedly be released in 2028 and will follow six Black Mages who are all children FF9is Vivi.