is a Japanese graphic artist who previously worked at

Game Freak is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer and co-owners of the ''Pokémon (video game series), Pokémon'' series of role-playing video games. History Predating the video game company, ''Game Freak'' was a self- ...

and TOYBOX Inc. She designed a number of creatures for the ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'' franchise, including one of the most well-known

Pokémon species is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

, the franchise's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

Pikachu Pikachu (; Japanese: , Hepburn: ) is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's ''Pokémon'' media franchise, and the franchise's mascot. First introduced in the video games ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Blue'', it was created by Atsuko N ...

Career

Nishida was working at Game Freak on the game '' Pulseman'' with the art director for ''

'',

Ken Sugimori is a Japanese video game designer, illustrator, mangaka, manga artist, and Video game director (disambiguation), director. He is best known as the primary character designer and art director for the ''Pokémon'' franchise. Sugimori is also credi ...

. In his initial character design, Sugimori made most of the ''Pokémon'' scary, but he realized he also wanted to have cute characters in the game. This led to the design of Pikachu, which was originally based on a

daifuku , or (literally "great luck"), is a wagashi, a type of Japanese confection, consisting of a small round mochi stuffed with a sweet filling, most commonly '' anko'', a sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans. Daifuku is often served wit ...

, a Japanese sweet treat. Nishida changed the design later, basing it on a squirrel, as Nishida said she was obsessed with squirrels at the time. Squirrels were also her inspiration for the electric cheeks, as they tend to store food in their cheeks. Pikachu was later changed to be a mouse by

Satoshi Tajiri is a Japanese video game designer and Creative director, director who is the creator of the ''Pokémon'' franchise and the co-founder and president of video game developer Game Freak. A fan of arcade games in his youth, Tajiri wrote for and ed ...

, one of the ''Pokémon'' creators. The original design included the

Raichu Raichu (; Japanese language, Japanese: , Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ) is a List of Pokémon, Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon, ''Pokémon'' media franchise, and the Gameplay of Pokémon#Pokémon evolution, evolved form ...

evolution, as well as a third evolution, which was later abandoned. Nishida’s other ''Pokémon'' design credits include

Bulbasaur Bulbasaur (), known as in Japan, is a fictional Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's ''Pokémon'' franchise. First introduced in the video games ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Blue'', it was created by Atsuko Nishida with the design final ...

, Charmander, and

Squirtle Squirtle (), known as in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's ''Pokémon'' franchise. It was designed by Atsuko Nishida. Its name was changed from Zenigame to Squirtle during the English localization of the series in orde ...

. She furthermore designed some of the

Eevee Eevee (; Japanese: , Hepburn: ) is a Pokémon species in the ''Pokémon'' franchise. Created by Satoshi Tajiri and designed by Motofumi Fujiwara, it first appeared in the video games ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Blue''. It later appeared in a vari ...

evolutions (or "Eeveelutions"), including Glaceon and Sylveon. She was also the artist on a large number of ''Pokémon'' Trading Card Game cards, including the Pikachu Illustrator card, which was sold for $195,000 in 2019, winning it the Guinness World Record of most expensive ''Pokémon'' trading card (at auction). This beat the previous record from 2016 when a card with the same design by Nishida was sold for $54,970. Nishida also worked for the Japanese game development studio TOYBOX Inc. on '' Hometown Story'', a Nintendo 3DS game.

Personal life

Nishida is a very private person; she spent the entirety of a 2018 interview hidden behind a giant Pikachu plush doll.

References

External links

Pokemon Trading Card Game cards designed by Nishida
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nishida, Atsuko Pokémon Japanese women illustrators Japanese graphic designers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Nintendo people