"Whether you"re a fan of anime and film, video games, live theater or the pure graphic arts, you have undoubtedly had the pleasure of seeing some small portion of Amano's diverse output. And, if his current rate of production - both in collaboration with other writers, composers and directors, as well as on his own, solo projects - and growing presence in the general public's consciousness are any indication, we have tasted only the initial fruits of this Renaissance man's work. Essentially, everything that has gone before has been leading up to his newest work, HERO, which promises to not only encompass an explore his own, personal vision, but lead to a reconsideration of the mythologies of the world we inhabit, as well." (Amano 13) -Bill BakerOver the course of many centuries, art has taken many forms and has, in effect, changed dramatically, especially with the passing of the Renaissance. Now there is a new, more dramatic idea to art. One man has challenged that very idea. Never confined to one style and never expanding beyond all possibilities, Yoshitaka Amano has become that new idea of art.It was in the year 1952, only seven years after the surrender of Japan to the United States, in the small Japanese town of Shizuoka, that the artist Yoshitaka Amano was born (Amano 3). His family was small compared to most families in his area, and he had a lot of peace and quiet in which to meditate and follow his instincts. Amano recalls one of his early childhood moments, "I don't remember a time in which I wasn't drawing. It was at the age of five that my sister, while viewing one of my drawings exclaimed, "We have a genius here!" (Amano 3)." Ten years later, Amano found himself with an animator-trainee position at Tatsunoko Productions in Tokyo. In his early life, Disney cartoons were a heavy influence for him and he constantly absorbed art from other cultures. When he wasn't creating characters for cartoons such as Gatchaman and Hutch the Honeybee, he studied life drawing at local art schools or scoured art books for inspiration (Amano 3).