Ask any RPG fan to name their top 5 favorite games in the genre, and Chrono Trigger is likely to show up somewhere on the list. The development staff was a dream team of talent, most notably with the creators of Dragon Ball, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest all collaborating to create one of the most significant works of the 16-bit era. Naturally, the art was best of it’s class as well, which makes it all the more unfortunate that one of the contributing graphic designers has recently passed away.

Manabu Daishama had quite an impressive resume, credited with contributing work to Final Fantasy games, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Parasite Eve, and more. Daishama was into diving as a hobby, and he was discovered unconscious about 30 meters off the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture on July 30th. He was diving with two companions, but they discovered him too late.

Our hearts go out to his family in the difficult time.

Thanks to Ryan Millar for the tip