CGC Cards Artist Showcase: Midori Harada

When it comes to pop culture collectibles, the artwork displayed on a comic, card, video game or home video collectible is — to put it mildly — significant. Some collectors will center their collections around one or more artists due to a preference in art style, proving just how impactful an artist’s work is to a product’s success.

To celebrate these artists’ accomplishments and contributions to our favorite TCGs — and to celebrate the launches of CGC x JSA and CGC Signature Series for cards, services to certify signed cards by these artists — CGC Cards™ is dedicating a regular series to artists and their work on TCGs, collectible card games and other pop culture collectibles. In this article, we showcase Midori Harada.

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About Midori Harada

Midori Harada is a Japanese illustrator known for her work on the Pokémon franchise and Fluffy Polar Bear (Fuwa Fuwa no Kuma). Harada has practiced art since childhood and studied the craft in university. Her unique art style, Aire Verte, focuses on calm European landscapes. According to various sources, Harada’s favorite Pokémon is Cubone.

Midori Harada and Pokémon

Harada has been involved in creating materials and merchandise for the Pokémon franchise since 1996, beginning with conceptualization art for the Pokémon video games. Specifically, Harada was involved in designing the regional maps for Hoenn, Sinnoh, the Generation III and IV Battle Frontier areas and the updated Kanto and Johto maps (for FireRed, LeafGreen, HeartGold and SoulSilver) seen in guidebooks. Her Aire Verte art style is very noticeable in these maps.

Harada has also created artwork for other Pokémon media, including artwork for Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (2005), concept art for the Distortion World in Pokémon Platinum and several Pokémon-themed children’s books.

In 2002, The Pokémon Company released the Aquapolis expansion for the Pokémon TCG. Some of Harada’s earliest TCG artwork was featured in this set, with notable cards including Cubone, Eevee, Scyther and Undersea Ruins. Since then, Harada has illustrated more than 370 cards for the Pokémon TCG. Her most recent cards include Cramorant from Lost Origin, Oddish from Obsidian Flames, Remoraid from Paradox Rift and Pineco from Temporal Forces.

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According to a 2009 interview conducted by PocketMonsters.net, Midori Harada is a big Pokémon fan herself, and became involved in creating artwork for the Pokémon TCG (and the franchise as a whole) when The Pokémon Company put out ads looking for toy designers. Although she doesn’t play the Pokémon TCG herself, she enjoys collecting the cards and enjoys the concept of the game.

If you liked these cards featuring Midori Harada’s artwork, be sure to check out her website for more of her illustrations and other works. Also, keep an eye out for more CGC Cards Artist Showcase columns in the future.

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for sports cards, TCGs and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. CGC Home Video provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes, DVD, Blu-ray and more.