Famitsu posted a summary of the character design Q&A with Soejima:
- Soejima has basically free reign while designing the characters. The only thing has to keep in mind is that the characters need to be appealing to the players.
- Character design begins during the game's conceptual phase. The protagonist is usually the first character to be finalized as he serves as the game's poster child.
- Soejima likes short-haired women which is why Makoto is his favorite P5 character. Morgana is easy to draw.
- Soejima's private drawings are different from his work on Atlus games. Famitsu wonders whether that means that we will see a different aspect of Soejima in the future.
- Soejima's decision to become a character designer was influenced by his love for fighting games.
- Soejima always enjoys looking at fan art and encourages fan to mail their work to Atlus.
- His favorite television programs are actually news broadcasts. He also enjoys Power Rangers and Pretty Cure since they give children good rolemodels. The host (John Hardin?) asked him about his favorite Gundam series - it's the first one.
- He doesn't have a particular interest in collaborations, but he's open to fan suggestions. He would like to design the characters for a new Gundam series, though.
I didn't quite get what he was saying when he was talking about his dream project. Sorry about that.
Good