If you’ve spent any time looking at a Vivi Ornitier sketch, you know there’s something different about the way Toshiyuki Itahana handles a pen. It’s not just "anime art." It is a specific, whimsical, slightly round, and deeply soulful aesthetic that defined the PlayStation's Final Fantasy IX.
When Wizards of the Coast announced the Magic: The Gathering — Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set for 2025, the community didn't just want the big hitters like Cloud or Sephiroth. They wanted the soul of the series. They got it. Specifically, the Toshiyuki Itahana treasure and clue token art has become a focal point for collectors who value the "vibe" of Gaia and the Chocobo series over raw power levels.
Honestly, it's kinda rare to see token art get this much buzz. Usually, tokens are the cardboard scraps left on the table after a draft. But with Itahana’s departure from Square Enix at the end of 2025 to go freelance, these pieces feel like a final, beautiful love letter to the worlds he helped build over 25 years.
Why the Itahana Treasure Art Hits Different
Most Treasure tokens in Magic are pretty literal. You’ve got a pile of gold coins, maybe a chalice, usually looking very "Dungeons & Dragons." Itahana didn't do that.
For the Final Fantasy set, the Treasure token art moves away from generic loot. Instead, it leans into the tactile, "picture-book" style he’s been perfecting since Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. You’ve got that soft hatching, the pencil-like outlines, and a color palette that feels warm.
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- The Design: It’s not just gold. It’s "Final Fantasy" gold. Think of the items you’d find in a Tantalus Theater Troupe prop box or a chest in the Ice Cavern.
- The Execution: Itahana has gone on record saying he prefers "rough lines" that look like pencil work rather than sterile digital vectors. You can see that in the Treasure art—it feels like a sketch from a traveler's journal.
- The Vibe: It’s cozy. That’s the only way to describe it. In a game like MTG, which is often full of cosmic horror and jagged edges, having a Treasure token that looks like it belongs in a Ghibli film is a massive breath of fresh air.
People aren't just using these to track mana. They’re hoarding them.
The Clue Tokens: Solving the Mystery of Gaia
Then there’s the Clue token. If the Treasure is about wealth, the Clue is about the journey.
Itahana’s Clue token art pulls directly from the investigative spirit of Final Fantasy IX. Remember the Stellazio coins? Or the coffee beans quest? The art captures that sense of "Wait, what's this?"
Usually, a Clue token is just a magnifying glass or a cryptic note. Itahana’s version feels like it has weight. The shading is heavy on the hatching—a technique he mentioned in a 2019 interview as his favorite way to add movement without using smooth, "fake" lines. It gives the Clue a sense of history.
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Basically, you’re not just drawing a card when you crack this Clue. You’re uncovering a piece of the world. For fans, it's a direct link to the way Zidane or Vivi would interact with their environment.
The "End of an Era" Factor
The timing of this art release is actually super significant. Toshiyuki Itahana officially left Square Enix in late 2025. He’d just finished the FFIX 25th Anniversary Project.
He’s a freelancer now.
Because of that, the Toshiyuki Itahana treasure and clue token art represents some of his final "official" contributions to the franchise while under the Square Enix umbrella (even if published by Wizards). It’s a transition point. Collectors are looking at these tokens not just as game pieces, but as artifacts of a career that spanned from Chocobo’s Dungeon 2 in 1998 all the way to the 2020s.
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What You Should Actually Do With These
If you're a player or a collector, don't treat these like standard bulk.
- Check the WPN Promos: Some versions of these tokens were released as Asia-Pacific WPN promos. These have a different foil treatment and are significantly harder to find than the ones you'll pull in a standard Collector Booster.
- Look for the Artist Signature: While the standard tokens don't have it, keep an eye out for any Art Series cards from the set. Sometimes the "Gold-Stamped Signature" versions of the art cards featuring his work fetch ten times the price of the base token.
- The "Vivi" Synergy: If you’re building a deck around the Itahana-designed Vivi Ornitier card (which is a beast in Commander, by the way), having a full set of Itahana’s tokens makes the board state look unified. It’s an aesthetic flex that most MTG players appreciate.
It’s easy to get caught up in the "Big Three" artists (Amano, Nomura, Yoshida), but Itahana is the one who gave Final Fantasy its heart and its whimsy. These tokens are the easiest way to own a piece of that legacy without spending thousands on original production sketches from the 90s.
Practical Next Steps for Collectors
Start by scouring local game store (LGS) bulk bins specifically for the Universes Beyond Final Fantasy set. Most people ignore the tokens. You can often find them for cents, but as the set goes out of print and Itahana moves further into his freelance career, these "minor" pieces of art will likely appreciate as small-scale collectibles.
Also, keep an eye on Japanese auction sites like Mercari JP. Sometimes the Japanese-exclusive promos or "Art Books" related to the MTG collab feature high-res versions of these Treasure and Clue illustrations that never made it to the Western market.