Matisse EB Font: Fontworks Mincho, Pro and ProN Glyph Proofs

In a 2015 interview, Fontworks representatives date the original Matisse release to 1992 and Matisse EB to 1994, explaining how its use in Neon Genesis Evangelion brought attention to the weight. That is a specific account of a Japanese type family and its adoption. It is not the history of the unrelated Matisse ITC face. Start with the linked Fontworks specimen, save its full edition name, and use the exact lettering reference when discussing a title with a collaborator.

Fontworks’ ordinary Matisse EB page specifies JIS X 0208:1990; its N-specification page identifies glyph forms compatible with JIS X 0213:2004. Do not interpret ProN as a heavier weight or simply a new spelling of the same installed name. Assemble the actual title, credited names and punctuation in your layout app. Compare any characters whose shapes matter to your project against the selected publisher specimen, then record the approved edition rather than choosing by a similar-looking Latin menu name.

Try “夜の記録 01” as a compact horizontal title. Make a second version with the number on its own line while retaining the same text and final canvas size. Compare the balance of the Japanese text, spaces and digits, and inspect the small internal spaces when the composition is reduced. Adjust size and positioning before applying mechanical compression. Keep a plain one-line baseline so any later effect can be judged against the original letterforms. Proof real wording instead of importing a famous title card’s arrangement unchanged.

Prepare one page containing the title at intended size, a small thumbnail and the exact font edition used. Add any supporting names and punctuation that will appear in the finished piece, then compare the exported result with the editable source. If a collaborator lacks the family, agree on an appropriate licensed output rather than allowing a fallback to silently change the Japanese glyph shapes. Follow Fontworks’ current service and licensing information for acquisition; this page neither supplies the font nor converts Latin text into Japanese.