The OQ Weekly (14 May 2021) - The 'OTAQUEST Family' Edition
The best curated newsletter in the Japanese pop-culture world.
What’s up, OTAQUESTers!
Have I ever told you about my mom? The amazingly kind person that created me? She was a great artist, an uncanny designer, and a great friend to the OTAQUEST family. And because she was a great friend, those closest to her made sure to publish her final artbook.
Read more in this week’s digest, and always remember: Japanese culture may be what we love, but we should also treasure and take care of the people we consider ‘family’.
If you want to talk about family, don’t forget to join our Discord! We talk about more than just anime, manga, and games, too.
I am Ura, your guide in this amazing journey into Japanese pop, geek, and sub culture.
Thank you for joining us.
1
Always a part of our family.
Our hearts were broken last year when the incredibly talented hima:// KAWAGOE passed away at the age of 31, but her final artbook is a testament to her creative spirit.
Coming in at over 200 pages, this massive tome contains all of hima:// KAWAGOE’s works produced between 2007 to 2020, being made possible through crowdfunding and the selflessness of over 450 people. It’s also available for purchase through Tokyo Otaku Mode, which is good news for anyone living outside of Japan.
As a designer, hima worked with us to develop OTAQUEST’s brand image, including my own design as the site’s mascot. It would be no understatement to call her an essential part of the OTAQUEST family, hence why her passing hit so hard.
In the words of Eddie Lehecka: ‘hima’s art stands out as contemporary while not conforming to the standards of modern design. Everything she’s done stands out as inherently her own style, impossible to emulate due to the strength she imbues in the work.’
With any luck, this final artbook will keep her memory alive for years to come.
2
Isayama gets candid.
Hajime Isayama’s latest interview in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine was surprisingly candid, addressing a lot of concerns fans had about Attack on Titan’s ending.
First of all, the author revealed that there will be an extra eight pages of story included in the final volume of Attack on Titan, composed of material that couldn’t be published in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine due to space constraints. Yet, that material was created in the first place because Isayama wasn’t happy with his original storyboard, which prompted a last-minute change.
In general, throughout the entire interview, you get the sense that the author isn’t exactly happy with how his series turned out. When quizzed by Bessatsu about the final chapter and Eren’s ultimate motivations, he said that ‘The final arc had a lot of themes that were quite hard for me to depict, so it caused me a lot of headaches. I don’t think that I managed to fully express everything in the manga, and I really regret that.’
Jacob Parker-Dalton has the full interview summarized over on our site, but he says that ‘the author shouldn’t be too down in the dumps. He did create one of the works that defined the past decade, after all, and managed to cultivate a passionate worldwide fanbase. What’s more, a manga that ends in controversy is arguably better than a manga that ends without fanfare.’
3
A permanent shortage?
Not managed to get your hands on a PlayStation 5 yet? Well, that might not change anytime soon.
Despite Sony’s latest console now being available for over half a year, it’s still no easier to get one now than it was on launch day back in November. What’s more, Sony admitted in a recent analyst briefing that the shortage could last well into 2022.
Apparently, the problem is one of demand. In the briefing, Sony Group CFO Hiroki Totoki stated: ‘I don’t think demand is calming down this year and even if we secure a lot more devices and produce many more units of the PlayStation 5 next year, our supply wouldn’t be able to catch up with demand.’
This comes as a bit of a blow to those players who were looking to get their hands on major titles releasing on the system later this year, such as Scarlet Nexus, Horizon: The Forbidden West, and Tales of Arise. As Corey Prasek says: ‘Many of us who didn’t get a console at the launch were operating on the firm belief that the system would be more readily available in 2021 and held off on fighting to get one or paying exorbitant prices to make sure that we could keep playing.’
Looks like the scalpers will continue to have a field day for the time being.
4
Still going strong.
A full nineteen years after release, Square Enix is still adding new content to Final Fantasy XI. They’re also encouraging old players to make a return.
More specifically, this month’s update adds the latest chapter in the ‘Voracious Resurgence’ storyline, launched in 2020. There’s also a handful of exciting new campaigns, including a ‘Return Home to Vana’diel’ campaign, whereby players who are taking a break from the game are invited to log in and play for free, and double experience points from 11 to 24 May to make it even easier for returning adventurers to participate in the battle content of their choice.
All of this is building towards the 19th anniversary of the game later this year, begging the question of whether the other online Final Fantasy titles will get the same treatment. Corey is a big fan of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, but seeing that Square Enix is still supporting XI after all these years makes him very ‘happy as a player.’
With any luck, all of our favorite MMOs might get this same treatment. Reality sometimes, however, has other ideas...
5
Superhuman surprise.
Rather unexpectedly, chapter 1 of Sui Ishida’s new series Choujin X finally dropped this week. It also comes alongside a change in production circumstances for the Tokyo Ghoul creator.
Taking to Twitter, the author explained that ‘I want to try and do all of the backgrounds and finishing touches by myself this time around, so it’ll be updated when I can’. As a result, Choujin X isn’t actually being serialized in Young Jump like all of Ishida’s other works: instead, it’s on the online manga service Tonari no Young Jump. Presumably, this is because it wouldn’t fit into the magazine’s weekly schedule.
Production circumstances aside, Jacob Parker-Dalton has generally positive thoughts on the debut. ‘While it’s not as immediately compelling as Tokyo Ghoul’s opening chapter (who can forget the date with Rize?) it boasts incredibly strong art, striking panel composition, and an interesting set of main characters. Where the series goes from here will be fascinating to see, especially given the relative freedom afforded to the author.’
Last time we heard, Choujin X was still in its development phase, and there was nothing leading up to chapter 1’s release apart from a logo reveal on 8 May to suggest that it would be coming any time soon. Hence the big surprise.
6
Super Saiyan, again.
This is not a drill: a new Dragon Ball Super movie will be coming in 2022, picking up the mantle from 2018’s Broly.
The surprise was ruined somewhat when Toei Animation’s European website accidentally leaked the movie ahead of time, but no matter. Once Goku Day rolled around on 9 May, we finally got official confirmation, alongside a statement from series creator Akira Toriyama himself.
Here’s what we know so far: the new movie will come out sometime in 2022, production is already underway, and Toriyama is supervising the story and script. That ‘should make the purists happy,’ James Fujita remarks, although Dragon Ball nerds always find something to nitpick about.
In terms of story, Toriyama said ‘I really shouldn’t talk too much about the plot yet, but be prepared for some extreme and entertaining bouts which may feature an unexpected character.’ This had led to some pretty wild speculation, including the fake poster by TeamFourStar that puts Monster Carrot in the spotlight.
Gotta love a good parody!
7
Lost and found.
SEGA announced a sequel to 2019’s Judgement last week, but no one was exactly taken by surprise - because Sony inadvertently leaked the news beforehand.
The sequel, titled Lost Judgement, was accidentally listed in the Japanese PlayStation Store a day before the official announcement, revealing Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s plans to the world. We also learnt that protagonist Takayuki Yagami would return by way of some key art that isn’t exactly composited very well.
A few hours after we reported on the leak, SEGA held a livestream where they announced the game officially, also saying that Yokohama would be added as a setting. Furthermore, the title will be releasing simultaneously worldwide on September 24 this year, marking the first time that the Yakuza spin-off series has done so.
More Judgement is an exciting prospect, especially since the first one was so good. Even so, it’d sure be nice to be taken by surprise for once - what’s with these companies and all this inadvertent leaking?!
8
Itching for a fight.
In other Yakuza news, series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi revealed in an interview with IGN that the series will remain a turn-based RPG going forward.
This follows the transformation that the seventh entry in the long-running series Yakuza: Like a Dragon made following the positive reception to an April Fool’s gag, which is good news in our book. While the title’s turn-based gameplay wasn’t exactly perfect, it did provide something fresh and unique after all these years of 3D brawling.
Callum May also makes the point in our latest video that the title’s flaws are mainly to do with the fact that it wasn’t designed from the ground up to be turn-based: a problem that the inevitable sequel won’t suffer from. What’s more, if you’re looking for that trademark 3D brawler action, then the Judgement series will retain that going forward.
Alicia makes a good point when she says ‘The result is a transformation in series direction rarely seen in the medium of gaming before.’ Final Fantasy sort of did that, but not as sudden as Yakuza did, and recent titles such as Final Fantasy VII Remake even give you the option to revert to turn-based action. So it really is something to behold.
9
Money, money, money…
Not many people did well out of last year, but one company sure did: Nintendo, who reported record-breaking performance in the past financial year.
As a publicly traded company, Nintendo releases details of their financial performance every three months to update investors, and recently there has been nothing but good news. Mainly due to COVID-19, the demand for electronic entertainment has soared, leading to Nintendo being able to bring in a staggering $16.59 billion from March 2020 to March 2021.
Sales of the Nintendo Switch console, meanwhile, have increased by more than five million in the past three months, making for a total of 28.83 million in the past financial year. Over 50 million software units were also sold in that same three-month period, making for a total of 230.9. Now, the total units sold for hardware and software stand at 84.59 million and 587.12 million respectively.
That’s quite a lot, but Nintendo aren’t expecting the good times to last. ‘Coupled with the ongoing chip shortage that has contributed to Xbox Series and PS5 shortages... a lower hardware and software forecast has been made for the upcoming financial year,’ Alicia explained, adding ‘Overall profit is expected to decline 29%, but bar any unforeseen disasters, it will still be another impressively strong year for Nintendo.’
10
Farewell, world of Eva.
Without prior announcement, popular Japanese theme park Fuji-Q Highland has announced the closure of their Evangelion: World ride to make way for a new rollercoaster.
First opened in 2010, this special exhibit cost 800 yen to enter once you got inside the theme park. It featured large replicas of props and scenes from the Evangelion 1.11 and 2.22 films that had been released at the time: these included the ability to pose alongside Kaoru, replicate Gendo’s iconic pose at his desk, and even witness the infamous elevator scene.
The attraction was updated for 3.33 upon its release, but never received an update to mark the release of Evangelion 3.0+1.0. Apparently, this was because the park always planned to close it down, although they never made their intentions clear until now. To be honest, it was more of an interactive exhibit than a ride, but had still formed an important part of the park for over a decade.
Alicia has mixed feelings about the closure. ‘While it feels like a strange time to close it, with the final movie out and performing well in theaters, it’s also understandable why, in our current COVID times, there was no prior announcement to allow people to make a final trip before it closed. The exhibit may be gone, but more rollercoasters are never a bad thing.’
Amen.
Video Corner
Back in 2005, film enthusiast Toshihiro Nagoshi released Yakuza, a gritty drama presented as a 3D beat-em-up title. The game was popular and ended up spawning not only a bunch of sequels, but spinoffs and remakes as well. SEGA even set up Ryu ga Gotoku Studio as a way of managing all of the different games within this new franchise. But everything changed in Yakuza 7, when they not only changed the protagonist to Ichiban Kasuga, but also created a brand new combat system.
See you next week!
Ura and the OTAQUEST team.
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