PAGE 3

The Appeal of Engaging With This Work That Grows More Fascinating As More Is Revealed

In the previous interview, we heard that in the first iteration of the project, the protagonist was an older adult. We would like to inquire about the particulars involved in both the game, “SMT IVF,” and the transition from that previously established aspect.

Doi: This time, we’ll present this illustration of the protagonist from the early stages of the project for the first time. (Illustration below). Though you may be able to understand this fact just by looking at the illustration, this image was ultimately reflected in Asahi’s father; Asahi inherited the pilot-style attire from him. In the initial stages of the project, the approach we took to the story was that of an adult protagonist, Nozomi, and Navarre journeying together—we’d yet to conceptualize the other companions.

Kozuka: I had seen the project proposal at that time as well, but they were also considering making Navarre the protagonist for a short while, and, although it’s MegaTen, they were coming out with dramatic parts that were a bit “slice-of-life”-ish, so it proved to be quite challenging content—I was puzzling over what music would be suited for such a story.

Yamai: With regards to the sequence of events prior to the beginning of the major conflict of this work, Jonathan had become the seraph Merkabah, Walter had consecrated himself to the Demon King Lucifer, and Flynn and Isabeau had come to bear the respect and aspirations of the people of Tokyo on their backs. Out of all of those samurai, it was only the failure Navarre who had been unable to accomplish anything. Which is exactly why we thought that we’d dig even deeper into his character.

Oyama: However, there was some mixed reception in-house to the idea of intertwining Navarre with the main characters, so I recall, contrary to expectation, being stirred into action by the phrase “You hate him that much? Then I’ll just make him a ghost!”

Yamai: The theme we wanted to depict in this project was “growth from failure,” so myself and Mr. Oyama were both Navarre stans1 to a degree (laughs). However, if it were to be a completely new work, Mr. Doi wanted to create a protagonist who could stand alongside Flynn. We also reconsidered the idea of making the protagonist an adult, determining that if we were to depict a theme of growth, boys and girls would be much more suited to that—thus, ultimately, the work settled into what it is today.

—So the other companions came to be after you decided to make the protagonist a child, then?

Doi: To give you a glimpse into the change in setting, initially, Asahi had much more of a strong-minded personality, and Toki was a frail shrine maiden of the Ring of Gaea, and such—so there was a considerable change. As everyone was pitching their ideas on what kind of partners we should add to make the drama more interesting for the protagonist, I drew various concepts for them. And as the construction of the scenario and systems progressed, the character’s settings and roles began to solidify.

Yamai: One of the reasons we changed Asahi’s personality to a braver one was because every character that surrounds her, including the protagonist who returned from the dead with the strength of the demon god Dagda, is a superhuman being. Amidst all of this, we found ourselves wanting to include a character who was almost an ordinary person while still making her into a childhood friend who stood close to the protagonist.

—In regards to Toki, she wasn’t an assassin at first, yes? Her “true face” is also quite striking.

Doi: I knew that I wanted to illustrate some sort of gap, so I had her wear a mask to hide her true face, as well as having her give off the unapproachable aura of the Ring of Gaea that she’s a member of. Even so, I aimed to bring about the charm and appeal that you’ll discover when a girl like that opens up her heart.

Yamai: Also, as for why she’s an assassin—The Ring of Gaea is an influence that holds the chaotic ideology of “it is those with strength who survive.” However, since those associated with them are humans, there are also likely cases of married couples who enter the Ring and sacrifice their children to it. Toki’s upbringing, of course, was within this environment, and thus was very unusual.

Doi: As for the gap aspect, that also has a backing in Hallelujah showing a sort of “awakening.” At the start of the project, we had him as half-Japanese and half-Black. We thought, “Naturally there’d be foreigners in this closed-off Tokyo, so if a child like this made an appearance, it could show the current status quo or idiosyncrasies of this world or something.” Afterward, once we established him to be a member of the Ashura-Kai, he became half-human and half-demon. I was asking for ideas on how to portray Hallelujah’s “awakening” in a way that’d fire everyone up, and I expressed that to the staff who were helping me with my work. When it came to the hair color and such, they just switched through the options on the computer super fast, and when I thought “that’s the one!” we discussed it together.

—So the player’s impression of both Toki and Hallelujah changes the more they play the game. Especially with the depiction of the Tokugawa Mandala surrounding them…

Yamai: Throughout a series of events, Toki comes into contact with the Aether, which elicits many emotions such as that of lust, and that later causes her hidden side to peek through again and again. (laughs). That serves as the background for some drama as well. To begin with, on top of that scenario, a situation occurs where the Demon Summoning Program becomes unusable, yet there also exists in this world a force that can transcend the program and summon demons. On top of that, if we look back at Japan’s history, during the Edo Period, this country was closed off to the rest of the world and was forcefully opened in its final years. Furthermore, there’s also the interpretation that Japan’s ancient gods ended up being encroached upon by gods and demons of other countries and that we should push back against that encroachment. When in reality, there are plenty of temples all over Japan that worship those kinds of unsavory things. The Divine Powers that appeared for the first time in SMT IVF used the Tokugawa Mandala, composed of the five Fudo temples located all over Tokyo, like a mystical barrier to seal off the Demon Summoning Program. By no means was this an event that was created for the sole purpose of making Toki do or say something provocative—when we were deciding who would be the best at practicing self-restraint when their heart was assailed by the desire that comes from being touched by the Aether, we came to the conclusion that Toki, as an assassin from the Ring of Gaea who was raised to discard her emotions as much as possible, would be the most suitable.

PAGE 4

—The demon Krishna, leader of the Divine Powers, had quite a strong impact within the story as well, wouldn’t you say?

Doi: For me personally, Krishna was the one who I designed to be closer to a human, rather than a god or a demon. The reason for that is that he’s in a position where he’s appealing to mankind for “salvation,” and so we thought that it would be better suited to our goals to have him take the image of someone who meets the humans halfway rather than someone divine. Originally, in the form where he’s depicted as a god of Hindu mythology, the color of his body was blue, as opposed to black, which is considered impure. However, if he were to retain his blue color after taking a human form, he would be feared, so we gave him brown skin in this work. Even so, we wanted to leave remnants of that blue-skinned image behind, so we kept that element in his hair color. The fact that he’s clad in Western-style clothing in this work is intended to capture the hearts of people today, and it’s also historically grounded in the British rule of India.

Kozuka: As for the sound design, we gave all of the other gods and demons a voice effect that gives them an otherworldly feeling, but it’s only Krishna whose voice we left as human-like, yet powerful. 

—I see. I suppose that means that hundreds of years before Krishna’s resurrection in this work, when he was in this world, he took a different form than he currently has…?

Doi: That’s how I think of it. To add on, this is only one interpretation of the work, but I believe that the “Vishnu Flynn” who makes an appearance in the story is closer to Krishna’s original form. 

Yamai: There’s the dimension that the gods of “SMT IV” and “SMT IVF” have established their power and existence due to the faith and recognition of humans, which is very unique compared to other related MegaTen games. In a sense, the gods are in a scramble competing for the attention of humans, but it’s difficult to truly move people’s hearts by simply forcing them to say something. In this work, Lucifer and Merkabah both take human forms, and that’s one reason why.

Doi: You can see a trend among angels who want to gather the faith of humans in that those towards the bottom will have a form more similar to a human, and the higher they rank, the further detached from humanity they become—you can think of that as another reason.

Yamai: Of course, this is the world of “SMT IV” and “SMT IVF,” so even if there is a next installment, it won’t necessarily be the same.

—

TL Notes

1: The original Japanese word used is oshi, which literally means “to push for/support.” However, in fan culture, oshi has grown to be used in a similar way to “stan”—a Navarre oshi would be considered a Navarre stan, and someone saying their oshi is Navarre would be equivalent to saying that he is their favorite/bias.