Archipel Caravan, which specializes in creating and publishing documentaries about various Japanese creatives, released their first video recently. They sat down with Danganronpa creator, game director, and writer Kazutaka Kodaka in a video interview as he spoke on his brainstorming and developing process:
According to their official description: “We spent time with game director and writer Kazutaka Kodaka, creator of the Danganronpa series, celebrating this year its 10th anniversary. During this interview, we look at his game scenario writing approach and his views on the ‘death game’ genre. This content opens Archipel Caravan, our new series of weekly content centered around creators of the Japanese game industry.”
During said interview, Kodaka reveals some of his inspirations including David Lynch, animation director Kunihiko Ikuhara, and the works of Battle Royale, among others. He also details his strategy for when stuck in his creative process, which involves him restudying his favorite works, his approach to character designs, and more. It’s humbling to see someone so talented who has created such a unique and iconic franchise have difficulties formulating new ideas as well. And his method for overcoming creative blocks is practical yet effective, something that can be easily emulated.
The rest of the interview is quite fascinating and absolutely worth watching. And if you enjoyed this video, Archipel Caravan has an entire lineup planned, which they posted on their official Twitter account:
Archipel Caravan – Lineup (1/2):
– Kazutaka Kodaka: Danganronpa 10th Anniversary | Interview
– Saori Kobayashi: Panzer Dragoon 25th Anniversary | Musical Interludes
– Shinji Mikami: Career 30th Anniversary | In-depth Portrait
– Takenobu Mitsuyoshi: Interview/Live Performance pic.twitter.com/9HO3uYsCKU— Archipel | アルシペル (@SailToArchipel) September 29, 2020
Archipel Caravan – Lineup (2/2):
– Toshihiro Nagoshi: Yakuza 15th Anniversary | Interview
– Naoki Yoshida: FF14 10th Anniversary | Interview
– Isamu Kamikokuryo: toco toco reboot special
– Yoshitaka Amano, Kazuko Shibuya: Final Fantasy | Cross-Interview pic.twitter.com/icERy7yNVS— Archipel | アルシペル (@SailToArchipel) September 29, 2020
They also tweeted how the general format of each video will work and how you can support their work. And if you’re interested enough, you can support them financially through Patreon here.
Starting October 1st, we will post one content per week on Archipel, ranging from short to much longer durations. We’re counting on everyone to share and subscribe to our channel on YouTube.https://t.co/jKq0Vnfe9Q pic.twitter.com/sgFGnvRMjO
— Archipel | アルシペル (@SailToArchipel) September 29, 2020
Kodaka mentioned his wish to celebrate Danganronpa’s birthday with everyone around the world, and noted that nowadays it’s mainly people outside Japan who support his games. Kazutaka Kodaka teased at the end of his message more projects related to the Danganronpa 10th anniversary are coming, other than the mobile ports.
In other major Danganronpa news, developer Spike Chunsoft is taking over publishing rights for the franchise moving forward. Alongside that news, each Danganronpa title has been removed from either the PS4 or PS Vita, with the last one leaving the store on September 25th.
The post Danganronpa Creator Reveals Inspirations, Character Design Approach, and More in 10th Anniversary Interview by Allisa James appeared first on DualShockers.