Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising uses “Kawaii Physics,” the plug-in for cute and bouncy animal ears, hair, clothes and others 

Game developer Okada Kazuya, who also goes by “Okazu,” revealed that their plug-in for Unreal Engine 4 and 5 is being used in Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (GBVSR). The plug-in, called “Kawaii Physics,” is a pseudo-physics plug-in that creates the effect of clothes, hair etc. swaying in a cute, visually appealing way. 

GBVSR is an upcoming sequel to the Granblue Fantasy Versus fighting game series by Cygames, which features characters from Cygames’ mobile RPG Granblue Fantasy. GBVSR inherits the concept of its preceding title while introducing new mechanics such as Ultimate Skills. 

GVBSR also introduces an online-only party game mode called Grand Bruise Legends!, in which the Granblue Fantasy characters appear in a caricatured, “chibi” style. They are tiny and comical, but their motions are quite carefully designed, so things like hair, flowy clothing, cat ears and similar all have an adorable bounce to them. 

These motions seem to use the Kawaii Physics pseudo-physics plug-in for UE4 and 5. The plug-in was developed to emulate the physics of flowy objects in a simple and appealing manner. Expressing the motions of objects that sway together with a character is quite difficult, and results can look oddly rigid, requiring fine manual adjustment of parameters to achieve a natural look. The Kawaii Physics plug-in helps bridge this process. 

The plug-in has previously been used in Shin Megami Tensei V, to help express the flowy movement of the protagonist’s long hair (Related article). On the project’s GitHub page, the creator of the Kawaii Physics plug-in lists some other titles that use the plug-in too, such as Scarlet Nexus, Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier, Tower of Fantasy, and Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Vacation. It seems that the developers of GBVSR also found the effect of the plug-in to their liking and decided to adopt it. 

Kawaii Physics was developed by Japanese developer Kazuya Okada, who joined Epic Games Japan in 2016 after working for Capcom, working as a UE support engineer. He has also been active independently, sharing UE-related information on X/Twitter and developing the Kawaii Physics plug-in, which contributed to him gaining the reputation of “the face of Epic Games Japan.” However, at the end of last month, he resigned from the company, suggesting that he has been affected by layoffs. 

Currently, he is working on the action game The Soldat with Twin Arms, while continuing to share knowledge on UE and game development in general and further developing the Kawaii Physics plug-in. 

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is planned for release for the PS4/PS5 and PC (Steam) on December 14. 

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-11-13 11:19 JST)