Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation devs were on a mission to make players “suffer” with Honoka’s well-endowed body and new, sexier-than-ever costume 

Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation (DOAXVV) introduced a new True Colors (TC) costume for Honoka on January 29. Unlike many previous outfits, the new Cross the Line costume gives peach-haired Honoka a distinctively sharper and sexier look than usual. In a recent interview with Famitsu, DOAXVV producer Yasunori Sakuda and freelance illustrator fubuki discussed why they decided to give Honoka a different look with the new outfit and how they went about it. 

First introduced to series fans in the fighting game Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, Honoka is a young student and self-taught martial artist. She has a sweet and easy-going personality, and her outfits tend to be on the cute side and sometimes have flower patterns. 

Honoka also appears in the live service dating sim/volleyball game Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation. Since its release in 2020, the developers have been regularly adding new outfits to the game, which can be won through its gacha system. Although Honoka has had some sexier costumes in the past like her secret agent costume and slightly edgy, goth-flavored Newcomer costume (both from DOA5: Last Round), the Cross the Line costume is a departure from her other outfits in DOAXVV.  

Fubuki, the illustrator who designed the costume, recounts that Sakuda said, “We’re going to use Honoka’s well-endowed body to make the Owners suffer!” With this as the concept, fubuki explains that “Our aim was to create a swimsuit which conveys the message  that Honoka, with her gentle personality, has decided on her own accord to wear a sexy outfit because she has realized that she fancies the Owner (of the Venus Islands, i.e. the player).” 

Fubuki adds that they were also highly conscious of Honoka’s Newcomer costume from DOA5: Last Round when designing her new TC outfit. “I think it’s so popular that it has almost become the default outfit (for DOA5 Honoka players). Also, this costume has not been added to DOAXVV, so I thought that if we took the new outfit in the same direction, the players would be delighted.” 

But at the same time, getting the balance right was important. “I thought that if I made it too overtly sexy it would not suit Honoka,” fubuki explains. “I aimed for a sexy costume which best balanced that flavor while retaining Honoka’s personality.” With the Cross the Line costume, Honoka has a more mature hairstyle, a more revealing bikini and plenty of leather details like her fingerless gloves and choker, which give her an edgier look. However, this is balanced out by cute details like the ribbons, and her flower-shaped earring and heart necklace.  

Honoka will also appear in standalone dating sim Venus Vacation Prism –Dead or Alive Xtreme–. Now releasing on March 27, the game has an offline, in-game system for earning outfits to replace DOAXVV’s gacha system. All of the pre-release images of Honoka in this game suggest that her outfits will be on the cuter side. Players will have to wait until Prism’s release to see if they will get some sexier Honoka’s costumes in that game too.  

On a related note, despite Honoka getting a more mature look in DOAXVV, Koei Tecmo is highly protective of its Dead or Alive girls, and regularly removes fanart that goes too far. 

Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation is available now on PC (Steam), depending on your region. 

Venus Vacation Prism –Dead or Alive Xtreme– will be released on PS4/PS5 and PC (Steam) on March 27, 2025. Although it will have an official English release, you may have to import a physical copy depending on your region.