Behind-the-scenes video game stories are being revealed using the “Actually, that was me” hashtag
Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-04-14 19:16 JST)
In Japan, the hashtag “#あれ実は私なんです” (actually, that was me) has been trending. The hashtag is seeing people step forward to reveal the part they played in well-known events or products that have origins that aren’t well known. Animators behind famous scenes and designers of popular toys are stepping out of the shadows and using the hashtag to share their valuable behind-the-scenes stories. Even those involved in the games industry have been using the hashtag to share their stories.
Let’s start with @tamasan_daiou, formally of Gainax, who revealed the work they did on the Dragon Quest series. As they once revealed in 2020, Tamaya was the one who designed Erdrick’s Sword, the Zenithian Sword, and the Zenithian Shield. No official designs existed at the time, so @tamasan_daiou gathered reference materials and began drawing up the designs Dragon Quest fans know today.
Next, let’s look at a tweet from Shintaro Kojima, formally of Capcom. Kojima had been involved with the Monster Hunter series since the original game and was the main producer on Monster Hunter Generations and Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. But what Kojima revealed was an interesting piece of information regarding Monster Hunter Freedom 2 and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. The voice of the instructor at the Training School in those games was actually Kojima himself.
According to Kojima, they held auditions inside the company for the hunter and NPC voices until Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, using those selected in the game. It sounds like Kojima was used for a male hunter voice as well. Voices such as His Immenseness in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate were also provided by Kojima. The famous “Jyouzu ni Yakemasita(上手に焼けましたー)” line (“So tasty!” in the English version) was also provided by a Capcom employee. In addition, composer Yuko Komiyama used the hashtag to reveal that their voice was used for a female hunter voice in Monster Hunter Freedom and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite.
Now let’s take a look at an infamous misprint among Japanese gamers. It was published in Gamest magazine for a special feature on Sega’s arcade game Sega Super GT which released in 1996. In issue 193 (April 30, 1997), a picture was oddly captioned “Kuoo!! Butsukaruu!! Kokode akuseru o zenkai, Indojin o migini! (くお〜!! ぶつかる〜!! ここでアクセル全開、インド人を右に!)” which translates to “Ahh! You’re gonna crash! Put the pedal to the metal and turn the Indian to the right!”
It turns out that the “Indian to the right” part was supposed to be “turn the steering wheel to the right,” but due to the handwritten caption being difficult to read, the Japanese word for “steering wheel (ハンドル)” was misread as “Indian (インド人)” and published as it was. fumitang, the photographer of the images in the article, was the one to set the record straight on the strange caption. In addition, PIRO also stepped forward to reveal that they modeled the Viper that appears in the screenshot.
This next one is from manga artist Gaku Miyao and contains an image of retro Super Mario Bros merchandise. But upon closer inspection, we can see that Princess Peach’s design is different than the one we know today. In the image, her signature blond curls are straight, and her makeup has a more natural look.
According to Miyao, at the time they were commissioned for the merchandise, the only official design images for Peach were the small illustration on the Super Mario Bros. cover and the in-game sprite. Miyao thought these didn’t really appeal to girls and made their own design, which they faxed to Nintendo and received approval on.
3D designer MOKA CG also stepped forward using the hashtag. MOKA CG revealed that they modeled Cammy in Street Fighter V. This version of Cammy was first revealed in a trailer at E3 2015. However, the character had little makeup and drew criticism in Japan for not being very cute. After that, it sounds like MOKA CG went back and made changes to the model, adding stronger eyeliner and making her lips more plum.
If you would like to see more, check out the “あれ実は私なんです” on Twitter, though it isn’t limited to just games. While the hashtag is aimed at Japanese speaking users, if you have a special story you’ve been hanging on to, this may be a good opportunity to reveal it to the world.
Yuki Kurosawa
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