Given his years at HAL Laboratory and Sora Ltd. as a YouTube content creator and one of the world’s most influential video game developers, it’s quite surprising how little of Masahiro Sakurai’s life has been told in an official capacity. With the release of the biographical manga Masahiro Sakurai – Making the World More Fun Through Games (unofficial translation), the Smash and Kirby creator hopes not for a public retelling of his accomplishments, but for the book to be a catalyst that may inspire future generations of game creators.
In a recent interview with Game*Spark, Sakurai revealed that he initially declined the offer to have a manga written about his life. Not only was he extremely busy at the time (this was about a year and a half ago), but it seems he found the idea at odds with his principle of avoiding excessive public attention. He describes himself as a person who prefers to avoid promoting themselves, going so far as to frequently turn down interview requests that are centered around him rather than the games he is working on.
“Honestly, I still prefer to live a modest, unassuming life. You might be thinking ‘For real?’ but I mean it. I put my all into promoting my work and ideas, but I’m the type who prefers to avoid promoting or putting myself out there. I’d also rather not be become the plaything of the Interne.” Rather than being preoccupied with the personalities behind them, Sakurai considers “it’s best if people just play the games, regardless of who made them.”
What got Sakurai to change his mind was the enthusiasm of Rintaro Osumi, the manga’s editor-in-charge. Osumi convinced Sakurai to give the biographical manga a try. Soon enough, the outline was finished, storyboards were exchanged between the two, and the project was completed.
While Sakurai is a bit bashful about his career being turned into an educational manga, he hopes that readers will be able to learn a little more about the developer’s side of creating games, be they developers themselves or not. Osumi Rintaro added to Sakurai’s statement by saying that the manga was conceived with the goal of “encouraging even a few more people to aim for careers in the game industry”.
Sakurai commented that while the book has some exaggerations typical of Japanese manga, it was his job to ensure that the story was fundamentally based on his knowledge, as well as facts he has publicized through his many columns and interviews. Despite this, he was surprised at the level of detail the manga ended up depicting. One such example is the book’s cover art, which features a similar layout to his actual home office – strewn controllers and cat included.
Though Sakurai was initially reluctant to have a manga written about himself, it seems he was very meticulous about the project once he got on board, as Osumi revealed. Sakurai reviewed every aspect of the manga, from its content and extra columns to the cover art and even the dust jacket that wraps around the physical book. Sakurai also provided ideas of his own, which included concepts for the design as well as the overall writing style. According to the manga editor, Sakurai consistently provided feedback the same day they sent him review materials. It just goes to show how committed Sakurai can be once he commits himself to a project, whether it be a game or a manga about himself.
Masahiro Sakurai – Making the World More Fun Through Games is a 160-page manga now available in Japan for 1,430 JPY (roughly $9.45 USD). There are currently no announcements about an English translation.
