Grasshopper Manufacture’s Lollipop Chainsaw got a modern remaster last year, and recently, it’s been announced that a sequel and anime adaptation are in the works. These new projects are being led by Dragami Games, home to Yoshimi Yasuda, one of the producers of the original 2012 game. On the other hand, key figures behind Lollipop Chainsaw – like Suda51 and James Gunn, are not involved in development.
This has caused dissatisfaction among some fans of the franchise, who took to voicing their concerns to Yasuda through X. On July 24, the producer responded to inquiries – while commenting that he understands why fans are conflicted, he stressed that bringing back the original development team is very difficult. He expressed hope that the new dev team will manage to deliver a sequel that lives up to the original’s quality.
However, in response to Yasuda’s statement, an X user argued that the producer “didn’t even bother reaching out to Suda51 or James Gunn” when launching the remaster (Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP). They implied that Yasuda wasn’t being honest about having difficulty bringing the original crew on board, alleging that Suda51 and Gunn only found out about the project at the same time fans did.
Yasuda addressed this rumor directly, commenting, “I reached out to Suda-san in May 2018 and again in July 2020 after I set the direction for RePOP. He declined both times due to his own projects. In addition, I learned that the producers and directors who once worked with me had already gone independent.” He asked users to stop spreading false information on the matter.
In their recent press release, Dragami Games stated that their new partner Nada Holdings will be bringing back some original staff from 2012’s Lollipop Chainsaw, although no names or positions have been specified so far. Both parties have emphasized their commitment to staying true to the original game’s appeal, but it’s certainly early to be making any conclusions with virtually no information about the project available.
