{"id":65294,"date":"2026-04-15T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=65294"},"modified":"2026-04-15T16:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:22:14","slug":"level-5-ceo-says-the-inazuma-eleven-jrpg-series-is-successful-because-it-never-tried-to-look-cool-to-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/level-5-ceo-says-the-inazuma-eleven-jrpg-series-is-successful-because-it-never-tried-to-look-cool-to-adults\/","title":{"rendered":"Level-5\u00a0CEO\u00a0says\u00a0the\u00a0Inazuma Eleven JRPG series is successful because it\u00a0never tried to\u00a0look \u201ccool\u201d to\u00a0adults\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Commemorating the success of Level-5’s recent titles Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time<\/strong> and Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road<\/strong>, the company\u2019s president and CEO Akihiro Hino was recently interviewed by sports journalist and manga artist Naohiko Ueno (published via Yahoo News Japan<\/a>). Notably, Hino talked about the \u201creal\u201d origins of Inazuma Eleven and what he considers the reasons for the franchise\u2019s enduring popularity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riding out\u00a0over ten delay announcements\u00a0since its\u00a0initial\u00a0reveal\u00a0nine years prior,\u00a0the Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road\u00a0project was inevitably subject to\u00a0accumulated\u00a0criticism and disappointment from fans, who grew frustrated with every extra year of development added to the\u00a0long\u00a0wait. However,\u00a0Hino considers that\u00a0the criticism came precisely from the high expectations fans have for the series, and this certainly doesn\u2019t seem off the mark considering Victory Road\u00a0debuted\u00a0at the top of\u00a0Steam\u2019s global\u00a0top\u00a0sellers\u00a0(for a symbolic eleven consecutive days, no less) and went on to sell over 800,000 copies worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inazuma<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As for why Inazuma Eleven has retained so much passion from its fanbase since the franchise\u2019s inception 17 years ago, Hino explains using a rather unusual Santa Claus analogy. “When you’re a child, you possess the power to truly believe that Santa Claus exists. You don’t question why Santa exists or where he comes from. You just believe in the sole fact that Santa comes to your house, leaves you the loveliest of presents, and returns home.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Hino, Inazuma Eleven is designed to offer players something similar. \u201cYou have soccer players flying through the air, performing tricks, and charging right at you, but you don\u2019t stop to question whether that\u2019s physically possible or not. In typical works, the more outlandish elements are dialed down so they don\u2019t look tacky to adults. But since Inazuma Eleven is aimed squarely at kids, at precisely that moment in their lives, there are plenty of things that seem completely crazy to adults.\u201d Naohiko Ueno describes this as Level-5’s \u201cunwavering belief in the sensibilities of children.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this vein, Hino also mentions that Inazuma Victory\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0originate from the idea of creating a soccer game, but from the idea of recreating the thrill of shonen manga through the video game medium. \u201cFor me, it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0so much about sports as it was about boys clashing with their respective convictions. Whether\u00a0it\u00a0was\u00a0soccer or basketball\u00a0or something else, the medium\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0really matter\u00a0to me. Even while\u00a0working on\u00a0Inazuma Eleven, rather than pursuing the realism of soccer, I\u00a0thought\u00a0\u2018let\u2019s go for a Dragon Ball approach.\u2019\u00a0<\/em>There are groups of friends, opponents with\u00a0different ways\u00a0of thinking, and a clash of\u00a0passions. We set that dynamic against the backdrop of soccer. From an adult\u2019s perspective, the flashy\u00a0presentation\u00a0and show-like effects might seem\u00a0ridiculous, but\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0exactly what\u00a0captured\u00a0the hearts of children.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inazuma<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is available for PC (Steam<\/a>), Nintendo Switch, PS5\/PS4, and Xbox Series X|S.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: <\/strong>Level-5 CEO explains why delays happen so much and why \u201cjust announcing things later\u201d isn\u2019t always a solution <\/strong><\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Level-5\u2019s CEO hopes to make erotic and violent games someday<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino recently talked about the “real” origin of Inazuma Eleven and why he thinks the series has stayed relevant for so long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":65298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-65294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nLevel-5\u00a0CEO\u00a0says\u00a0the\u00a0Inazuma Eleven JRPG series is successful because it\u00a0never tried to\u00a0look \u201ccool\u201d to\u00a0adults\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino recently talked about the "real" origin of Inazuma Eleven and why he thinks the series has stayed relevant for so long.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/level-5-ceo-says-the-inazuma-eleven-jrpg-series-is-successful-because-it-never-tried-to-look-cool-to-adults\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Level-5\u00a0CEO\u00a0says\u00a0the\u00a0Inazuma Eleven JRPG series is successful because it\u00a0never tried to\u00a0look \u201ccool\u201d to\u00a0adults\u00a0 - 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