Regulations On Depiction Of Sexual Content Prompts Senran Kagura Creator To Leave Marvelous

The recent increase in video game censorship policies in Japan caused Senran Kagura’s creator, Kenichiro Takaki, to finally leave Marvelous.

On this week’s Famitsu issue, Takaki revealed in an interview that the creator’s major reason for leaving was due to the strict regulations regarding sexual depiction. The magazine went on to further describe what Takaki felt – it’s as if a thread had snapped within him. The creator also expressed that while sexual content is often criticized, there are many that enjoy it.

Here’s an excerpt from Famitsu:

Takaki believed that such variation was one of the things that supported the games industry, but when it was so easily broken, it made him think about various things. Takaki welcomes restrictions and regulations that protect specific scopes and genres. However, he feels the recent trend will definitely have a chilling effect.

Going back to an interview months ago, Takaki has previously stated that future games will now require more time to develop since worldwide regulations regarding sexual depiction have been getting stronger. This came after the Japanese PS4 games were reportedly experiencing heavier censorship for sexual content compared to Nintendo Switch. Following the issue, Atsushi Morita, president of Sony Japan, gave a statement saying the increase in Japanese PS4 censorship is simply a matter of matching global standards and to shield the children.

These turn of events have, in fact and in some way, affected the Japanese developers such as Kenichiro Takaki which lead to his eventual exit from Marvelous. That said, Takaki will remain as the ‘oppai producer’ for Senran Kagura and will continue working with the staff on titles that are currently in production including a new Marvelous-published multimedia project involving a game and an anime.

Moving forward, Kenichiro Takaki has now started working at Cygames’ console titles. He also expressed that he plans to create traditional fantasy games like the games he went crazy for as a kid.

Finally, here’s what the ‘oppai producer’ had to say:

“Even if my place of work or the nature of my titles change, what I show won’t change and I don’t want it to. I’m a game fan at heart; I tell dirty jokes and make irresponsible comments (laughs), but I’ll work my hardest to make games.”

 

We wish you all the best, Takaki-san! From us here at NintendoSoup!