"Hello, everyone. I hope I'm not interrupting?" Takuya's face bore a warm smile as his gaze swept over faces brimming with excitent, curiosity, or nervous energy.
"Takuya-san!"
"Greetings, Takuya-san!"
The office fell silent instantly, all work halting as everyone stood to greet him, their eyes overflowing with admiration and curiosity.
Team leader Shimizu stepped forward. "Takuya-san, your proposal presentation was truly spectacular."
Takuya smiled in response, naturally moving to the center of the room. "The new project relies on Team 3's elite talent. I'm thrilled and eager to work alongside everyone."
"You can count on us, Takuya-san!" Shimizu thumped his chest, his voice booming. "Team 3 will give 200% effort and won't let you or the president down!"
"I trust in everyone's abilities," Takuya nodded, his warm gaze eting each team mber's eyes, making them feel seen. "But before we dive into this new battle, I'd like to know the status of our previous front—how's the Tetris porting work going?"
At the ntion of the project, Shimizu's expression eased, radiating confidence. "Takuya-san, the console version is in its final stages, with positive test feedback. The handheld version is also progressing full-speed, with programming and art teams working overti. Both versions should be completed and ready for delivery within a month."
"Excellent," Takuya said, a satisfied look on his face as he nodded. "Tetris was our first collaboration. Though simple, it proved our communication efficiency and execution. It's the foundation of our trust."
He paused, letting the words sink in. "This successful collaboration has built strong synergy, laying a solid groundwork for tackling the bigger challenge of the 'K' project."
His words affird Team 3's past work while setting the stage for future challenges.
"As for the 'K' project's specifics and direction," Takuya continued, his voice steady yet igniting, "I'll dive into details and discussions at the official project kickoff eting."
"But let share the core now: this isn't just a new ga—it will define a new genre."
"I believe, with your talent, passion, and a touch of pioneering courage, we'll blaze a trail and create a true era of fighting gas together!"
Takuya's infectious energy painted a vivid future, sending the team's blood pumping with unprecedented anticipation and drive.
It was evening when he left Team 3.
The golden glow of sunset bathed Tokyo's streets, draping cold skyscrapers in warm hues.
Back ho, Takuya's commanding, inspiring aura from the office softened, but his focus remained sharp. After a quick dinner, he retreated to his study.
Instead of crafting grand worlds or flashy characters, he pulled technical docunts from his briefcase—early specs and feature reports for Sega's next-gen arcade board, "pre-System 16."
Under the lamplight, his fingers traced dense data and interface specs, brows furrowed in thought. Fighting gas hinged on fluid, authentic action, reliant on fra-precise judgnts, especially for attack (Hitbox) and damage (Hurtbox) zones.
"Manually adjusting pixel block ranges for each action fra is too slow, inefficient, and error-prone…" he muttered. "We need a tool."
An idea crystallized: a visual hitbox editing tool, allowing intuitive drawing, editing, and previewing of judgnt boxes on imported animation sequences, with real-ti collision simulation. This would speed up action design iterations, ensure precision, and support balance adjustnts.
But first, the fighting ga's story needed settling.
Though ard with future knowledge of fighting ga history and classics, creating a genre-defining title in this era required extensive research and preparation.
Comparing Street Fighter and Fatal Fury, he chose Fatal Fury as the "K" project's story foundation.
Street Fighter boasted wider fa and audiences, but its ensemble narrative and loose storyline weren't ideal for long-term IP managent, especially for a foundational series debut.
Fatal Fury, with the Terry brothers' revenge as its core, offered tighter character ties and a clearer storyline, better suited for animation and manga adaptations.
Crucially, Fatal Fury's moderate initial character roster fit early arcade storage and resource constraints, enabling faster developnt to claim the fighting ga pioneer title. As technology and storage advanced, other King of Fighters universe titles could follow, culminating in the King of Fighters series.
With the story set, Takuya pondered integrating Masami Kurumada's bold, stylish designs into characters like Geese, Terry, Andy, and Joe, and how Shutaro Oba could use animation storyboards to capture South Town's darkness and fighting passion.
He knew a successful fighting ga needed not just refined tech and innovative gaplay but a compelling story and charismatic characters.
Only by blending these elents perfectly could they capture players' hearts and create a tiless IP.
For the animation director, Shutaro Oba wasn't a household na in later years, but Takuya vividly recalled his Iron Fist Kid (known as Kung Fu Kid in so markets). Its fluid action, clever fight designs, and nuanced portrayal of protagonist Kinmi's growth and bonds stood out. Oba could handle both hard-hitting action and heartfelt storytelling, crafting morable characters—perfect for Fatal Fury's animated South Town, Terry's revenge, and fighters' zeal.
As for Kurumada's designs, fans of early Saint Seiya editions would recall the stunning character and armor sketches at each volu's end. Male or female, his characters were strikingly stylish, with unique lines blending classical beauty. From Seiya's fiery youth to Saga's complex villainy, Kurumada's style suited Geese Howard's commanding aura, Terry Bogard's carefree vigor, Andy Bogard's cool restraint, and Joe Higashi's Muay Thai intensity. Minor tweaks to body proportions for animation would perfect it.
As for Fatal Fury's original director and designer, Masaki Ohba? Takuya's lips twitched. Ohba's bold, exaggerated perspective shone in cha and niche genres, like Angel Blade or deceptive robot ani OPs. But for the "K" project's debut, his highly distinctive style felt too unrestrained. Takuya needed a balance of power and elegance, broadly appealing, and suited for enduring, iconic characters. (Angel Blade—no images needed, you know why…)
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