"On a certain sunny day in November...
A heated discussion took place at Capcom's Tokyo branch between Hirohiko Araki, author of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and the production staff of Capcom's latest fighting game, JoJo's Venture. This time, Mr. Araki was invited to play the arcade game JoJo's Venture, which is on the verge of completion, and to talk about it at length. We prepared the game in the conference room and waited an hour for him. Is he going to like the game? Will he really enjoy it? These and many other anxious thoughts ran through the mind of this timid planner again and again. (Am I exaggerating a bit?)
Since the game's almost finished, I haven't slept for two days. I haven't gone home for six days. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that everything has led up to this day. This very day... (Am I exaggerating a lot?) That the person in this world I most wanted to like the game might play it, and...!"
(The above is an excerpt from Planning Man O's Unforgettable JoJo Diary.)
(Soon enough, Mr. Araki appears in the conference room where everyone is waiting. He looks refreshingly cool.)
Mr. Araki: Hello! Nice to meet you, I'm Hirohiko Araki.
Staff: (nervously) Nice to meet you...
(Everyone briefly introduces themselves.)
Planning Man O: Now then, can we ask you to take a quick look at the game?
Mr. Araki: Actually, I'm not very good at fighting games. I'm not sure if I'll be able to.
(Everyone watches Mr. Araki's sharp eyes as he plays!)
Staff: (Ba-dump, ba-dump...)
Mr. Araki: Ora-ora! Wow, that feels good! Agh, they're gonna hit me!
Character Man H: Is that alright...?
Staff: (Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump...)
(For now, the first play session has ended.)
Mr. Araki: It's actually a lot of fun, this game! Can I use Alessi next?
(And immediately, he turns Polnareff into a child.)
Mr. Araki: Hahahaha! That's funny. That's amazing... It's just like the source material! It even has the "To Be Continued"! It's so elaborate!
Planning Man O: Wh- What do you think?
Dr. Araki: It's fun, it really is! It's just so good, and Alessi is so much fun. Let's try out this character, too!
Staff: (sigh of relief)
Mr. Araki: You can really feel the punches. I think Jotaro's "Ora-ora" is the most important thing in the game. And it feels really good.
Planning Man O: What a relief! That's the part I paid the most attention to, and spent the most time on.
Mr. Araki: I think the most important part of a fighting game is the refreshing feeling that comes from landing a lot of hits. That part is really well done here. And the sounds are really good, too.
Planning Man O: I'll let the person in charge of those know. I'm sure he'll be pleased.
Mr. Araki: The thing I felt most while playing was that the people who worked on the game really loved JoJo, and really enjoyed making it.
Planning Man O: I suppose the passion put into a game shows in the game itself.
Mr. Araki: I'm very happy to see the JoJo style being worked into every aspect of the game.
G. Producer: That's the part I focused on the most. As a creator and a JoJo fan, I didn't make any compromises.
Mr. Araki: Just having Iggy as a character makes me happy. It makes me want to use him.
G. Producer: I was also very happy when I saw the proposal and it said, "Iggy will also be playable!" In that case, full steam ahead! (laughter)
Mr. Araki: He's cute and well-drawn. Is he really that weak?
Planning Man O: Oh, no, that's just him without The Fool! What makes Iggy a fun character is the gap there, between his normal self and when his Stand's active. A totally fragile and normal dog brings out his Stand...
Character Man F: ...and becomes terrifyingly strong!
Planning Man O: That transformation is what makes him so interesting. Of course, we made it so he can fight without his Stand as well.
G. Producer: And enemy attacks don't hit him, because he's so small.
Mr. Araki: I get it! How very well-thought-out. I think gaps like that are very important, and I'm not just talking about games. If there's no surprise, it's not interesting.
Character Man H: Also, we had a hard time coming up with attacks for the enemy characters.
Character Man F: Definitely. There's little-to-no material for the ones that only appear once or twice in the original work. We had no shortage of inspiration for Polnareff or Avdol.
Mr. Araki: I see...
Planning Man O: We often had meetings that went, "Wouldn't it weird for this guy to use this attack?" "But we need it for the game!" "Then how about we do it like this..." And so on.
Mr. Araki: The enemy characters, Devo and such, all have great personalities, and the character roster is exquisite. Games need those kinds of wily characters, after all!
Character Man F: I had a hard time choosing the characters. I love the original story so much that I wanted to include so many of the characters.
Character Man H: Definitely. Before I knew it, we were asking for all of the characters from Part 3.
Planning Man O: Which was impossible, of course.
Mr. Araki: But this selection is quite exquisite. Jotaro and the others are there, as advertised, but the enemies... There's a good variety of different types.
Character Man H: Midler, the one you drew yourself, is also among the characters.
Mr. Araki: Midler, yes. I was at a bit of a loss there. I wasn't given any specific instructions for how she should look, so I did a lot of thinking and designed her myself.
Planning Man O: What did you have in mind?
Mr. Araki: Since she's a character in a game, I wanted to draw a character that would make people think, "I should pick her!" and then ask, "What kind of person is she?" while playing as her...
Staff: Ah!
Planning Man O: That's wonderful! That's actually the part we always find nerve-wracking, too, when creating a new character.
Character Man H: Her face never appeared in the original story, so for our part, we were mainly just curious about what she'd look like. Just because we're fans, after all.”
Character Man F: When we received the artwork, we all thought, "Oh, so that's the kind of girl she is!"
Mr. Araki: I never actually had any intention of showing Midler's face in the original work...
Staff: I knew it! (laughter)
Character Man H: Are there really such detailed backgrounds for every character? Even if they act the same as any other enemy character, they act out of loyalty to DIO, or for compensation, or so on.
Mr. Araki: Yes, there are. They might be in love with DIO, for example.
Character Man F: Is that so?
Mr. Araki: But sometimes I don't depict those things in the manga. If you force them in, they become difficult to understand.
Character Man H: Do you still have any requests to include ideas like that?
Mr. Araki: No, no, I'm already very satisfied with how far it's come! And I can't ask for much more than this... (laughs)
Character Man H: I'm actually already planning to do [such-and-such], so if you have any ideas or requests, I'd be happy to put them in!
Mr. Araki: Oh, I see! That's great... Hmm... What should I ask for? (laughs)
Character Man F: [Such-and-such] is going to be [this-and-that]!
Mr. Araki: Wow... I'm looking forward to that!
Character H: By the way! What does the future look like for the JoJo comic?
Staff: Yeah, yeah!
Mr. Araki: Um, well...
Character Man H: Is [this-and-that] still going to [such-and-such] with [so-and-so]?
Mr. Araki: I thought of that, actually! (laughs)
Character Man H: Wouldn't [so-and-so] become [such-and-such]'s [something-or-other], then?”
Mr. Araki: No, no! (laughs)
Staff: It seems we've become mere JoJo fans again.
Character Man H: Or is it that [something-or-other]'s [what's-its-name] is...
(And so, "Hirohiko Araki's Meeting with His Fans" went on forever...)