Last July, PlatinumGames’ Kenji Saito, director of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, stated he would like to make a game on the 2013 hit anime Kill la Kill (or the long-running manga Berserk). In a short interview with Polygon, Saito describes what his Kill la Kill game would be like and what it would take to get it made.
The interview is transcribed below:
What would your Kill la Kill game look like?
If PlatinumGames was going to do a game in the world of Kill la Kill, we’re great at tempo, combos, over-the-top action, interesting animations so it’d definitely be full of those. And then, of course, the swordplay would also be very important from a visual design perspective.
How do you envision Ryuko and Senketsu’s Blood System translating to a video game?
Kill la Kill is an anime that feels like a game in a lot of ways, so I think that it’s something your average gamer could really pick up and understand naturally. It’d be great if someday I was able to make something like that.
Is there anything Kill la Kill fans could do to show their support for a Platinum-developed Kill la Kill game?
I don’t know. Maybe social media approaches, who knows. But ultimately it would have to be PlatinumGames making that decision, not me as an individual, so having Platinum convinced to make it would be the most important piece.
The fans, they’re important – if they go to whomever owns the rights or the publisher and say: “This game needs to be made, and it needs to be made by Platinum!” then it’s an easier jump, so to speak.
The Japanese developer behind Bayonetta and Vanquish is no stranger to working with licensed properties. Platinum is responsible for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, The Legend of Korra, and Transformers: Devastation, along with the upcoming Star Fox Zero, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, and Nier: Automata.
Kill la Kill is an original anime TV series produced by Trigger, a studio founded by former employees of Gainax (Evangelion, FLCL, Gurren Lagann). The story follows a teenage girl named Ryuko Matoi who wields a scissor-shaped sword and transfers to Honnouji Academy in search of her father’s killer. She discovers a sentient school uniform named Senketsu, which gives her the power to transform and defeat students wearing the powered Goku Uniforms.
An over-the-top take on the magical girl (like Sailor Moon) genre, Kill la Kill’s kinetic action and comedy made it one of the best anime of 2013. You can watch it streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Viewster.