Kazutaka Kodaka

Kazutaka Kodaka (小高 和剛, Kodaka Kazutaka, born July 8, 1978) is a Japanese video game director and writer as well as a novelist and mangaka. His writing is known for recurring themes of contrasting hope/despair, luck/talent, reality/fiction, truth/lies; mixing tragedy with dark humor, and numerous plot-twists. He was an employee of Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike) and is widely known as the creator and writer of the Danganronpa franchise. He left the company in 2017, and founded a new video game company Too Kyo Games.

Kazutaka Kodaka
Born (1978-07-08) July 8, 1978
NationalityJapanese
OccupationVideo game director, writer
Employer
Notable work
Danganronpa

Biography

Early life

Kodaka was born at July 8, 1978, and has lived in Tokyo his entire life. He was educated at a private boys' junior high school.[1] He described his childhood saying that he had very few friends and spent his free time after school watching anime, though he would have wanted to be popular among his peers. Still, he studied diligently as it was the only way he could get himself results, but eventually he grew tired of it and only regained his enthusiasm when he became aware of a chance to study film at Nihon University College of Art, where he later majored and graduated, earning a degree in film studies.[1]

The first video games Kodaka played were Wrecking Crew, Clu Clu Land, and Pac-Man.[2]

Spike Chunsoft

In Spike Chunsoft, Kodaka had an idea for a detective game;[3] so he proposed an idea to the company that was known as Distrust.[4] The concept was similar to that of Danganronpa, a battle royale style death game in a closed environment between high school students, but the idea was too gruesome and was consequently scrapped. After tweaking the concept, Kodaka successfully pitched it to the company and the game went into production, becoming Danganronpa.[4]

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc released for PlayStation Portable on November 25, 2010. Selling 25,564 copies within the first week.[5] The game hit 85,000 sold copies roughly three months after the release, which was enough for the CEO of Spike Chunsoft to call it a success.[6] In the light of the success, the game received two sequels (Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony), a side story shooter game (Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls), an anime adaptation (Danganronpa: The Animation) and various novels and manga. Kodaka left the company in 2017.[7]

Too Kyo Games

After having left Spike Chunsoft, Kodaka and the other six developers who had left the company simultaneously, founded a new company, Too Kyo Games. The goal of Too Kyo Games—according to Kodaka—is to create new intellectual properties, and for the staff to also make their own indie games.[8] Also by the words of Kodaka, the company is for them as much a club activity as a business. He also mentioned that he would still like to go back to the Danganronpa franchise at some point in the future.[9] Death Come True, the first game released by Too Kyo Games in June 2020, is written and directed by Kodaka.[10]

Writing philosophy and influences

Philosophy

By his own words, Kodaka centralizes on writing characters, and he has stated that he cannot write characters whom he does not like.[3] But he does not begin the process of creating a story by thinking of characters first, he feels doing so would restrict him, instead the first step for him is to craft a compelling scenario on top of which he can build characters. He likes for the premise, the scenario, to be summarized in a couple of sentences. He says a game requires more investment from the audience so the scenario is the key to hook them. His desire is to create stories people find fresh, although he has noted that he sees a structure in his works and he admires writers whose stories go against structure. He also keeps in mind why the story is being written and gives the story a meaning.[11] A display of that is the apparent statement by Kodaka that everything he has ever wanted to tell can be found inside Danganronpa.[12]

Stories Kodaka writes often revolve around acts of human monstrosities, primarily murder. Kodaka is mesmerized by the difference of reception to an action in the real world and in a fictional world, he also mentions that it is aimed at people who can make a difference between a game and reality. Further, he says he finds the lightness of killing in a story something that he likes and compares it to a black joke taken to the extreme.[11]

Influences

There are lots of references in Kodaka's works that signify influence of other authors. Furthermore, Kodaka has specifically elaborated on how he refreshes his mind when he finds himself stuck writing without ideas, saying he does it by watching movies, anime, and reading manga, while paying attention to what interests him in the stories. As his primary influences, Kodaka has named David Lynch,[11] Quentin Tarantino,[13] and Coen brothers.[13]

Works

Video games
Year Title Role Ref.
2002 Clock Tower 3 Sub director: original concept movie [14]
2007 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Planner [15]
2008 Jake Hunter Scenario
Bakusou Dekotra Legend Black
2009 Detective Conan & The Kindaichi Case Files: The Meeting of the Two Famous Detectives [2]
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Planner [16]
2010 Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Creator, planner, scenario, writer [17]
2012 Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair [18]
2014 Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls Creator, general director, planner, scenario, writer [19]
2015 School of Ragnarok Scenario [20]
2017 Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Creator, planner, scenario, writer [21]
2020 Death Come True Director, scenario [22]
World's End Club Creative director [23]
TBA Tribe Nine TBA [24]

Literature
Year Title Role Ref.
2006 Detective Saburō Jingūji: The Ghost of Shinjuku Writer
2007 Detective Saburō Jingūji: Shining Mirai
2011 Danganronpa Zero Creator, writer [2]
2013 Danganronpa: Makoto Naegi Secret File - The Worst Day Ever [25]
2017 Danganronpa Kodaka ～ 890 days for "Danganronpa"

Anime
Year Title Role Ref.
2013 Danganronpa: The Animation Scenario supervision [26]
2015 Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life Script [27]
2016 Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School Creator, scenario concept, supervision [28]
2020 Akudama Drive Story draft [29]

Manga
Year Title Role Ref.
2013 Guren 5 Creator, writer [2]
2016 Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer Creator, scenario [30]
2018 Gambler's Parade Creator, writer [31]

Music
Year Title Role Ref.
2013 Monokuma Ondo Lyricist [2]

References
  1. "『"サイコポップ"が『ダンガンロンパ／ゼロ』に至るまで——』後編 インタビュアー／太田克史 写真撮影／尾鷲陽介". 最前線 (in Japanese). Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  2. Gamer; 酒缶. "ゲームコレクター・酒缶のスーパーリコレクション第11回：ゲームでオリジナルを作りたい「ダンガンロンパ」シリーズ 小高和剛氏（前編）｜ゲーム情報サイト Gamer". www.gamer.ne.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  3. "Kotaro Uchikoshi VS Kazutaka Kodaka: Adventure Game Courtroom Battle". YouTube. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  4. Farokhmanesh, Megan (2015-03-10). "The original Danganronpa, Distrust, was too gruesome even for its creators". Polygon. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  5. "Gran Turismo 5 Tops the Charts in Japan". IGN. May 4, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  6. "Danganronpa Sells 85,000 Units, Spike CEO Grins Like Mono-Bear". Siliconera. 2011-02-25. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  7. "New Studio 'Too Kyo Games' Comprised Of Beloved Visual Novel Developers". Noisy Pixel. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  8. Valentine, Rebekah (September 11, 2018). "Former Danganronpa, Zero Escape, Fate/Grand Order developers form Too Kyo Games". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  9. "小高和剛氏、打越鋼太郎氏らによる新会社Too Kyo Games設立！ 日本独自のゲームで世界に挑む、新会社設立に迫るインタビュー". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. September 12, 2018. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  10. Cooper, Brian (February 6, 2020). "Death Come True Will Reveal Its Secrets in June 2020". Siliconera. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  11. Haddick, Alicia (2020-10-06). "Danganronpa Creator Kazutaka Kodaka Discusses Creative Process, More As Archipel Launches New Japanese Gaming Interview Series". OTAQUEST. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  12. Farokhmanesh, Megan (2015-03-10). "The original Danganronpa, Distrust, was too gruesome even for its creators". Polygon. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  13. "Danganronpa Kinda Funny Gamescast with Series Creator Kodaka-San". YouTube. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  14. "Kazutaka Kodaka". IMDb. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  15. "Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 - Story Mode Credits Ending/Outro (Final Part 49)【HD】". YouTube. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  16. "Dragon ball raging blast xbox 360 credits". YouTube. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  17. "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Credit Information - GameFAQs". gamefaqs.gamespot.com. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  18. "Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Credit Information - GameFAQs". gamefaqs.gamespot.com. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  19. "Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls Credits". Giant Bomb. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  20. "School of Ragnarok detailed in Famitsu". Gematsu. 2015-01-27. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  21. "Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017) Windows credits". MobyGames. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  22. "Tookyo Games". Tookyo Games (in Japanese). Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  23. "World's End Club Credits". Giant Bomb. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  24. "Akatsuki and Too Kyo Games announce new project Tribe Nine, likely for smartphone". Gematsu. 2020-02-18. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  25. "Kazutaka Kodaka". MyAnimeList.net. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  26. "Danganronpa The Animation (TV) - Anime News Network". www.animenewsnetwork.com. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  27. "Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life Anime Season 3's Cast, Staff, Title, Date Unveiled". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  28. "Danganronpa 3 Anime Will Air Both Arcs Simultaneously in July". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  29. "Too Kyo Games announces original TV anime Akudama Drive". Gematsu. 2020-03-13. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  30. "Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer Manga Ends in April". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  31. "Danganronpa's Kodaka Writes New Gambler's Parade Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
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