Toshimichi Mori and Daisuke Ishiwatari interview

Written by A. H. on 09 Mar 2011

Within a couple of minutes of entering the reception area of Holborn's Conway Hall, Toshimichi Mori is off, clutching the camera around his neck in his hand - he's just spotted a Blazblue cosplayer standing in the lobby and wastes no time in taking their photograph, in what soon turns into a full-on impromptu Blazblue-themed photo shoot as his colleague Daisuke Ishiwatari looks on with the wry smile of a man who has grown used to such displays of enthusiasm.  As first impressions go, you can't get much more positive - Mr. Mori is clearly a man devoted to his creations, and a person enthralled by the popular reception they enjoy, happily engaging its fans and revelling in his status as their mastermind.

Eventually, such distractions make way for the main business of the moment, and we find ourselves climbing a spiral of ever narrower staircases towards some privacy, and the chance for me to sit down with two men whose names should already be imprinted in the minds of any fan of fighting games.  Behind the dark glasses and relaxed exterior is Arc System Works' Toshimichi Mori, the designer and creator of the Blazblue franchise, and alongside him sits the long-haired and cheery Daisuke Ishiwatari, the composer of Blazblue's musical score amongst other things and a man with an impressive legacy of his own as the creator of the Guilty Gear series.  With chairs pulled up and coffee on the way, it's time to quiz these dual powerhouses of the world of fighting video games to see what they have to say on a variety of topics.

UK Anime: First of all, welcome to the UK to you both... is this your first time visiting the country, or have you been here before?

Toshimichi Mori: It's the first time for me.

Daisuke Ishiwatari: And the second time for me.

UK Anime: How are you finding the UK, have you managed to check out any tourist attractions so far?

Toshimichi Mori: We went to Paris before coming to the UK, and we got to see the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, so that was quite interesting.

UK Anime: I saw when you arrived here that Mori-san gravitated towards the Blazblue cosplayers - I know you've only just arrived here, but have you been impressed by the cosplay so far?

Toshimichi Mori: I'd say it's really good.

Daisuke Ishiwatari: The Blazblue character designs are really detailed, and the Blazblue cosplayers we saw have done a really good job to recreate them.

UK Anime: Have you been surprised at the success and popularity of your games outside of Japan?

Toshimichi Mori: Yes, I am surprised by it.  I wanted to create an anime-driven fighting game from the start, so I'm really pleased that European anime fans have taken to it.

UK Anime: Compared to a lot of fighting games, Blazblue seems to have put a lot more time and thought into its story as you play through the mainstay of the game - how important was delivering a good story to you while Blazblue was being developed?

Toshimichi Mori: When I started creating Blazblue, I wanted to create a piece of total entertainment and not just a video game so I wanted a story that would be enjoyable and appeal to a wide audience, including anime fans.

UK Anime: Of all the various elements that make up your games, what would you say is the most important element as a developer to get "just right" to make the game enjoyable?

Toshimichi Mori: I believe that making a good game is down to whether the creators and programmers are enjoying making the game - if they do, then it will reflect in the final game that they create.

UK Anime: What's the process like for designing a character for one of your games, and what comes first - the look of the character, the story behind them or the practicalities of making them fight?

Toshimichi Mori: First, I create the whole story and the game's world, then I create what I see as the main character and establish how the world revolves around this main character.  From there, I create all of the sub-characters, such as the main character's rivals, heroines and so on.  Only then do I look at putting the together the fighting game elements for the character - throw attacks, long-range attacks, mid-range attacks and so on.