Chapter 56. What? Turning Diablo Into a Girl?
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"Eh~ Didn't you say that once you went mainstream you wouldn't make galgames anymore? Why are you agreeing to it now?"
Tsuda Nao asked while driving, her long eyelashes blinking as her eyes looked straight ahead.
Kiyoshi Yuuma choked for a moment, not knowing how to respond to her.
Ah~
This annoying woman, why does she always poke at people's sore spots?
He had already decided not to make galgames anymore.
But because of Heart of the Mermaid, that original decision had been overturned, leaving Kiyoshi Yuuma with a bitter feeling in his stomach.
"The main reason is that the script is truly excellent. It would be a real shame not to make it, and aside from a galgame, there doesn't seem to be a more suitable genre," Kiyoshi Yuuma admitted honestly.
"Besides, Heart of the Mermaid isn't the same as a galgame in the traditional sense."
If the previous galgames were like harem stories, then Heart of the Mermaid was a single-heroine work.
Not sweet in the usual sense, but it could be considered a rare flower in galgame history.
If it really succeeded, Heart of the Mermaid might even become the masterpiece that brought players into the mainstream together.
"Eh~" Tsuda Nao dragged out her tone, then smiled. "Yes, yes, you always have your reasons."
Hmph!
Kiyoshi Yuuma ground his teeth in frustration.
Just then, Tsuda Nao's eyes lit up, and her voice jumped several notes. "Wow! We're here, Tongtong! We're coming!"
Up ahead appeared the large sign for [Ueno Zoo].
The car turned into the parking lot.
…
The two walked to the zoo entrance, where Tsuda Nao bought tickets and then linked her arm through Kiyoshi Yuuma's as they headed inside.
Seeing how excited she looked, Kiyoshi Yuuma couldn't help but suspect that this woman was schizophrenic.
Wasn't this completely different from her usual cool, mysterious, and cunning personality? Or was today's Tsuda Nao a fake?
Tongtong was the name of a giant panda.
This giant panda was born in 1986 through artificial insemination.
It was the first panda raised in Japan, its parents being "Feifei" and "Huanhuan," giant pandas gifted by China to Japan.
The Japanese had a strange obsession with giant pandas—every day, endless crowds lined up to see them, stretching from the panda viewing area all the way back to the zoo's entrance.
And in the history of Japanese anime, many works had featured panda characters, the most memorable being Jujutsu Kaisen.
Japan as a country was, in a sense, also rather schizophrenic.
On the one hand, it could produce countless dark, tragic AVs and BL works.
On the other, it could also create touching, pure-love tearjerkers that became nationwide phenomena.
When it was debauched, it was truly debauched.
When it was reserved, it was exceptionally reserved.
They genuinely hated Chinese people from the heart, yet they adored Chinese pandas to death.
If you've got the guts, don't take China's pandas then!
Seriously.
Thinking of this, Kiyoshi Yuuma couldn't help rolling his eyes.
…
After entering the zoo, there was indeed a long line outside the panda house. Tsuda Nao excitedly said, "Wow, there aren't many people today. I guess we'll only have to wait four or five hours before it's our turn."
Huh? That's what she calls not many?!
Kiyoshi Yuuma instinctively felt Tsuda was completely insane.
But then again...
Being able to see a former Chinese national treasure in a foreign country was strangely exciting.
Fine, let's just line up.
Looking back at Tsuda Nao beside him, the great beauty's face carried a sense of girlishness he had never seen before.
No, to be precise, it was childlike.
Kiyoshi Yuuma had never seen this lively and adorable side of Tsuda Nao. Her rosy smile, animated storytelling of panda history, and those sparkling big eyes left him captivated.
"Nao-chan."
Kiyoshi Yuuma reached out and gently wrapped his arm around her waist.
Tsuda Nao froze for a moment, and the next second, he pulled her tightly into his embrace.
Their coats pressed together, and Tsuda Nao's cheeks instantly flushed with a faint red.
In that moment, Kiyoshi Yuuma saw a trace of shy femininity on her face.
"Nao, you're so cute," Kiyoshi Yuuma said.
"Hah! What are you saying?"
Tsuda Nao gave him a little push but couldn't get free.
Her hands slipped into her down jacket pockets, and she simply looked at Kiyoshi Yuuma calmly, letting him hold her.
"You're really cute today," Kiyoshi Yuuma said earnestly.
"You today…" Tsuda Nao lifted her head, staring at him blankly.
Their eyes met, and it was as if pink bubbles filled the air around them.
The next second, Kiyoshi Yuuma was about to lean in for a kiss.
But Tsuda Nao said, "You've got some eye gunk in the corner of your left eye."
"What?!"
Kiyoshi Yuuma quickly let her go and rubbed his eye.
When he realized what had just happened, the girl beside him was laughing so hard she nearly doubled over.
Ah~ damn it.
This wicked woman.
…
While waiting in line, they chatted for a while. Tsuda Nao seemed very interested in the two new games Pokeni was preparing to develop.
"Do you want to get DUN to invest again? Same old rule—half the money each, fifty-fifty split."
"You wish." Kiyoshi Yuuma rolled his eyes. "We're not short on money now."
At least for the next year, development wouldn't be an issue—unless both games completely flopped.
But Kiyoshi Yuuma felt that was unlikely.
Besides, working with them might mean turning Diablo into some cutesy galgame? He wasn't about to be that stupid!
"By the way, do you plan to rebel against Nintendo?" Tsuda Nao asked calmly, hands in her pockets.
"Hm?"
"Don't you think?" Tsuda Nao continued. "Nintendo is practically the tyrant of the gaming industry. You have to pay them just to burn a cartridge, and they decide whether your game can even be released on the SFC. Kiyoshi-san, before, Nintendo allowed Pokeni's games on the FC. But in the future, that might not be the case."
Hmm…
Hearing that, Kiyoshi Yuuma couldn't help but frown.
This was indeed one of his biggest headaches.
Tsuda Nao wasn't wrong at all—Nintendo was the tyrant of the game industry.
Now under Yamauchi Hiroshi's leadership, Nintendo had imposed extremely harsh conditions on third-party developers, enforcing a strict approval process for development rights, all to maintain market order and suppress unnecessary competition.
Every single game released on Nintendo's consoles—whether FC or SFC—had to be approved by Nintendo.
You couldn't sell games privately, and whether your game sold or not, you still had to pay Nintendo 2,000 yen just to burn each cartridge.
No matter how other companies argued, Nintendo ignored them.
If you angered Yamauchi, old man Yamauchi would simply say: "No one's forcing you to sign with us. If you're unhappy or unwilling, you can get lost!"
The only reason developers endured this humiliation was because Nintendo had so many console users. To make money, third-party developers had no choice but to swallow their pride.
From this perspective, Pokeni was actually quite pitiful.
Once a game was developed, they had to sign Nintendo's tyrannical contract.
For every cartridge sold, they'd be exploited for 2,000 yen—it was practically a tax.
And to reduce and limit competition, each company was only allowed to release up to five games per year on Nintendo platforms.
With Nintendo monopolizing 90% of the home console market, no one dared voice their anger.
The world had suffered under Nintendo for too long.
Only after Sega's MD rose in 1988 was old dog Yamauchi forced to loosen restrictions on third parties. Otherwise, Pokeni's two Onmyoji games might never have made it to the FC.
…
"Hmm… hearing you say this, I'm starting to hesitate," Kiyoshi Yuuma frowned.
Could it be that Diablo should be released with Sega?
Or maybe PCE?
But even if he switched platforms, he'd still have to pay royalties, and their user base was much smaller than Nintendo's.
"Oh, right, Kiyoshi-san, one more thing." Just as Kiyoshi Yuuma was deep in thought, Tsuda Nao continued, "I don't understand games. But I understand men."
"Kiyoshi-san, how about trying to make Diablo… into a girl?"
"Hah?!"
Kiyoshi Yuuma was struck dumb.