It’s simple to forget that before the release of the first beach volleyball spin-off, the Dead or Alive series was treated quite seriously as a fighting game. We may have joked about the ridiculous vibration physics, but the original was still considered a decent successor to Virtua Fighter 2.
Nowadays, the Dead or Alive series is obviously a joke, promising that up-to-date entries will be less tumultuous, and then turning around and whipping out dozens of bikinis, maids, and schoolgirls as DLC. Therefore, it is absurd to read that Tomotoshi Nishimura, the director in charge of Koei Tecmo’s legal department, claims that he has no choice but to take action against fan art that could damage the image of the Dead or Alive cast – due to the thought of them “like about daughters.”
The specific word used in the original Japanese is museumswhich can mean both “teenage girl” and “daughter”, but not only is it still creepy in this context, but it is an outdated and overly formal use of the word. Nishimura almost certainly means “daughter” here.
Nishimura was reported to have spoken during a panel on intellectual property rights held at the Tokyo Esports Festa Watching the game. Explaining that the company is grateful to its fans and even sponsors the Comiket doujinshi convention, he also said that between 200 and 300 Dead or Alive doujinshi available online have been suspended due to legal action – in one case for using graphics from a game that were not released yet made available to be released. Nishimura also said Koei Tecmo takes action against between 2,000 and 3,000 fan works posted on social media and the Pixiv artist community each year.
Further explaining the company’s position, Nishimura suggested that some Dead or Alive adult fan art may harm the character’s image and that image should be protected as other companies produce official merchandise featuring these characters. But also, you know, the daughter thing.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Koei Tecmo taking legal action to protect the chaste ladies of Dead or Alive. In 2021, he sued the producers of a DVD that used nude mod footage. Meanwhile, the next game in the series will be Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme, a dating simulator with a photo mode that will only be released in select Asian countries.
