Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii and former Shonen Jump editor Kazuhiko Torishima – who played a key role in the series’ creation along with the overdue Akira Toriyama – spoke candidly during Game show in Tokyo on censorship of the upcoming Dragon Quest III HD-2D remake.
Earlier this month fans noticed changes to Toriyama’s iconic artwork, with the addition of protective shorts and a brown undershirt to the female warrior character. She had previously gone into battle wearing little more than an armored loincloth and bra.
In an interview, Horii admitted that he also “doesn’t understand” these amendments. He said: “If the exposure is too great, the age category increases. This means we will not be able to market it as an all-ages product.”
Torishima interjected: “There is a religious concept from the West, especially in America, that influences their approach to sex education, right? Their approach to compliance is really limited. When selling manga in America, everything had to be divided into age groups. Because there is a risk of lawsuits, the company must also insure itself. It’s really frustrating to do business with such a ridiculous country. Because of this, Japan is also under a negative influence.”
These comments seemed to resonate with Horii, who pointed out another change in the game related to character selection. In the original, you could choose between male and female characters, but in the remake, these options will be renamed Type A and Type B. “I really wonder who’s even complaining about this?” he wondered.
