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[T.N.: C’mon, Inafune, don’t be shy, who’s your favorite character?^^]
p. 116, X1 major characters
Inafune: In the regular course of events, I would do the main character and ask Kaji to do the sub-character, but this time we reversed it. I left Rockman up to Kaji, and I did the sub-character “Zero.” And as I’ve said in many places, personally I wanted to make Zero a player character. I wanted to try an “altered Rockman” in my own way, and make the story a little harder. [T.N.: “Hard” here is not game difficulty, more like “hard-boiled” fiction.]
p. 130, some X2 illustrations
Tsuda: Zero was supposed to have died in X1, but one day Mr. Inafune suddenly raised the subject, “Don’t you think it’s a waste if Zero stays dead?” So in a stupidly straightforward way I brought him back to life. In pieces, no less. I must not have been thinking.
p. 139, X and Zero from X3
Inafune: I think the illustrations I drew for X3 were X, Zero’s new design, Vava Mk II, and Sigma. In particular, I drew everything, including the illustrations, for Zero up to this point. Because he’s my character, I wouldn’t hand him over to anyone else (laughs).
p. 149, X4 guest characters
Inafune: For X4, I was basically occupied with production, and left the designs for the game up to Tazaki and the others from X1 and X2. Just don’t tinker with Zero, I asked (laughs).
_____________
[T.N. : Reminds me of this mock news item by Revokov:
X HAS NOVEL IDEA: START GAME SERIES STARRING HIM
Also, if I do any other captions I’ll add them here.]
----------------------
The “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” Edition of Captions
p. 212, early concept for X series
More rough sketches for the new Super Famicom Rockman
Inafune: I wanted to make it a harder world-view. Rockman so far is too much of a “good boy” for that, so I tried various things like turning his collar up.
[T.N.: Apparently it doesn’t take much to rebel against the dress code in Japanese schools.]
p. 213, top left
Inafune: This is Rockman, but it has traces of Zero in it, doesn’t it.
[T.N.: That would have been interesting!]
p. 215, top
The design of the new Rockman has largely settled into place.
Inafune: Harder, wilder.
That goal steadily takes shape in the designs.
p. 116, X1 major characters
Inafune: I wanted to make the character’s personality harder, too, but if we design him along the lines of the existing Rockman, then he can’t help having a “teacher’s pet” image. Personally, I designed Zero thinking of him as the new Rockman, but I didn’t tell my boss at the time how I felt. I presented Kaji’s X and said, “The new Rockman is ready!”, and he said, “Oh, good.” Then, about Zero, I said, “It’s the sub-character.” When I put it like that, then the other party regards it leniently, and it was okayed with something like, “Oh, red? That’ll do in its own way.” (laughs)
[T.N.: Not sure about this, but I get the feeling Inafune proposed Zero as a sub-character instead of the new Rockman because he thought his boss might reject the design altogether.]
p. 190, about Command Mission
Inafune: They told me to make an RPG of Rockman X, but I thought the whole point of X is it’s an action game, so I said, “I won’t.” So I didn’t, I left it up to someone else.
Higurashi: From the opening of X1, X is the “unknown quantity” laden with both unlimited potential and unlimited danger, and Zero, like his name, can “bring to naught.” The two of them are not simple heroes of justice, and I drew them with a strong emphasis on a kind of dark hero image. The results were mixed pro and con. It’s a title that reconfirmed for me, “It’s a real pro who can combine self-expression with what the users want.”
[T.N.: So Inafune finally got the “harder, wilder” Rockman he wanted, but in a game he had nothing to do with!^^]
p. 192, Command Mission villains
Higurashi: Personally I have a hard time with the RPG genre, and often quit in the middle, but this game’s fighting system has a good tempo, and I was able to play it to the end. I was very impressed, just as I’d expect from the director of X1!
[T.N.: Coincidentally, I have a hard time with action games, and Command Mission is the only X game I’ve ever finished without cheating at some point. I think it shows how well they achieved their goal of mixing the genres.]
p. 116, X1 major characters
Inafune: In the regular course of events, I would do the main character and ask Kaji to do the sub-character, but this time we reversed it. I left Rockman up to Kaji, and I did the sub-character “Zero.” And as I’ve said in many places, personally I wanted to make Zero a player character. I wanted to try an “altered Rockman” in my own way, and make the story a little harder. [T.N.: “Hard” here is not game difficulty, more like “hard-boiled” fiction.]
p. 130, some X2 illustrations
Tsuda: Zero was supposed to have died in X1, but one day Mr. Inafune suddenly raised the subject, “Don’t you think it’s a waste if Zero stays dead?” So in a stupidly straightforward way I brought him back to life. In pieces, no less. I must not have been thinking.
p. 139, X and Zero from X3
Inafune: I think the illustrations I drew for X3 were X, Zero’s new design, Vava Mk II, and Sigma. In particular, I drew everything, including the illustrations, for Zero up to this point. Because he’s my character, I wouldn’t hand him over to anyone else (laughs).
p. 149, X4 guest characters
Inafune: For X4, I was basically occupied with production, and left the designs for the game up to Tazaki and the others from X1 and X2. Just don’t tinker with Zero, I asked (laughs).
_____________
[T.N. : Reminds me of this mock news item by Revokov:
X HAS NOVEL IDEA: START GAME SERIES STARRING HIM
Also, if I do any other captions I’ll add them here.]
----------------------
The “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” Edition of Captions
p. 212, early concept for X series
More rough sketches for the new Super Famicom Rockman
Inafune: I wanted to make it a harder world-view. Rockman so far is too much of a “good boy” for that, so I tried various things like turning his collar up.
[T.N.: Apparently it doesn’t take much to rebel against the dress code in Japanese schools.]
p. 213, top left
Inafune: This is Rockman, but it has traces of Zero in it, doesn’t it.
[T.N.: That would have been interesting!]
p. 215, top
The design of the new Rockman has largely settled into place.
Inafune: Harder, wilder.
That goal steadily takes shape in the designs.
p. 116, X1 major characters
Inafune: I wanted to make the character’s personality harder, too, but if we design him along the lines of the existing Rockman, then he can’t help having a “teacher’s pet” image. Personally, I designed Zero thinking of him as the new Rockman, but I didn’t tell my boss at the time how I felt. I presented Kaji’s X and said, “The new Rockman is ready!”, and he said, “Oh, good.” Then, about Zero, I said, “It’s the sub-character.” When I put it like that, then the other party regards it leniently, and it was okayed with something like, “Oh, red? That’ll do in its own way.” (laughs)
[T.N.: Not sure about this, but I get the feeling Inafune proposed Zero as a sub-character instead of the new Rockman because he thought his boss might reject the design altogether.]
p. 190, about Command Mission
Inafune: They told me to make an RPG of Rockman X, but I thought the whole point of X is it’s an action game, so I said, “I won’t.” So I didn’t, I left it up to someone else.
Higurashi: From the opening of X1, X is the “unknown quantity” laden with both unlimited potential and unlimited danger, and Zero, like his name, can “bring to naught.” The two of them are not simple heroes of justice, and I drew them with a strong emphasis on a kind of dark hero image. The results were mixed pro and con. It’s a title that reconfirmed for me, “It’s a real pro who can combine self-expression with what the users want.”
[T.N.: So Inafune finally got the “harder, wilder” Rockman he wanted, but in a game he had nothing to do with!^^]
p. 192, Command Mission villains
Higurashi: Personally I have a hard time with the RPG genre, and often quit in the middle, but this game’s fighting system has a good tempo, and I was able to play it to the end. I was very impressed, just as I’d expect from the director of X1!
[T.N.: Coincidentally, I have a hard time with action games, and Command Mission is the only X game I’ve ever finished without cheating at some point. I think it shows how well they achieved their goal of mixing the genres.]
