Remember Itou Ryuutaro? No? You should, he’s a pretty cool guy. He mainly wrote the scenario for some of the earlier Megaten games and has a couple of interviews here and here.

Game side - interview with Itou Ryuutaro



Back when Itou worked for Atlus, he was involved in the production of Megami Tensei II, Shin Megami Tensei, Shin Megami Tensei II, Shin Megami Tensei: if… and Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner, being especially in charge with the scenario. Currently (2007) he is a senior producer for the Smart System company.



First of all, please tell us how you got involved with the Megami Tensei series.

Itou: I actually joined Atlus by coincidence. I used to work part-time before that, writing for a magazine which focused on simulation games, SIMULATOR. The editor-in-chief I worked for back then, Suzuki Ginichiro, gave me the contact address of the company where his son Kazuya was employed, Atlus, since he wanted to introduce me to an actual workplace. When I joined them, Megami Tensei II was already under development and before long I became part of the staff as well.



So you didn’t enter the company because you wanted to make Megami Tensei games?

Itou: That’s right. I had no idea Atlus was a NES game developer, so Megami Tensei was completely out of the question. Not only had I not played Megami Tensei, I didn’t even own a NES. I bought a NES with my first salary and if I remember correctly, I got a brand new bargain bin Megami Tensei cart for 980 yen from a game shop in Shinjuku.



The Megami Tensei series has gods and demons belonging to myths and religions from all over the world. It’s absolutely necessary to have considerable knowledge regarding the particularities of that huge number of characters, right?

Itou: I actually wasn’t that well-acquainted with religion and myths and only got all kinds of information after getting involved with the Megami Tensei series. Since Suzuki and Kaneko are much more knowledgeable about this kind of things, including occult matters, then I guess “Megaten devotees” know about as much as they do. It’s true there were various things I definitely had to bear in mind but I’ve always loved history and thanks to that I ended up learning about the history of religions as well. I enjoyed learning through these connections so I never felt this was difficult or like an obligatory study session.



Various episodes related to Megami Tensei II



So what exactly were you responsible with in regards to Megami Tensei II?

Itou: The scenario, 3D map design and the conversations between the people in towns. I did so many test plays that I ended up memorising by heart all the parts of the maps I had drawn.



I can still remember the junk store owner’s lines when I entered the store (“Oh, a customer…”), as if he was about to throw me out.

Itou: The clerks that appear in games always talk politely so I thought it would be nice if we had one who didn’t bother with formalities. Perhaps this is also allowed because of the strange world setting of the Megami Tensei series.



I felt that the map in Megami Tensei II was somewhat smaller than the one in the previous game. Why did it become so compact?

Itou: We didn’t make it smaller. The first Megami Tensei and Megami Tensei II actually had maps of approximately the same size. The people who played II thought it was more compact because we tried to insert the 2D field midway and the 3D map was distributed in small parts. The original game didn’t have a 2D map in the middle like II and the floors continued as a 3D map from beginning to end so it definitely felt wider.

Regarding the map configuration, I heard that even before I joined, other staff members had already discussed during planning meetings that since the map in the previous game had dragged on, it would be better if now they had connected maps. So taking the comfort of the players into consideration, they settled on that type of map configuration.



The part where the protagonist has one of his arms bitten off was shocking. I still can’t forget how, when that first happened I thought I had done a fatal mistake during my playthrough.

Itou: There really aren’t many games where that kind of unthinkable event takes place. I really did think up such a terrible thing, didn’t I (laughs). Even though graphics have evolved in the present, this type of idea is hardly used.



After defeating The One God in the climax, when you return to the shelter and launch the Devil Buster, the 「PROGRAMMED by A.NAKAJIMA」 part is a homage to the first game, right?

Itou: I included it because I thought it would bring a smile to the faces of those who knew Nishitani Aya’s original novels.



After Megami Tensei II, the main stage of the games became Tokyo but why did you settle on such an ordinary place like Japan’s capital?

Itou: This had also been already decided by the time I joined the team. That is why the planners are Suzuki and Kaneko. It’s obvious though that manga like Violence Jack, Devilman or Hokuto no Ken had a certain influence on the setting.



The starting point of Shin Megami Tensei is Kichijouji. Was there a special reason that made you choose this place?

Itou: Since Megami Tensei II was a story where the earth had already been engulfed in the flames of nuclear weapons, I thought it would be nice to show this time the days before the missile attack. It’s just that drawing the entire map of Tokyo on the computer was impossible so I thought as much as I could about the range and topography of the map and the end result had Kichijouji as a starting point.

Choosing Kichijouji wasn’t a necessity in particular. I simply wanted to meet the requirements of including the outskirts of Tokyo. Back then, Kaneko used to live in Kichijouji, I was close-by in Nishiogikubo and Suzuki used to come around there as well, so this was a place we were familiar with.

So. Back then there used to be something that looked like an abandoned building in front of the Kichijouji station where for some reason only two floors had become a game center*. It really looked like a dirty pitch dark ghost town. I figured it was interesting that no one entered a building situated in front of the station of such a super residential neighbourhood so I turned it into a dungeon.



The characters’ adventure moves temporarily to Kongoukai but their return to the devastated surface was fascinating. Speaking of which, I remember how shocked I was when I realised I couldn’t use the money I had anymore and had become completely broke.

Itou: In the first episode of Hokuto no Ken currency has lost its value at the end of the century, and a character yells that they have no more use of that wastepaper, so I thought I should include this kind of scene in the game (laughs). That’s why when an old beggar suddenly appears on the road he says the yen can no longer be used.



By the way, after the game’s release Nishitani Aya wrote a novel called “Shin Megami Tensei: El Seilam” where the setting is also Kichijouji. It’s interesting how this time the game producers were the ones who influenced the original creator.

Itou: You can definitely say that.



Itou’s quirk is clear! The characters’ unexpected models



I heard the characters of the Megami Tensei series were based on all kinds of people. The president of Megami Tensei II’s Suzuki Company for example is based on someone, right?

Itou: It’s probably become obvious by now but president Suzuki was based on Suzuki Ginichiro.



Thorman from Shin Megami Tensei’s American embassy is based on the American president Truman, right?

Itou: No, his name comes from the Norse god Thor and I only realised later it also sounded like the name of the president from the time of the atomic bombings**. It feels like this is too good to be true for a simple coincidence. Maybe back then something came down on the staff…



Is it true that the bullied Chaos Hero from Shin Megami Tensei has your face?

Itou: Yes. After that Kaneko told me “This is what happened when I drew the character while looking at your face”*** (wry smile)



Also, the famous creator of the Devil Summoning Program, the wheelchair bound professor STEVEN is based on the genius physicist Hawking, right?

Itou: Exactly. Professor Hawking is someone whose book based on physics theory denied, to everyone’s shock, the deeply ingrained Western conception that the Universe was created by god. That is why in the games he is a Neutral messenger.

After that, Satou from the computer club in Shin Megami Tensei: if… shares the same name as the physicist Satou Katsuhiko. This is because Satou was the one who translated Hawking’s book to Japanese and introduced his theory to Japan. In the game, the character Satou also has the role of introducing the Demon Summoning Program to the others.



Then, Miyamoto Akira from the same game was inspired by Devilman, right?

Itou: Yes, that’s right. His surname, Miyamoto, was chosen in a really simple association of ideas: Akira and Amon combine in the manga and if we say Amon, then it’s got to be Miyamoto (laughs).

There are also the three characters, Akanezawa Reiko, Kuroi Shinji and Shirakawa Yumi, who got their names from members of an old professional baseball team named Senators. Akanezawa, Kuroi and Shirawaka had red, black and white in their names**** so they became known as the trichromatic party and I decided to borrow their names.



You’re such an enthusiast!

Itou: Oh, this reminds me, the opponent from Shin Megami Tensei II known as Red Bear got his name from the evil organisation that appears in Aikoku Sentai Dai Nippon. Most of the super enthusiasts didn’t even realise this back then. I think this is the first time I’ve talked about this? Well, I only think about this kind of small jokes. I’m sorry for this silly story (wry smile).



You are the one who wrote the lyrics to the Karukozaka school anthem that plays during if…’s climax.

Itou: That’s right. Only the first stanza appears in the game but there are actually three. When I asked Masuko to compose the music for these lyrics he looked reaaally reluctant (laughs). Incidentally, I added one part of my alma mater’s song. The graphics of the back of the school building weren’t taken from special materials but from my alma mater’s yearbook photos.



Since this is a famous song that will remain in game history, should we ask Momoi***** to put it on a CD? If it’s right on the money, you might even start living from the royalties (laughs loudly)



Megami Tensei means catching a hold of your own destiny



What was the message you wanted to send to the players through the Megami Tensei series?

Itou: In one word, catch a hold of your own destiny! Based on the player’s choices, the characters change and the endings they head towards are all the player’s responsibility. Also, in the real world, if you spend too much time on games, fall asleep in class and get scolded by the teacher, it’s all your fault as well (laughs).

Still, even if I say that, the very fact that those people gathered and created the series known as Megami Tensei makes me think it was something like a coincidence or even a miracle. Perhaps even the fact that I was part of the staff was predestined in a way…

* He’s probably talking about the current Kirarina complex since I also saw an old post before reading this interview that mentioned the building would have made a great Megaten dungeon in the early 1990s. Can’t find the post anymore but here’s the article it linked to.

** Thorman - トールマン - To-ruman; Truman - トルーマン - Toru-man

*** Kaneko actually calls him “Itou-chan”…

**** Akanezawa - 赤根沢 - 赤 - aka - red; Kuroi - 黒井 - 黒 - kuro - black; Shirakawa - 白川 - shiro - white

***** Not too sure about this one but I assume the interviewer is talking about Momoi Haruko