It is simple to overlook that, earlier than the discharge of its first seashore volleyball spin-off, the Useless or Alive collection have been taken pretty significantly as combating video games. We could have joked concerning the ridiculous jiggle physics, however the authentic was nonetheless thought of a good successor to Virtua Fighter 2.
These days, after all, the Useless or Alive collection is a joke, promising that new entries will probably be much less jiggly, then turning round and flogging dozens of bikini, maid, and schoolgirl costumes as DLC. Which is why it is so absurd to learn Tomotoshi Nishimura, the chief in control of Koei Tecmo’s authorized affairs division, say they’d no alternative however to take motion towards fan artwork which may injury the picture of the Useless or Alive solid—as a result of their creators’ consider them “like daughters”.
The precise phrase used within the authentic Japanese is musume, which may imply “younger lady” in addition to “daughter”, however not solely is that also creepy on this context, it is a dated and overly formal use of the phrase. Nishimura nearly definitely means “daughter” right here.
Nishimura was talking at a panel on mental property rights held at Tokyo Esports Festa, as reported by Recreation Watch. Whereas he defined the corporate was grateful to its followers, and even sponsored the doujinshi conference Comiket, he additionally stated between 200 and 300 Useless or Alive doujinshi obtainable on-line had been suspended following authorized motion—in a single case for utilizing artwork from a sport but to be launched. Nishimura additionally stated that Koei Tecmo takes motion towards between 2,000 and three,000 works of fan artwork posted to social media and artist neighborhood Pixiv every year.
Additional explaining the corporate’s stance, Nishimura steered that some grownup Useless or Alive fan artwork might injury the characters’ picture, and that picture wanted to be protected as a result of different firms produced official merchandise of these characters. But additionally, you already know, the daughter factor.
It is not the primary time we have heard of Koei Tecmo taking authorized motion to guard the virtuous girls of Useless or Alive. In 2021 it sued the producers of a DVD that used footage from nude mods. In the meantime, the subsequent sport within the collection will probably be Venus Trip Prism: Useless or Alive Xtreme, a courting sim with a pictures mode, which is able to solely be launched in choose Asian international locations.
