Kirby series creator and Super Smash Bros series creator/director Masahiro Sakurai recently talked up games made in Japan and the importance of making uniquely Japanese games.

Recently, Mr. Sakurai was awarded as a recipient of the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists – which is awarded by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan.

But it was not due to creating the iconic character of Kirby, or even directing Super Smash Bros, that got Mr. Sakurai this award. Instead, it was due to his YouTube channel: Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games.

While giving an interview to Entax (via Automaton Media) Sakurai expressed his opinion that Japanese studios were overdoing it with trying to cater to an American audience.

“It’s not necessarily my own idea, but the trend in the game industry is that Japanese people should go ahead and do what Japanese people like to do! I think that is a good idea,” Sakurai said.

He added, “A while ago, there was a culture of ‘Let’s make Americanized products because they are popular in the U.S.’ and so on. There was certainly such a culture.”

“However, surprisingly, I feel that ‘Japanese game lovers’ overseas are not looking for such things, but rather for Japanese uniqueness and fun,” Sakurai elaborated. “In other words, I thought that the ideal would be to make games the way you like them and have people who can accept them enjoy them.”

The trend of changing games to suite Western tastes is not a new one, but it has accelerated in recent years. Some games even feature terminology like “rizz” and other ‘brainrot’ terminology that is popular with younger Gen Z kids and Generation Alpha. This can dilute the experience for both Japanese audiences and Western audiences who sought out anime because of its own unique aesthetic. 

Changing game dialogue and story choices to include American slang terms could end up simply ruining a piece of what had made anime attractive to Western fans to begin with.