The 3D fighting genre has undergone something of a revival in recent years, with franchises like Tekken and Virtua Fighter slowly reclaiming the considerable mindshare they enjoyed during the '90s.
Another franchise that has been bubbling under for the past few decades is Koei Tecmo's Dead or Alive, which was positioned as a rival to Sega and Namco's 3D brawlers back in the day.
Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada has published an epic post on social media detailing his complex relationship with the enigmatic Tomonobu Itagaki, the man behind the early Dead or Alive entries.
Harada recalls that he first came into contact with Itagaki in the early '90s at a social event, and the pair struck up what appeared to be a respectful relationship, with Itagaki even telling Harada that he was "a really approachable and funny person."
Things got a little weirder between the two when Itagaki later discovered that both of them had attended the same university, but Harada was younger than him. "From then on, he started referring to me as his junior and speaking to me in the casual tone of a senior addressing a junior, dropping the polite language entirely," explains Harada.
While there was a level of respect between the teams working on Virtua Fighter and Tekken, Harada feels that Tecmo—led by Itagaki—embarked on a "media strategy" to undermine its rivals. "Among his various strategies, one was to deliberately 'bite' at Tekken to draw media attention," Harada says. "In doing so, he even called me out by name and criticized Tekken’s game design and other aspects."
In the polite society of Japan, such direct competition is frowned upon, and Harada admits that he and his Tekken team were "initially baffled" by the attacks. "Mr. Itagaki used a two-page spread to openly criticize Tekken and my name, delivering a highly aggressive interview. In overseas magazines and internet media, especially in Western gaming outlets, the attacks escalated further, with harsher criticism of both Tekken and myself."
However, Harada didn't retaliate—in fact, he was told by his superiors at Namco "to remain completely silent." This led to a dynamic of "Harada remains silent while Itagaki attacks" which, according to the Tekken producer, "lasted for about ten years, roughly from the late 1990s until around 2007, after the release of DOA4 at the end of 2005."
As a result, Harada argued, "there was absolutely no chance for Mr. Itagaki and me to develop a friendly relationship. In fact, during those ten years, I spent much of my time wondering, 'Why is Mr. Itagaki so fixated on targeting and attacking me?'"
You can imagine, then, why Harada was surprised to be summoned to Tecmo's office by Itagaki in 1998. "Given the strained relationship I had with him at the time, his call left me deeply confused," he recalls.
What was even more confusing was that Itagaki asked that Harada come alone. When he arrived, he was led to a room with a covered Dead Or Alive 2 arcade cabinet—making him one of the first people outside of Tecmo to see the game in action.
Harada remembers:
When I pressed the start button, he sat down right next to me, as if we were about to face off.
I chose Kasumi under his unspoken pressure and began playing. Just seconds into the match, after pressing the punch button three times, he asked, “Well? What do you think?”
I was completely thrown off. What could I possibly judge after only a few seconds? I instinctively replied, “It feels good to play.”
I expected him to retort with, “How could you know after just a few seconds?” Instead, he responded with: “See? I told you, Harada.”
At that moment, I was genuinely confused. Was he serious? Was this some kind of hidden-camera prank?
Harada later learned that Itagaki had told his development team that "today, we beat Tekken," based solely on this initial confused reaction.
In 2008, Itagaki left Tecmo and promptly called Harada. "At the time, our dynamic hadn’t changed much from the previous ten years—I still perceived our relationship as adversarial," says the Tekken boss. "Yet, there he was, calling me once again. He invited me to dinner, where he shared that he had left Tecmo. During the meal, he said something surprising: 'Harada, you were my comrade-in-arms.' I realized then that this was how he saw our relationship."
He would tell Harada:
I never had any grudge against you, Namco, or Tekken. On the contrary, I respected you all. When I compared the power dynamics in development, sales, and publishing, it was clear that a straightforward approach wouldn’t work. I had to employ every strategy I could. I’m sorry for everything.
What followed was an open "exchange of past strategies," which allowed Harada to "finally resolve my long-standing feud with Mr. Itagaki." After that, he says, at the end of every year, he would receive a "drunken phone call" from Itagaki, which became something of a tradition.
However, he concludes the post by saying that he hasn't received a call from Itagaki in the last few years.