Shigesato Itoi Visits Arino Kacho’s Challenge Room — Talking 30 Years of Mother — Arino Kacho (Shinya Arino from Yoiko) x Shigesato Itoi
Shinya Arino, one half of the comedy duo Yoiko, stars in the variety show GameCenter CX (Fuji TV ONE) where he takes on various video game challenges. The show, which debuted 16 years ago, centers around a fictional game development company where Arino, the manager (“Arino Kacho”), plays through retro video games. We were approached by the show to make a Custom Edition Hobonichi Techo Weeks, and just as it was released Arino played through Shigesato Itoi’s game Mother 2 (released in North America as EarthBound). Itoi came to visit Arino Kacho in the Challenge Room while he made his way through the game. They talked about their memories of the game on the 30th anniversary of the original Mother title.
Mr. Saturn is Forever
Arino KachoSo, what is Mr. Saturn?
ItoiOh, I love Mr. Saturn.
Arino KachoEven the font is goofy.
ItoiMr. Saturns are innocent. They also like being up high. We’ve put them on Haramaki and Hobonichi Techos at Hobonichi, and I feel like they’ll always be close behind wherever I go.
Arino KachoWhy do Mr. Saturns talk in a different font from everyone else in the game?
ItoiI was wondering how to visualize the way they sound and decided to have their script written out in children’s handwriting.
Arino KachoOh!
ItoiMy daughter is the one who created that font.
Arino KachoWow, the Mr. Saturn font?
ItoiAnd now that daughter has a child of her own.
Arino KachoOh, she’s a Mother now! (Laughs)
ItoiYup. (Laughs) And that font has the entire alphabet drawn out for it.
Arino KachoDid she complain about being forced to draw it out?
ItoiNot at all. It was easy because I just used the handwriting she already wrote with.
Arino KachoOh, so she was already writing that way. Then you can just say, “Okay, she wrote again!” (Laughs)
ItoiI already liked her handwriting, so I wanted really badly to use it.
Arino KachoBut kids grow out of that, don’t they? What if she had a letter that looked really cute one day and then another day it’s back to normal?
ItoiThat was part of what happened, so some of them I drew out from my imagination, picturing how she would have written something.
Arino KachoSo you followed the style she’d use.
ItoiIt would have been boring if I’d been thinking about it too systematically. At some point a machine could just be doing it anyway.
Arino KachoThat’s true.
ItoiSo it was important to portray not the logic behind the style, but my unique personality and that of my daughter, who takes after me.
Arino KachoHa ha, I can see that.
ItoiAfter all... it’s art. (Laughs)
Arino KachoAnd Mr. Saturn is art. (Laughs) If anyone else were to write a Mother game someday, would you want them to include Mr. Saturn?
ItoiHmm, I think I would, yeah.
Arino KachoYou don’t feel protective of them? Like, “Mr. Saturn is mine, don’t steal it!”
ItoiNah, I’d just let them know it’s not like that.
Arino KachoHuh, interesting.
ItoiBut if someone were to instead include a creature with a different design that was meant to replace Mr. Saturn, saying something like “This is this game’s Mr. Saturn,” I’d just say, nah, don’t even bother.
Arino KachoMay I ask one more question? What are games to you, personally?
ItoiHmm... Hmm... Games are like a favorite food, maybe.
Arino KachoOoh.
ItoiIf someone asks me my favorite food, I’ll have a different answer every time they ask. One day it’ll be croquette, another day it’ll be okonomiyaki, or blowfish, or something else I could give as an answer at the time. To me, it’s like my... how can I put this? Ah. It’s not like my mother or my father.
Arino KachoHmm.
ItoiIt’s more like my child.
Arino KachoA child?
ItoiYeah. Like a surrogate child someone else made for me. (Laughs)
Arino KachoYour game is Mother, but it’s a child from someone else.
ItoiIt really does feel that way. I don’t even know the reason for the name Mother.
Arino KachoOh really?
ItoiI just wanted to name it that. I’m sure it’s from somewhere deep inside me, but the name Mother just kind of came out.
Arino KachoSo games to you are like surrogate children. Got it. Thank you.
—Is there anything you’d like to say to Arino Kacho as he works towards beating Mother 2?
ItoiThere’s a lot of interesting stuff that changes all over the place towards the end of the game, so please enjoy that.
Arino KachoOoh, okay. I will.
ItoiI think some of it will take your breath away.
Arino KachoIf I’m in Moonside now, do you think I’ll reach the end today?
ItoiI doubt it.
Arino KachoOh no! (Laughs) I guess I’ll have to continue into day three...
ItoiRPGs are pretty time-consuming. Thanks for playing.
Arino KachoThank you!
Introducing the GameCenter CX Hobonichi Techo!
—Arino, I must tell you. We put something together for the show. It’s a GameCenter CX Hobonichi Techo!
Arino KachoOh my gosh, no way! Wow, it matches my work uniform. (Laughs)
ItoiNintendo employees used to wear this uniform over their suits.
Arino KachoThat’s right. Except for the game creators.
ItoiEveryone hated it. (Laughs)
Arino KachoThey complained about how tacky it looked, but I wear this one because they used to.
ItoiOh, I see.
—16 years ago, when GameCenter CX first aired, we wondered how people at game companies dressed. We figured this was as close as we could get, so we got Arino this uniform.
ItoiNintendo was the only one making people wear this uniform, you know.
Arino KachoWe interviewed creators from lots of companies, and no one was wearing it. (Laughs) Nintendo was our last stop, and at last we saw them.
ItoiDid you know there’s actually a work uniform like this one designed to look like a suit? I have one — at a glance it really does look like a suit.
Arino KachoThere’s a business suit version? Is it made with the same material?
ItoiYeah, it’s the same material, but it looks just like a suit.
Arino KachoAw man, we should have bought that one! I was working with an orchestra recently, and I wore this uniform with a little bowtie. It looked weird. I wish I’d had the suit version for that.
ItoiThey’re pretty interesting.
We’ve created a Custom Version Hobonichi Techo Weeks by request of GameCenter CX. The book is illustrated on the front and back with pixel-art versions of Arino Kacho and other characters against a background color that matches the work uniform he dons to play classic games. Bonus content in the back of the book includes a list of terminology written by Producer Kan to help follow along with the show. The book also comes with an Arino Kacho Business Card (Hobonichi Techo version). The book was available at the GCCX show booth at Tokyo Game Show for early sales on September 12–15, 2019. Standard sales begin October 1st at HMV and HMV&BOOKS stores across Japan, HMV&BOOKS online, and Loppi.
*Not for sale through the Hobonichi Techo Official Store.
Mother 2 Hobonichi Techo covers for sale on the Hobonichi Techo Official Store!
