Tsuyoshi Sawada
Tsuyoshi Sawada (澤田剛, Sawada Tsuyoshi) is known for his role at Sega as Shining series producer starting with Shining Tears.
Sawada began his work at Sega in 1992 within the company's marketing department, where he oversaw market research and launch strategy. Shining Tears was the first game for which Sawada served as producer.[1]
Sawada has stated that under his leadership, Sega intended to split the series into two separate branches. Games titled Shining Force were to serve as a revival of the more traditional direction of the series, which had become dormant in between the end of the Saturn's lifespan and Sega's departure from the hardware market following the discontinuation of the Dreamcast. Meanwhile, another section of Shining games beginning with Shining Tears would seek to align the series with a modern audience and capture a newer market.[2]
Tsuyoshi Sawada left Sega following the release of Shining Resonance sometime after 2014 to work more closely with Shining series illustrator Tony Taka at his art studio.[3][4]
Observers have noted that a developer of the same name has quality control and testing credits on Xenoblade Chronicles X and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it is dubious whether the names belong to the same individual.[5]
Production of Shining Tears
The following translation comes from an interview published in the Sega Voice series on Sega's Japanese website.[1]
[Sawada] When Sega stopped manufacturing hardware and started over as a software producer, RPGs were a very important genre in the domestic market. That's why Sega wanted to publish RPGs too. So I saw it as my mission to revive the Shining series, which had once been Sega's flagship RPG series.
澤田■ セガがハードメーカーを辞めてソフトメーカーとして新たに出発しようとしたときに、国内向けのRPGというのはやはり、とても重要なジャンルでした。ですので、 セガとしてもRPGをブランド化したかった。そこで、かつてはセガの看板RPGであった 『シャイニング』 シリーズを再生するということが使命だと思ったわけです。
Sega does have another RPG brand, Phantasy Star, but that brand had already continued to live on through the new direction of PSO. The Shining series also needed new direction for its revival. And so, making the most of my sensibilities, it was my intent to create a title that incorporates plenty of elements that suit the present audience and the times while carefully upholding the essence of the Shining series. Development started with that idea in mind.
セガが持つRPGのブランドとしてはもうひとつ 『ファンタシースター』がありますが、こちらは 『PSO』 という新しい切り口での再生を実現しました。シャイングも新しい切り口で復活を果たさなければならない、そこで知恵をふりしぼり、私としては 『シャイニング』 シリーズのエッセンスを大切に引き継ぎながら、今のユーザー、時代にマッチした要素をふんだんに盛り込んだ作品にしようと、そのようなコンセプトを考えて開発はスタートしました。
Shining Tears is a new series within the Shining series, and it's intended to be enjoyed by a completely new audience, so although it is part of the Shining series, it strikes me as something of a starter title.
『シャイニング・ティアーズ』 は、『シャイニング』 のなかの新しいシリーズで、全く新しいユーザー層に楽しんでもらうことを想定していますので、『シャイニング』シリーズではありますがほとんどルーキーのようなタイトルだと思っています。
Tamaki's Collaboration with Tony
Sawada describes artist Yoshitaka Tamaki's wishes to pass the Shining series on to new artists.[6]
[Interviewer] Shining Force fans will recognize Mr. Tamaki as the character designer of the enemies.
——敵キャラクターのデザインは、『シャイニング・フォース』 ファンにはおなじみの玉木さんということですが。
[Sawada] That's right. Right now there's still a lot I can't talk about—I hope you get to enjoy playing the game once it's released—but I asked Yoshitaka Tamaki and the young Kiyofumi Hino from Salamander Factory to do enemy character designs.
澤田■ はい。ここはまだ話せないことも多いんですが（発売後のお楽しみにしてください）、敵キャラのデザインは、サラマンダーファクトリーの玉木美孝さん＆若手の樋野清史さんにお願いしています。
Tamaki had said about the Shining series, "I want to pass it on to a new generation," and I agreed . . . That's why Tony went with a completely new style, together with Tamaki and Hino, who has also developed the new style and who is taking over for Tamaki. Their characters combined make the reborn Shining world—the world of Tears.
玉木さんがシャイニングを 「新しい世代に引き継ぎたい」 とのことで、私もそれに賛同したんです。 ……だから、完全に新しいイメージをつくるTonyさんと、玉木さんを受け継ぎながらも新しいイメージを生み出した樋野さん、そして玉木さん。これらのキャラクターが融合して新生 『シャイニング』 ワールド、今回の 『ティアーズ』 の世界をつくっているというわけです。
Involvement with Tony Taka
In order to reinforce the new direction of the Shining series, Sawada employed known pornographer Tony Taka to provide character designs and illustrations. The following is excerpted from a series of interviews with 4Gamer.net.[7][2]
Tony's Hiring
[Sawada] I first became aware of Tony when I played a fantasy game for adults released in 2000 called Arcana: Ecstasis of Light and Darkness (アルカナ ～光と闇のエクスタシス～). So I decided to reach out to him. I remember it well. After seeing Tony post a bunch of his work on his personal website in 2001, I contacted him. By 2002, he had became fully involved in the game's production. I'm pretty sure that's how it happened.
澤田氏：僕がTonyさんを知ったのは，2000年に発売されたファンタジー世界観の成人向けゲーム「アルカナ ～光と闇のエクスタシス～」でしたね。それで声をかけてみようと思ったので，よく覚えています。Tonyさんが個人サイトで色々と作品を発表しているのを見て，実際にコンタクトをとったのが2001年。翌2002年には，本格的にゲーム制作に関わっていただいた。確かそんな流れでした。
Tony's Shining Collectible Figurines
- Tony's Heroine Works Means High Quality (「Tony'sヒロインワークス」から生まれたハイクオリティ)
[4Gamer] Speaking of Mr. Tony, I think 4Gamer readers are familiar with him as the character designer for the Shining series, but I've heard that a lot of his popularity comes from his active development of figurines. When did you first start thinking of working on figurines?
4Gamer：Tonyさんと言えば，「シャイニング」シリーズのキャラクターデザインで，4Gamer読者にもお馴染みだと思うのですが，フィギュア展開にも積極的で，高い人気を博しているとお聞きします。フィギュアへの取り組みというのは，いつ頃から意識されたのでしょうか。
[Tony] I think that it was largely due to the foresight of our producer, Mr. Sawada.
Tony氏：それはプロデューサーである澤田さんに，先見の明があったのが大きいと思います。
[Sawada] About a month after the release of Shining Tears—it was the end of 2004, and Max Factory's figurine of Kasumi from Dead or Alive had become a big hit. I saw it and I thought, "This is it!" And that's when the Shining series of figurines started.
澤田氏：「シャイニング・ティアーズ」を発売した1か月後くらい――2004年末頃に，マックスファクトリーさんの「かすみ（DEAD OR ALIVE）」の完成品フィギュアが大ヒットしたんです。それを見て「これだ！」と思ったところから「シャイニング」シリーズのフィギュア化がスタートしました。
[. . .]
[Sawada] Especially common in the figurines is Tony's "beautiful woman turning to look behind herself" angle, where you can see the different parts like the legs, butt, and breasts all at once.
澤田氏：脚，尻，胸と，色々なポイントを一度に見られる「Tony's見返り美人」的なアングルは，フィギュアではとくに多いですよね。
Game Credits
| JP Release | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| July 1996 | NiGHTS into Dreams | Market Research |
| Nov. 1996 | Christmas NiGHTS | Market Research |
| Nov. 1999 | ChuChu Rocket! | "Monitor Test" (Marketing) |
| April 2000 | Samba de Amigo (DC) | "Monitor Test" (Marketing) |
| June 2000 | Animastar | Sega Enterprises, Ltd. (Organization Credit) |
| Dec. 2000 | Phantasy Star Online | Special Thanks |
| June 7 2001 | Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 | Special Thanks |
| June 23, 2001 | Sonic Adventure 2 | Marketing Research |
| Dec. 2001 | Sonic Advance | Marketing Research |
| March 2002 | Shining Soul | Special Thanks |
| Sept. 2002 | Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II | Special Thanks |
| Dec. 2002 | Sonic Advance 2 | Marketing Research |
| July 2003 | Shining Soul II | Special Thanks |
| Aug. 2003 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 2 | Special Thanks |
| Sept. 2003 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 5 | Special Thanks |
| Oct. 2003 | Sonic N | Marketing Research |
| Dec. 2003 | Nightshade | Research |
| Jan. 2004 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 6 | Special Thanks |
| Feb. 26, 2004 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 8 | Special Thanks |
| Feb. 26, 2004 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 9 | Special Thanks |
| March 25, 2004 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 10 | Special Thanks |
| March 25, 2004 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 11 | Special Thanks |
| May 24, 2004 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 12 | Special Thanks |
| May 27, 2004 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 13 | Special Thanks |
| June 2004 | Sonic Advance 3 | Marketing Research |
| July 2004 | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 15 | Special Thanks |
| Aug. 2004 | Shining Force (GBA) | Special Thanks |
| Nov. 2004 | Shining Tears | Original World Concept, Coordinating Producer |
| Jan. 2007 | Shining Force EXA | Coordinating Producer (プロデュース協力) |
| May 2007 | Shining Wind | Total Producer, Original Work |
| Dec. 2010 | Shining Hearts | Producer |
| March 2012 | Shining Blade | Lyrics:「光と闇の輪舞~SHADOW~」("Rondo of Light and Darkness: Shadow"), Producer |
| Feb. 2013 | Shining Ark | Producer |
| Nov. 2014 | Blade Arcus from Shining | Producer |
| Nov. 2015 | Blade Arcus from Shining EX | Producer |
| March 2018 | Shining Resonance Refrain | Producer, Special Thanks |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "SEGA VOICE, VOL.6", Sega.jp. Sega, 2004. p. 1. [Archived] January 2, 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Interview. 「数々のヒロインを生み出すに至った，ちょっと意外な来歴とは。美少女絵師・Tony氏に聞く，これまでとこれから（後編）」, 4Gamer.net. マフィア梶田, April 27, 2013.[1]
- ↑ "Fourteen years of collaboration between illustrator and developers—Shining Resonance Refrain Interview", IGN Japan, jp.IGN.com. Kurabe Esra, April 25, 2018. [Archived] October 2, 2012.
- ↑ "Where is Tsuyoshi Sawada, former head of Shining at Sega? Whereabouts revealed", GameColumn.jp. November 26, 2023. [Archived] December 9, 2023.
- ↑ "Tsuyoshi Sawada Credits", MobyGames.[2]
- ↑ "SEGA VOICE, VOL.6", Sega.jp. Sega, 2004. p. 2. [Archived] January 22, 2022.
- ↑ Interview. 「月刊HobbyJAPAN『Tony'sヒロインワークス』連動インタビュー。美少女絵師・Tony氏に聞く，これまでとこれから（前編）」, 4Gamer.net. マフィア梶田 , April 25, 2013.[3]
Staff Directory
| Shining Staff | |
|---|---|
| Artists | Yoshitaka Tamaki・Hiroshi Kajiyama・SUEZEN・Fumihide Aoki・Shin Yamanouchi・Tony Taka・Masaki Hirooka・Yuriko Nishiyama・pako・Noizi Ito・Shishizaru・HACCAN・Ryota Murayama |
| Musicians | Masahiko Yoshimura・Motoaki Takenouchi・Motoi Sakuraba |
| Writers | Masaki Wachi・Sami Shinosaki |
| Translators | Victor Ireland |
| Programmers | Kan Naito・Yasuhiro Taguchi・P. E. Jareth Hein |
| Directors | Kenji Orimo |
| Producers | Hiroyuki Takahashi・Shugo Takahashi・Tsuyoshi Sawada |
| Related Staff | |
| Artists | Masanori Sato |
| Translators | Jon Rodgers |