Another world Game Developers in Japan`s 1991

Friday, 8 November 2001.

Resident Evil 3 continued selling extremely well.

The game had quickly become one of the most discussed releases of the year, especially because Team IZAN successfully preserved the traditional Resident Evil formula while making the experience more intense. Players praised the fixed camera angles, limited ammunition, dangerous streets of Raccoon City, and the constant pressure created by Nemesis.

The word "STARS" had already become enough to make many players nervous.

Some people claimed they could still hear Nemesis's footsteps after turning off their ZEPS 3. Others admitted that they had paused the game for several minutes after he suddenly crashed through a wall or window.

At the same time, Bloons TD had become another unexpected success.

The contrast between both releases made the situation even more amusing. Resident Evil 3 was dark, violent, stressful, and filled with horrible biological creatures.

Bloons TD was filled with colourful balloons, strange monkeys, cheerful music, and increasingly ridiculous weapons.

One game made people scream because Nemesis was chasing them.

The other made them scream because one stupid Lead Bloon somehow passed through an entire defensive line.

The strange pairing only increased public attention toward both games.

However, while most discussions focused on gameplay, one ZAGE Forum user noticed something completely different.

The user's name was ZOZO.

He had spent far too much time reading character profiles, looking through game credits, and browsing the official artwork section of ZAGE Forum. Eventually, he discovered something that had always been visible but was rarely discussed directly.

A surprising number of ZAGE's most famous or all characters listed Zaboru Renkonan as their original character designer.

Naturally, Zaboru did not personally draw every animation frame or create every final model. ZAGE employed thousands of artists, designers, animators, and developers across its international studios.

However, many major characters began with Zaboru's original concepts, sketches, personality notes, visual references, and early designs.

That list was enormous.

ZOZO became especially interested after seeing the official promotional artwork for Jill Valentine from Resident Evil 3.

The actual in-game model was still limited by ZEPS 3 hardware, although Team IZAN had pushed the system impressively far. However, the official artwork showed a much more detailed version of Jill, similar to the appearance Zaboru remembered from the Resident Evil remake of his previous life.

She looked mature, beautiful, capable, and exhausted without appearing weak.

Her design immediately became extremely popular.

Many players admired Jill because she was not presented as a helpless woman waiting to be rescued. She was an experienced S.T.A.R.S. officer attempting to survive a city filled with zombies, corrupt authorities, and a biological weapon specifically created to hunt people like her.

She remained frightened when the situation became terrifying, but she continued moving.

That combination of beauty, courage, and vulnerability made her extremely appealing.

Naturally, the internet responded with complete maturity.

Within days, thousands of players had already declared Jill Valentine their future wife.

ZOZO looked through the discussion, then opened Zaboru's official artwork page.

The page itself was one of the most popular sections of ZAGE Forum. Whenever Zaboru had free time, he occasionally uploaded concept art, sketches, alternate costumes, rejected designs, or polished illustrations of characters from ZAGE's games and animation projects.

Because of Deep Memory Dive, his natural talent, and years of continuous practice, Zaboru's drawing ability had become almost frightening.

He could draw realistic characters, exaggerated cartoon designs, mechanical concepts, monsters, fantasy creatures, architecture, clothing, and highly expressive faces. Even professional artists regularly examined his work to understand his line control, posing, anatomy, and composition.

Some of the artwork was serious.

Other drawings were clearly created because Zaboru found something amusing.

One popular sketch showed Crash Bandicoot attempting to escape from Nemesis.

Others is Jill Valentine playing cards with Dark Magican girl and Aerith

Another showed a Dart Monkey trying to throw a dart at Jill because it mistook the S.T.A.R.S. symbol for a Bloon.

ZOZO ignored the comedy images and began collecting Zaboru's artwork of famous female characters.

He created a new thread.

The title immediately attracted attention.

"LET'S BE HONEST: ZABORU HAS INSANE TASTE IN WOMEN."

The opening post included several official illustrations.

Chun-Li stood confidently with her arms crossed.

I-No held her guitar with a dangerous smile.

Ivy rested her segmented sword across one shoulder.

Mai Shiranui appeared in her iconic kunoichi clothing.

Kasumi looked calm and graceful.

Samus Aran stood without her helmet beside the Power Suit.

Lara Croft held both pistols while exploring a ruined temple.

Jill Valentine aimed her handgun toward something outside the image.

Tifa Lockhart, Aerith Gainsborough, Rinoa Heartilly, Estelle Bright, and several others appeared farther down the post.

There was even official artwork of Dark Magician Girl.

ZOZO wrote beneath them:

ZOZO: Let me be straight here. Chun-Li, I-No, Ivy, Mai Shiranui, Kasumi, Samus Aran, Lara Croft, Jill Valentine, Tifa Lockhart, Aerith, Rinoa, Estelle Bright, Dark Magician Girl and many other beautiful characters were originally designed by Zaboru?

ZOZO: How does one man have this much range?

ZOZO: He can design mature women, innocent girls, warriors, tomboys, elegant ladies, dangerous women, cheerful women and complete psychopaths, and somehow all of them are attractive.

ZOZO: Even their body types are different. You know exactly what I mean.

ZOZO: Zaboru must truly love women.

The thread exploded almost immediately.

Some users agreed enthusiastically.

CoffeeAndGames: Finally, someone said it. Zaboru understands character design better than half the entertainment industry.

LazyRonin: Jill Valentine alone proves this man deserves his wealth.

PixelRamen: Chun-Li, Tifa and Jill being designed by the same guy is unfair.

BlackCat77: You forgot Morrigan. Your research is incomplete she is my misstress *slurp*.

ZOZO quickly edited the post and added her.

Others focused less on design and more on Zaboru's personal life.

CityHunter2001: A man this rich, handsome and famous definitely did not learn this from imagination alone.

BurgerWizard: Are you saying he researched personally?

CityHunter2001: I am saying billionaires have resources.

TapeCollector: Bro probably tried every woman in the world before getting married.

That accusation immediately created backlash.

MikaWrites: Based on what evidence?

TapeCollector: Look at the designs.

MikaWrites: Drawing attractive women is not evidence that someone sleeps with everyone.

RedScarf: He is literally known for rejecting actresses and models.

TapeCollector: That is what the public knows.

MikaWrites: Ah yes, the strongest source available: something you invented five seconds ago.

The thread began dividing into several groups.

One group wanted to seriously discuss character design.

Another wanted to talk about Jill Valentine's body.

A third group wanted to accuse Zaboru of secretly sleeping with every beautiful celebrity on Earth.

A fourth group was mostly present to insult the third group.

OldSchoolPlayer: Zaboru has been openly devoted to his wife and family for years. He talks about his wife and children constantly.

KenshinFan: Being married does not remove your eyes.

OldSchoolPlayer: Nobody said it did.

KenshinFan: Then we agree he has taste.

OldSchoolPlayer: That was never the argument.

NoodleKnight: I think the real question is why he gave Ivy that weapon.

VelvetRoom: Because normal swords are for cowards.

Several female users also entered the conversation.

MoonlitSara: As a woman, I actually like that his female characters do not all look identical. Jill looks athletic. Tifa is curvier. Chun-Li has powerful legs. Lara looks trained. Aerith is softer and more elegant.

RamenQueen: He definitely likes thighs, though.

The thread remained silent for several seconds.

Then dozens of users agreed.

ZOZO: THANK YOU. SOMEONE FINALLY UNDERSTANDS MY RESEARCH.

MoonlitSara: I was not supporting your research.

ZOZO: Too late.

Another user attempted to defend Zaboru's honour far too aggressively.

ZAGEForever: Lord Zaboru-SAMA! would never behave improperly with random women.

RamenQueen: "Lord Zaboru-SAMA!"?

ZAGEForever: Show respect.

RamenQueen: He makes video games, not weather.

ZAGEForever: He could probably control the weather if he wanted.

The discussion became even more ridiculous once people began ranking Zaboru's supposed preferences.

RetroPrince: He likes strong women.

CherryBomb: Aerith is not physically strong.

RetroPrince: Emotionally strong.

CherryBomb: Dark Magician Girl?

RetroPrince: Magically strong.

CherryBomb: You are changing the definition every time.

RetroPrince: I refuse to lose this argument.

One user posted a detailed theory claiming that every female character represented a different part of Zaboru's ideal woman.

Chun-Li represented discipline.

Tifa represented kindness and strength.

Jill represented courage.

Aerith represented gentleness.

Ivy represented danger.

Mai represented confidence.

Kasumi represented elegance.

Lara represented adventure.

Dark Magician Girl apparently represented "mysterious magical energy," although nobody understood what that meant.

Another user replied that Zaboru's ideal woman was obviously his wife because he had already married her.

That answer was reasonable.

The forum ignored it.

The thread eventually reached Zaboru himself.

He was sitting in his office inside ZAGE Tower when one of his employees sent him the link without explanation. Zaboru opened it, expecting another serious discussion about Resident Evil 3 or ZEPS 4.

Instead, he found hundreds of strangers analysing his taste in fictional women.

Zaboru read the title.

Then he slowly scrolled through the artwork.

"Hm."

He could not deny that many of the characters were attractive.

That had been intentional.

However, beauty alone had never been the main purpose. He wanted memorable silhouettes, distinctive personalities, expressive faces, different body types, and designs that matched each character's role.

Chun-Li needed to look powerful enough for her kicks to feel believable.

Jill needed to look capable without losing the vulnerability required for survival horror.

Lara needed the physical confidence of an adventurer.

Tifa needed to appear warm and approachable while still looking like someone capable of destroying a machine with her fists.

Ivy was simply designed to make people nervous.

Zaboru continued reading.

When he reached the argument about whether he had personally "researched" every type of woman, he covered his mouth and chuckled.

"These people really have too much free time."

He did not feel offended.

Compared with political accusations, corporate rumours, conspiracy theories, and attacks against his family, this was completely harmless.

If people wanted to debate whether his character designs proved that he liked women, they were free to enjoy themselves.

Zaboru had never pretended otherwise.

He liked women.

He especially liked one woman.

He scrolled farther and found the discussion about his supposed obsession with thighs.

Zaboru stared silently at the screen.

Then he closed the thread for several seconds.

After thinking carefully, he opened it again.

"I refuse to comment."

What Zaboru did not know was that Ayumi had also discovered the discussion.

She sat elsewhere inside ZAGE Tower, holding her AKAI Black Berry Z01 while reading every new response with increasingly focused attention.

At first, she found the thread amusing.

Then she began opening the attached artwork one image at a time.

Chun-Li.

Tifa.

Jill.

Ivy.

Mai.

Lara.

Ayumi slowly narrowed her eyes.

She already knew that Zaboru designed many beautiful female characters. She had never considered it suspicious because his male characters were equally detailed and attractive.

However, reading hundreds of strangers analyse her husband's preferences created several questions she had never considered asking.

Especially after she reached the comments about different body types.

Ayumi looked down at herself.

Then back at the artwork.

She scrolled upward and reread ZOZO's opening post.

A small smile appeared on her face.

It was not an angry smile.

That somehow made it more dangerous.

Ayumi closed the thread, placed the Black Berry beside her, and quietly waited for her husband to finish working.

She suddenly had several things she wanted to ask him.

To be continued.

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