Open Letter to Takaki and Marvelous

Is this still a thing?

I like to ask Takaki one thing. Asuka is a lame character I get it but please treats her equal as Yumi. I don't want new fans thinking Asuka is a random side character added to the game & trust me. Some new fans never do research.

And that it.

We are still in the process of things, just going over some stuff every now and then. Some of us are very busy, and I don't have a ton of time myself unfortunately.

First off just wanna say I love the combat to EV, and would like that to continue into future SK Games, as for Story can't really comment, as only SK Game I've currently played is Estival Versus, however I loved all the funny comments the girls came out with, only things I was little disappointed with, and would like changed or improved is the cutscenes, there was only a couple in EV which is a shame, so for future SK Games, a good Story and Cutscenes added into the game too, which brings me to another point, in between the games or Storyline, i'd think it would be cool to do more TV Episodes or few Films with our much loved characters, and give their background stories the light of day through into the present in Animation films/TV.

Also for the games, longer Story Mode, and DLC Story Expansion packs, more Clothing items, more Multiplayer modes and updates for it over time, I know I've not made many suggestions, SK newbie so only basing my opinions from EV as its the only game I have played so Far... i'm eyeing you up Peach Beach Splash , to the UK you will come... eventually. And I personally think that they should celebrate their growing fan base and do a SK Collection for XB1/PS4 with their previous games included in between Peach Beach Splash and Senran 7, as I think they would sell well, everybody else is re-releasing their games, why should'nt SK be re-released? I think it deserves it and allows newbies like me to enjoy the previous games on our selected console .

So this is something we delayed for a while but I'd like to touch up on again;

Should we send this letter still? With PBS being so close staff had decided to simply wait till PBS release and see what's different. Naturally I'd love to get people's thoughts; Senran seems to be going back to the more serious nature from what I understand, Senran Kagura 7 sure seems to be, and from what I understand other characters are being taken seriously again (for the most part.) Feel free to correct me on that last part, and whether or not the Yumi-centric thing still seems to be a thing, as I'm trying to remain somewhat spoiler-free, and all I've seen is a bunch of CG images with Yumi and the limited edition being the big parade of Yumi.

Well, we've waited this long to send it off, I'm not opposed to waiting until the Western launch of PBS and seeing how that goes. Obviously there was some Yumi centric stuff like that Sonico reveal thing, but that was for Japan so whaddya gonna do?

Tangentially related, but if SIA and the western SK fanbase in general continues to grow, Takaki is bound to see more of what the Western side prefers and stuff. So maybe for now, we just double down on growing our side of the fanbase.

I’d like to start by saying that I have massive respect for Senran Kagura and everyone involved in it. So much care and love goes into these games that it always puts a smile on my face whenever I’m playing them. And I can also respect how well the series handles fanservice, using it just because it’s fun. It’s a franchise that isn’t afraid to bombard you with sex appeal because it’s confident that the rest of the product has quality, rather than using it as bait because it’s scared that nothing else will entice the player. Senran Kagura is a franchise that knows how to have fun, and I cannot stress how much I appreciate that.

However, there is one issue that I have, and this is something that has been getting worse as of recently: I think the DLC is starting to get out of hand. When I found out that Peach Beach Splash had Day 1 DLC in the form of the “awakened” faction leaders, I was honestly quite disappointed. You can always pull up the argument that such DLC is completely optional and purely cosmetic, but you wouldn’t put in DLC and expect people not to buy it. It felt like a quick way to snatch some extra cash out of players’ pockets rather than a proper way to enhance the experience. And I must emphasize that the mere idea of Day 1 DLC is a very shady, untrustworthy move from any publisher. Furthermore, the second batch of DLC with the Dead or Alive characters and some extra costumes was even more expensive than the first batch. Getting the bundle with all the characters and costumes from the second batch of DLC (3,000 yen) and the bundle for the first batch (1,800 yen) already puts us at up to 4,800 yen worth of just cosmetic DLC. And this is without counting the upcoming Super Sonico DLC and whatever else happens to come afterwards. All of that combined could end up costing almost as much as the base game. This I feel is a very radical price considering what you’re getting from it. DLC I think can be great to expand a game’s durability past its release, but I strongly feel like PBS is using DLC in a greedy manner more than anything.

While we’re still on the subject of DLC, I’d like to discuss the collaboration between outside franchises and Senran Kagura. I have nothing against the inclusion of Dead or Alive characters, or Ikkitousen characters, or Super Sonico, as they all fit with the theme of Senran Kagura. However, I’d like to see more inclusion of franchises closer to Senran Kagura. For example, I’d rather have Valkyrie Drive’s Rinka and Uppers’ Nicole make an appearance in a Senran Kagura game instead of Dead or Alive’s Ayane or Super Sonico. Considering Mr. Kenichiro Takaki is responsible for those first two franchises, it would make more sense to have them in. Or even the character Marvelous AQL from Hyperdimension Neptunia would also be a good addition, seeing as she is already based on the company responsible for Senran Kagura and also designed after Senran Kagura characters. Perhaps the collaborations with Dead or Alive and the like are more of a business thing than anything, but it would nonetheless be nice to see Senran Kagura collaborate with franchises closer to its home.

On the issue of the bias towards Yumi as the character that gets all the attention, I think the solution isn’t to take attention away from her and into another specific character. Rather, the best solution would be to focus more on groups over individuals. Senran Kagura has a big roster of characters that all deserve to shine, and not one of them should be getting better treatment than another. Instead of having one or two characters in a box art, have several more sharing the space. Instead of having one character be considerably closer to the screen than everyone else, have them all be close together at around the same distance from the screen. These solutions aren’t fool-proof, of course, and I’m just one person making one suggestion. But if it ever seems like one character is getting noticeably more attention than anyone else, consider going back and revising it by having that character share their spotlight with others.

Once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for bringing this incredible series into our lives. The gaming world would be a lot more boring without it.

You know… I see where you’re coming from, and I agree with it for the most part. But after reading most of the previous replies in this thread, I think I understand what the… not issue, just what the general consensus is in this thread.

Most of the replies in here make it a focal point to talk about Yumi saturation and how they want other characters to have the spot light, as well as how some characters are getting dumbed down, from being a fully fleshed out person with an intricate backstory to being just a trope. Most people in here don’t hate Yumi, but even those who really like her still agree that other characters should be talked about more. All of that, combined with what you said about wanting DLC to have an impact on the story, brings it down to this:

The people in this thread care deeply for the lore of Senran Kagura and the characters for who they are, while their appearance or marketability is an after-thought.

We don’t care that so-and-so character would make the perfect housewife, we don’t care who has the best body, because that’s not what we like the characters for. We like them for their personalities, their development, their interactions with other characters, their backstories, their character. But Ayacchi  also brought a very interesting point earlier in the thread, and that is that Yumi won the popularity polls… before Shinovi Versus even came out. So… she won purely based on her appearance and what little information we may have had of her at the time, rather than because people really liked her story with Gessen, Master Kurokage, etc. And she didn’t just win by a little bit, no, she blew it out of the water! Considering she was going up against other characters who already had a fleshed out story and had already found their way into the hearts of the people who played the first game, what do you think that sort of statistic tells a company? It tells them that if they want to sell the most, then they have to promote the “biggest waifus.” It tells them that people don’t care about the characters’ story, they just want to fangasm at them as much as humanly possible. But we, the SIA fans, think this couldn’t be farther from the truth!

This letter can deliver many small messages, but this is the one thing that we have to get across from it: we want a heavier focus on story. We have to let Kenichiro Takaki and everyone at Marvelous know that we want to know these characters to a more personal level. And not “personal” as some kind of innuendo, no, we’re serious about this. Fanservice can be a powerful tool to bring in new fans, but gameplay and story is what makes them stay. And I want to make something perfectly clear, I have nothing against having games like Bon Appetit or Peach Beach Splash were the focus is to just have fun. The issue stems from the fact that the early games in the franchise established some extensive lore, but said lore has been kept on hiatus for far too long now. There needs to be a balance on how many games are dark and emotional, and how many games are wacky, mindless fun. We can’t have too many of one kind in a row like we’ve had in the franchise so far.

It is important to remind us, however, that this whole thread was created before we knew about Senran Kagura 7. Now that we know the next game in the franchise is seemingly going to be exactly what we’ve been asking for, then this letter serves to emphasize that “Yes! That’s what we want! Do that more often!” Do also remember, however, that it’s also not fair for us to just tell them how to make the games. A game shouldn’t be made exclusively for the fans, after all. It should be what the developers want to make, and us fans can help to point in directions that could make the product even better. So remember, we’re not trying to say “do this or we will riot,” no. We’re saying “we like what you’re doing, but we think it would be even better if you tried some of this as well.”