""The establishment of a Planning Department at Taito was likely a result of the expanding scale of game development—a process previously carried out by a mere handful of people—and the subsequent shift toward a division of labor. I believe this development also served as proof that video games had truly come into their own as a viable industry; indeed, in the era preceding this shift, many business leaders within the sector had harbored doubts, wondering, "How long can this possibly last?"
The first task assigned to [Taito hardware technician Hiroyuki Sako] upon joining the Planning Department was not to conceive a project from scratch himself, but rather to steer a title currently under development back on track.
"When I first saw this judo game, my initial impression was simply that of a somewhat tacky-looking judoka moving around on a vertical screen.
Back then, there were very few companies specializing in game development, so we would sometimes outsource work to firms that focused on general systems development. Unlike today, we lacked things like detailed implementation specifications—or even the know-how to truly enhance gameplay—so our approach was to build a demo first and figure things out from there. The result, however, was something that could only be described as a kusogē."
Upon receiving a directive from his superior to "somehow make this sellable," Mr. Sakou first proposed developing the project in-house at Taito and assembled a team; in the game's development, he proceeded to make bold changes to the characters.
"So, it basically came down to this: 'Judo is just too gritty and complicated.' In that case, we figured, 'Why not just go all the way—make the characters girls and turn it into a dating sim?'"
Thus was born Onna Sanshiro (released in 1985). The game kicked off with a scene straight out of a gyarugē—the female protagonist changing out of her school uniform and into a judo gi in the shade of a tree—and went on to become a truly over-the-top title where, despite being a judo match, players could throw punches and kicks." ~Fumio Kurokawa, 4Gamer ('ビデオゲームの語り部たち 第18部：技術屋からプランナー，そして未知なる仕事へ。酒匂弘幸氏がタイトーで歩んだ挑戦の日々') [BMT🤖]
