Masato Kato: The Artist Formerly Known as..."Runmal"??

[FaustWolf]

I'm going to add:

Ramsus stabbed Miang in Xenogears; Masato Kato was involved in scriptwriting.


I'll be fine with Rachel once she passes this challenge: Show Me Your Wits.

Tifa from FFVII was one of the greatest videogame heroines not for her bustline, but for her totally awesome story and the scenario writers' exploration of her psyche. Advent Children would be the best freaking movie ever if it consisted of nothing more than Tifa kicking ass, backed by an awesome scenario. Come to think of it, does anyone think that women are portrayed in a better-than-average light in stories influenced by Masato Kato? Could he be a closet feminist?

[V_Translanka]

Hard to say if you just go by CT...everyone's just a stereotype/cliché/whatever...I suppose the girls are strong characters, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to say Marle embodied feminism or anything...*shrugs*

[Chrono'99]

Interesting topic... but what does the word "Runmal" actually mean?

[FaustWolf]

No clue whatsoever. I thought it was fun gibberish, but maybe it really does mean something in Japanese/Romanji?

[FaustWolf]

Ha! I LOVE forums where it's okay to zombie.

For some completely ludicrous reason, the thought struck me while driving home from grad school today: the bad guy's name in Ninja Gaiden I was Guardia de Mieux. He subsequently became known as "Jacquio," and besides the obvious connation of "Guardia" de Mieux, I wonder if "Jacquio" has any solid Japanese linguistic connection to Jaki, Janus' original name before Woolsey-ization (I've always been fond of Woolsey's name choices, for the record).

Ninja Gaiden I was released for the NES in Japan in December 1988. I wonder if ideas that would later flow into Chrono started in Kato's mind around this period?

EDIT: Oh, wait, Chrono'99 already got around to all this back in February. For quick reference:

There are other references in Ninja Gaiden I-II-III; I thought I had mentioned them somewhere on the forum but nope, I didn't yet.


Ryu's father was not killed but was brainwashed and became evil (like Wazuki).
The antagonist in Ninja Gaiden I is Guardia de Mieux, who becomes Jacquio (Jakio, "wicked king" in Japanese, while Jaki or "wicked" was Janus's Japanese name in CT).
The antagonist in Ninja Gaiden II is called Ashtar and he carries the Sword of Chaos, which feeds on blood and hatred and which was "grown out of the bone of the Demon, the same way as your sword is supposed to come from the fang of the Dragon" (Ryu's sword is the Dragon Sword). It's like the Einlanzer vs. Masamune stuff.
In Ninja Gaiden III, Ryu is framed for the murder of Irene, but it was in fact an artificial doppelganger of him that killed her (compare with Serge's murder of Kid).
The NGIII antagonist Clancy wants to use some kind of transdimensional ruins/warship to "reshape" the world. This reminds me of Lynx's plan to reshape history in RD, though Clancy merges with the warship so the Time Devourer comes to mind too. Also, he manipulated Ryu into furthering his own agenda, like how all the villains manipulated Serge in CC.

I'm hard pressed to actually add something to justify my post here now, other than exposing the post-C&D Compendiumites to the basic framework of Masato Kato's development. How about this mysterious reply we received at GameFAQs in the C&D aftermath?


(That was not Photoshopped by the way; you don't even have to trust me -- the question is whether it was a hoax, or if Kato himself had descended from Mount Nippon to bless all believing Compendiumites).


Also, I've begun wondering how the XBOX Ninja Gaiden series would have turned out if the scenario design were once again given to Kato. Ninja Gaiden 2003 has to be one of the greatest action games I've ever played, but it was extremely lacking in the story department.

[ZealKnight]

There was someone masquerading as Wada on the FFXIII board. The weird thing, is that he spelled Runmal as a Jap pronunciation, but if it was him, why would he post it on Game faqs and not on the Compendium? Too many fans? But I agree about the NG thing. Those games are great action games but I feel no motivation for going on because the story isn't that great. If Kato did do it I may have been able to beat it.

[FaustWolf]

Yeah, we're pretty sure masato_kato on GameFAQs was a hoax, but it's curious that he signed off with basically Romanji for "Runmal." A hidden code to let us know it was really him, or an excellent prankster with knowledge of Kato's history?

[Dialga_Palkia]

Yeah, we're pretty sure masato_kato on GameFAQs was a hoax, but it's curious that he signed off with basically Romanji for "Runmal." A hidden code to let us know it was really him, or an excellent prankster with knowledge of Kato's history?

I knew something was fishy. Kato has a life outside of forums. He is too busy.

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

His grammar was very poor.  That makes it REAL.

[IAmSerge]

His grammar was very poor.  That makes it REAL.

Being Japanese, it would only be expected for him to have a poor gramatical sense of the english language... right?

[Dialga_Palkia]

His grammar was very poor.  That makes it REAL.

Being Japanese, it would only be expected for him to have a poor gramatical sense of the english language... right?

True. English as a second language class to some foreign countries whereas we tend to have a hard time understanding what other foreign studies teach us.

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, yeah. Unless if it was really a hoax and the culprit is also Japanese. Or just some guy faking the poor grammar.

Or maybe not, as there is chance for every option to be true after all.

[IAmSerge]

the simplest explanation can quite honestly sometimes be the best one.

[gatotsu911]

Come to think of it, does anyone think that women are portrayed in a better-than-average light in stories influenced by Masato Kato? Could he be a closet feminist?

I've definitely noticed that Kato games tend to have exceptionally strong, capable and non-exploited female characters. Irene, Lucca, Kid, Xelha, and Morte are all intelligent, strong-willed and tough (yet compassionate) female leads.

While I despise the objectification going on in the new Ninja Gaiden games, I gotta say they're some of the only games I've really enjoyed where the gameplay is just so damn good that the terrible story doesn't bother me at all. It helps that there's virtually none of it there - Team Ninja clearly recognized that having to sit through lengthy cutscenes communicating an insipid story is the last thing a player wants when they're playing a game that is explicitly designed around fast-paced action. That said, I certainly wouldn't have complained if the story for the new games had been written by Kato. Maybe then the characters might actually have some personality, and I would care about what I'm doing in the context of the story. As is, the excitement of the action and the thrill of overcoming an immense (yet surmountable) challenge were more than enough to keep me playing, however.

[Prince Janus]

Well at the very least, we know the Japanese liked CE.