Troubling truths of HIDEO KOJIMA

[@Vareous]

I was an hour into this video when I looked up and noticed it only has around 300 views??? This whole time I honestly assumed you were a 100k+ channel purely based on the quality of the video. I think your presentation is constructed well, very informative and eloquently spoken. Keep up the good work, I hope you hit the algorithm soon and get a lot more views.

[@CasualGamr]

Thanks so much! Christ so do I haha, it flat lined at 200 hundred and I was like 🤯 what did I do wrong?? Then I recut one of the chapters on the voice actors and it’s sort of sprung into life again. Hopefully the algorithm keeps me in good favour for a little while longer 😊 cheers for the support and kind words, I’m always grateful 🙏

[@DarkEnigma1115]

It's always the channels with around 1k or around 20k subs that come out with ABSOLUTE BANGERS of a video.

[@metalslayergameplays6089]

Hard work for new channel. Keep up the good work!

[@thevirtuouscollector]

Let me tell you a true story, I first played Metal Gear in 1990 and to say I'm obsessed with the series would be an understatement of the century. I've not only played the games countless of times, but also collect thousands worth of merch, have won a Kojima-organized art contest, have been involved with the creative direction of the boss battle music in Metal Gear Rising, had my painted Sniper Wolf figure retweeted by Kojima and I have one of my art displayed in Hayter's office. On top of that, my life and career trajectory is indeed influenced by the series and I consider MGS2 to be one of the most profound experiences I've ever had. All this to say that when MGSV came out and I stumbled upon those disgusting tapes, I felt my admiration and love for the series exit my body in seconds. As a fanboy, I could excuse the camp, the voyeurism and the self indulgence but this was too much, it was a total irresponsible use of sexual violence that brings absolutely nothing to the table beyond shock factor and spits on the real-life horrors that women face. What makes even worse was the amount of Kojima fans that quickly came to his defense with arguments such as "So you think rape doesn't exist in war? These games were always replicating real life" which is some of the most tone deaf defense of a man who isn't equipped to tackle the subject matter, especially in a series (yes, it's about war) that also has teleporting vampires, Dr Octopus as the US President and a main character that shits out a pack of smokes to satisfy his addiction. I tore my imaginary MGS fanclub card, I sold many of the toys, games, soundtracks and artbooks. I felt like I've finally couldn't sanction the series that has shaped into the man I am today, I felt like I was Snake breaking off Big Boss and for 8 years I was MGS-free with nearly $8000 worth of merch gotten rid of. It was only until the Master Collection, and how it's getting an influx of new fans, that I felt that I was probably ready to come to terms with the series again. However, I genuinely hope that we're past the "Kojima can do no wrong" phase of the fandom and I SINCERELY hope that new generations of fans would instead, like Snake said in MGS2, view it's history trough it's sad and messy history by it's light. We can celebrate MGS and Kojima, and we can also acknowledged that some sins shouldn't be repeated, that's when we evolve as a species. P/S: I met Norihiko Hibino in 2012 (the man is notoriously elusive) and thanked him for his work in MGS, when I mentioned that he doesn't get enough credit despite being the guy who worked on ALL of the in-game music (and some cutscenes) for MGS2, 3 and Ghost Babel and additional tracks on later games, he gave me a smirk, as if saying, "Yeah, that's life".

[@karambiatos]

I had a simmilar experience to you. I got to work in games because of MGS and was profoundly influenced in life by MGS and another Japanese video game. For me the whole grapes stuff in ground zeroes was a bit hard, but i didn't think much of it, Skull man is evil and he does evil torturous things. Maybe because I'm from a sort of rough country, that these things are easier to digest for me, but when MGSV released... well i felt it was pretty bad, not even the unfinished or finished thing, it's just not well designed at all. I do feel, that the MGS1 soundtrack is amazing some of the best stuff ever made in games.

[@CasualGamr]

Damn, you remind me of me, posting my thoughts on other videos before I decided to dump a month of my life into constructing them into a one hour video haha. I won’t repeat what you have said above, you have eloquently laid out the facts and I agree completely. As I suspect you already know if you have watched the video! Thanks though, that was an insightful read, and also it is so freakin’ cool that you met Hibino, I bet he appreciated your words more than you ever realised. Profoundly so.

[@AeternumInferis]

I'm surprised people are just now figuring out this guy is an insufferable egomaniac. Dude literally puts himself into his own GAMES.

[@ykomat6860]

I really like this channel. Covers a lot of content I’m interested in and the way you speak is really good, very coherent and fluid.

[@Darkmirror7]

The Metal gear games are one of my favorite games, but the worshipping of Kojima always rubbed me the wrong way. He isn't infallible even within the games themselves. Like the excessive amount of cutscenes in MGS4, shoehorning the loveable support cast from 3 into the bad guys for 4 because he wanted to wrap things up, especially with wanting Snake and Otacon be executed by the end of it, but Konami said no to that ending to leave it open for possible sequels. He considers Twin snakes the "definitive edition" of MGS 1, despite the majority of fans hating it immensely. His insistence to replace David Hayter with a Hollywood actor that led to barely having any Dialogue in 5 along with a mostly flat delivery of lines. And there's always more to a project than just the Director, there's countless other people that made the games as beloved as they are, yet everyone credits only Kojima with them as if he was a one man dev team. When it was a collaboration effort like Yoji Shinkawa's iconic artstyle that gave the series it's unique artwork. Or that Rika Muranaka was responsible for some very memorable songs like "The best is yet to come" (Sniper Wolf's death) "Can't Say Goodbye To Yesterday" (credits song for MGS2) "Don't be afraid" (credits song for MGS3) the majority of songs in 1 was actually composed by a in-house team at Konami including Kazuki Muraoka, Hiroyuki Togo, Takanari Ishiyama, Lee Jeon Myung, and Maki Kirioka. But you barely ever see them individually get praised for it. It's only ever Kojima, because especially in 5, he loves to just plaster his name over everything. (Seriously the stupid "episodic opening" that kept doing credits over and over, and even spoiled what or who would appear within that mission was fucking dumb) I know Konami are hardly the good guys in the industry, but honestly Kojima needs people or a bigger entity that wrangle in his eccentric behavior because if it was up to him only, he'd blow all the money available to him just to hang out with Hollywood actors because he's so obsessed with them. Case in point how he was supposed to work with Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus on Silent Hills, which Norman then was used for Death Stranding, along with Mads Mikkelsen. Speaking of that game, it's amusing that he criticizes people for not liking Death Stranding, when the story is a hot mess and while the gameplay overall is alright (Minus shitty boss battles) it's not for everyone and that's alright. Also for the love of god someone prevent him from deciding Character's names are, it's fucking ridiculous, "hot coldman" was already stupid as fuck in Peace Walker and he somehow made it worse.

[@CasualGamr]

Totally, I love the series and Kojima is such an impressive creator, but he has some weird quirks that almost never come up, yet people always find time to praise even the most obscure achievements! I think a lot of players mirror a lot of your points, it's why I wanted to make the video 🤷

[@onojioboardwalk9748]

@@CasualGamr Games and Movies were not ''Sexist,'' you've been misinformed and told the wrong thing to others.

[@SolCresta3405]

I thought the credits song in MGS3 was "Way to Fall", not "Don't Be Afraid".

[@stefanolassandro886]

The quality in this video is insane, it surely must've have been so much work especially seeing how lengthy it has turned out. Keep up the great work mate.

[@CasualGamr]

Haha thanks so much, I honestly really appreciate that. Yep, more time than I care to admit 😬 but I swear, it’s all worth it when people give some nice feedback, and other people start debating and I learn new facts that maybe I didn’t take into account, or alternatively I see how many people agree with me which can also be quite uplifting. It just great to get people talking. Thanks again 🙏

[@politicalscientist8880]

A friend mentioned recently that he would live a modern splinter cell and my first reaction was saying how I didn't like how you had to kill every enemy before moving on. You were right about Hideo and conditioning haha

[@CasualGamr]

Haha yeah he is a polarising guy, very impressive, but with some odd quirks. But his focus on non-violent approach to action always stayed with me.

[@politicalscientist8880]

@@CasualGamr BTW man, just came across your channel. The algorithm gave me your voice actor video. Fantastic. I really thought MGS videos were getting repetitive and I'd heard it all but this is a breath of fresh air. Great approach. I'm also surprised I'm learning stuff (that translator for MGS blew my mind - never heard it.? Anyways, Great stuff. Subbed.

[@justinsimmons4750]

Your videos are excellent and incredibly well made, produced and narrated. Hope your channel gets the subscribers and views to reflect your quality work! Keep at it!

[@CasualGamr]

Thanks so much, honestly I really appreciate that, it’s posts like that that keep me motivated, it’s a bloody hard crowd on KZbin!! Cheers bud 🙏🙏

[@ibra9540]

1:07:52 You mentioned Death Stranding earlier, yet you ignored the concept of Fragile which is the complete contrast to Quiet, B&B's etc.... so he surely took the general reaction of Quiet's design seriously. Also, is there any proof that Fukushima was an editor at the first place? and if so, why didn't Kojima replace him after MGS1 like he did with Blaustein?

[@Chromeberd]

I'm snipping through the video and landed on the crotch grab point. I can't say if it's a social norm, but I have seen it done in Japanese live action shows and media as a joke without consent. Sonny Chiba himself did it in Gaki No Tsukai's annual batsu game (hospital edition) back in 07. So I would imagine it's something that was done every so often in the context of entertainment.

[@CasualGamr]

Makes sense, not familiar with Chiba’s work outside of film but that explains why it doesn’t translate so well without context. And on that note, as late as 2018, Gaki no Tsukai had a Blackface sketch on their nationally-aired New Year special, so there is still plenty of Japanese content that falls flat on its face when crossing over state lines!

[@JeanKP14]

@@CasualGamr to add to this it's definitely something rooted in at least Japanese media culture--for example Goku very infamously as a child went around patting people's crotches because it was the only way he understood how to know the difference between a girl and a boy. I am not at all sure where it originates from, though.

[@CaptainBlaine]

Hopefully this video is getting you some good views and subscriptions. I think you can go far with this kind of quality production & video essay.

[@alex-mj1lq]

obligatory algo bump, here after your other kojima video. Keep up the good work man!

[@CasualGamr]

Haha yeah this video had flatlined with 200 views (was painful 😣) but has just stared getting views thanks to the other vid. Nice to see some return on the work at last ✌️😊

[@poloshirtsamurai]

5:05 Irritated at this aspect in MGS4 with the game making you puke and hated it in MGSV with it giving you a bigger horn. Don't give guns if you don't want players using it.

[@notDinsss]

Would love to see more of your work, came by through your latter video on Kojima. Would also love to see some sort of Kojima fan out there try to objectively respond to your points, because just reading the comments, doesn't seem like a good 95% of them can come up with a coherent rebuttal, it's all "L take" or some such.

[@CasualGamr]

Haha, thanks - and yeah, that’s the KZbin algorithm for you, it sort of funnels viewers of a similar mindset to a video for a period I think. No doubt I’ll have the other side battering me before long 😄 but jokes aside I would absolutely love to have some constructive feedback, some of the best and most niche facts I’ve ever learnt, or less known tidbits of information, have come from the comments sections of my videos! It’s how we grow and move on to make better videos. My most popular deep dive is on Subnautica, that’s probably your best bet for now. Really appreciate the kind words, keeps me motivated 🙏

[@mrwhit8694]

Nice

[@poloshirtsamurai]

7:13 Bullshit. Tenchu came out a year earlier.

[@CasualGamr]

Nope, they were both released in 1998. The Western release for Tenchu was September, and the MGS release was in November.

[@Pharoah_Nines]

Comments are good for the KZbin algorithm.

[@pappymagee6556]

I like your videos dude,we are like minded in our view of Hideo Kojima.

[@AvengedHate26]

Wait you just cut the last 20 or so minutes from this video and reposted it. That’s why I’ve seen this before.

[@CasualGamr]

Not quite, I had about 200 views on this video and then it flatlined, so I decided to chop it into chapters. I actually only took reposted one chapter, and then spent two weeks re-recording and re-editing and expanding it. So yes, there is a segment that you will have seen before, but in total it’s probably only about 10 minutes out of the full 80 minute video.

[@Torstis]

It’s funny how similar he is to Big Boss lol

[@FleccaRobinson]

"proud to be a gamer in a room full of movie buffs" what? can you not be both? You really thought you were less-than for playing games? Cmon, man

[@CasualGamr]

Well I was twelve years old, so my perspective was different, but … yes!!

[@nicolasjonasson4820]

I don't think he's deluded about women, just Japanese. It's weird sometimes, but I think it's a pretty cool thing to enjoy another mans culture, from your home.

[@JeanKP14]

Not all Japanese men are like this, though. Kojima has some ass-backwards views of women that are perhaps too informed by the movies he so loves lol.

[@mr_nobody_000]

tired of people worshiping Kojima, the man is talented but he's flawed, very flawed.

[@HenryCasillas]

🧭

[@kaleodos]

There is nothing wrong with fanservice

[@thepants1450]

Ok coomer

[@JeanKP14]

That is clearly NOT what this guy said at all, once in the video lol.

[@JeanKP14]

Quiet is the line for me that is just. So embarrassing as a fan of the whole series. Sure, It's painfully obvious that Kojima is a little bit weird about women, which is unfortunately kind of common when it comes to men, and Japan has its own specific ways that this shows in male creatives, but there are a few instances in the series like this that so stand out among the others that I can handwave away because we have just as much gay fanservice as weird sexualization of women. There's a huge difference between Yoko Taro and Kojima. Yoko Taro will gladly admit when he just finds something sexy and he doesn't try to excuse that with bullshit plot excuses. Which is fine? I would honestly be so much less mad about Quiet if he hadn't made those dumb tweets about her. He even admitted to her design being intended "to sell figures", so the excuse is even more flimsy. Plus, there was a multitude of other ways to make her show EXACTLY the same amount of skin without her looking like a straight man's embarrassing wet dream. Such a design is fine on its own if you're playing a hentai game or whatever, but here it is just so crass and out of place. As for the graphic rape recording in Ground Zeroes.... oof. I actually never played or watched the game, and hearing those clips of it, I fully understand the controversy now. There really was no reason to let us hear it in full, it could have so easily gotten the same horror and message across while having the tape, say, damaged and cutting out so that we could not hear ALL of it. And yeah, I cannot possibly think of why she would then invite the boy that raped her to have sex with her once again. HOW she could have. You hit the nail on the head I think that while he is meticulous in some aspects, in others he falls short in approaching the subject with the same level of care. Keep up the amazing videos, buddy. Got a follow from me, the editing and flow of your content is great. Love that your dog wants to be involved LOL

[@losdeldostacos8007]

He sucks

[@CasualGamr]

I think there’s a riddle in there somewhere. I’ve narrowed it down to me and Kojima 🤔

[@g.l.5072]

Bad take

[@CasualGamr]

I appreciate your feedback, but considering a bad take is a position or opinion that is either biased in some critical way or doesn't incorporate key information... at 1hr 11min I think I was already pushing my luck on how much information I could squeeze in! And I did my best to be balanced in raising both positives and negatives elements throughout his career. So, could you expand? Maybe a third word might shed some light?

[@MuseseekerMan]

@@CasualGamr It's a bad take because of your position on the sexual content. It's the conservative trans-humanistic attitude towards sex and hot girls, of which I expect to see much more of on KZbin now that the west is going to be administered by conservatives. It's not human. A man is supposed to enjoy sexual content, he's not supposed to arrogantly deem it for lesser people. I believe it's just another vehicle for the ruling class to mold us into micro-managed puppet-slaves for their vision of the future. Sex is what makes us most human. It shouldn't be looked down on to be human.