PlatinumGames' Bayonetta franchise turned 16 this past week, and visionary creator Hideki Kamiya has brought his customary insightful thoughts (RIP Super Sentai) to social media with conviction. Nameless “clients” repeatedly requested that the titular heroine of the series be shown without her glasses. This, as it happens, is one thing among many that Kamiya-san will never, ever budge on.
One of the questions Kamiya answered back on October 29th (Bayonetta 1's exact 16th anniversary date) brought this into sharper focus as the director behind not only Bayonetta, but Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and more tried to clear up a bit of an ever-perpetuating misunderstanding he defended his passionate misunderstanding…right to have these iconic glasses.
The bizarre underwear quote is real, but it's not from Kamiya herself
Many thanks, Automaton, for catching these tweets, because I'd hate to have missed them. A fan on X recalled Kamiya uttering the following quote: “Bayonetta's glasses are like underwear, so they can't be taken off.” Full statement. And one that has been spreading across the web for over a decade, if my own memory is correct here.
Except, well, Kamiya never said that. Which is not to say that something remarkably similar hadn't been said out loud. In fact, it was Yuji Shimomura, Bayonetta's film director. Shimomura has had quite a successful career, himself; prior to Bayonetta, he worked in similar roles on Devil May Cry 3, Xenosaga Episode III, Joan of Arc, and Rogue Galaxy. After Bayonetta, he has done the same for both of its sequels, plus Metal Gear Solid V, Dragon's Dogma, Devil May Cry 5 and most recently Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. What I mean here is that he's prolific, he has tons of great quotes, but this one is probably the weirdest.
“When we were designing Bayonetta,” Kamiya confirms, “our clients asked us to remove her glasses, and it's true that I kept rejecting their suggestions.” But Shimomura may have rejected them most vividly. “Bayonetta's glasses are just like her underwear – do not take them off at all costs.”
The follow-up conversation included Mari Shimazaki, Bayonetta's lead character designer, who recalled how serious Kamiya was about this. “[He] quietly ducked behind me at some point, muttered, 'Put glasses on that design,' and that's how it started.” And it went on, and on, and on, so that Shimazaki soon knew to add a “glasses layer” to every sketch, no matter how rough, to keep the boss happy.
Hideki Kamiya has been keeping busy in ways that are of great interest to me, especially, and I had to tell you because I'm still reeling from The Game Awards 2024's surprise announcement of Okami 2. The original Okami holds a very special place in my heart, and I'm looking forward to what Clovers, Kamiya's new studio, has in store for us all.
